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The Alesis Strike Pro SE offers serious bang for your buck! This electronic drum set looks and feels very impressive to play, with realistic sizes across the board. It boasts specs you won’t find in any other kit in its price range.
Alesis Strike Pro SE
Key Features
- 11-Piece electronic drum set
- Strike drum module with 4.3″ LCD screen
- 136 kits and 1,800 individual instruments
- Wood drum shells with mesh pads
- Strike Software Editor
- Includes 4-Post chrome rack
90/100
The Alesis Strike Pro kit boasts some very impressive features. It certainly looks the part, sporting realistic sized mesh drum pads and a rock-solid chrome rack. It is the ideal electronic drum set to imitate playing on a full-sized acoustic drum set,
This professional-level Alesis electronic drum set has a host of high-end features and it is offered at a highly competitive price point, especially compared to equivalent level Roland and Yamaha kits. It is the cheapest flagship-level E-kit on the market.
Playing this drum set is a lot of fun. The Strike sound module is powerful and engaging and boasts a huge number of drum kits and multi-sampled instruments.
In this Alesis Strike Pro review, I’ll be taking a look at the quality of the sounds, the drum module, the build, overall playability, and value to determine if it’s worth the investment!
Alesis Strike Pro SE Gallery
Sounds
With the Alesis Strike Pro kit, you receive 136 complete drum kits which you can access immediately. Each kit is made up of unique sampled sounds, and there are over 1,800 individual sounds in total.
I tend to be fairly critical of the sounds included with electronic drum sets, but many of the included kits in this Alesis Strike Pro review are pretty impressive. There are included kits that are more than adequate for different types of rehearsals and gigs. However, there are some others that are not quite as convincing.
The Birch Rock and Maple Pop drum sets are my favorites. But there is a huge selection to choose from! The Strike kit succeeds in delivering clean, natural-sounding drums as well as a wide selection of sampled electronic drums.
When it comes to sounds offered by a top of the range electronic drum set, they will never offer a true-to-life replication of real drums. That’s just a fact. These do however come rather close.
With the Alesis Strike Pro, you have the option of loading in your own custom samples through the Strike Software Editor and it can store up to 16GB of additional samples.
Drum Module
The Alesis Strike drum module offers exceptional connectivity and functionality for gigs and recording. What is truly remarkable is the fact it has eight direct outputs for studio-quality recording and live sound mixing.
As mentioned before, the Strike drum module comes complete with a huge wealth of over 1800 expressive sounds, and also has the ability to build your own signature sets as well as load your own samples, there are limitless sonic avenues to explore!
The module features a full 4.3-inch color LCD screen that is easy to navigate. I also love that the Alesis Strike module has individual mixer faders that offer complete control over the sound of the kit.
In this Alesis Strike Pro review, I found the included module to be functional, powerful, and intuitive. It’s super sleek and easy to use and comes ready to rock with a huge number of dynamic and expressive sounds.
Build Quality
Arguably the most impressive feature of this Alesis Strike kit is the number of drum and cymbal pads included, and the sizes of them. You receive realistic sized mesh pads and rubber cymbals that imitates the playing experience of a full-sized acoustic kit!
The Alesis Strike blends hybrid wood shells and high-quality mesh heads to offer the most authentic playing experience of any electronic drum set on the market. The kit sports a beautiful red sparkle finish that is very attractive to look at too.
The build quality of the Alesis Strike Pro SE drum kit is considerably better than that of the original Alesis Strike kit. Alesis has indeed worked out many of the old issues, as well as improving the quality and reliability of the pads and the hi-hat controller.
These cymbal pads and drum pads offer highly accurate triggering, far greater than the old-generation Alesis Strike kit.
The Alesis Strike Pro SE is a huge eleven-piece electronic drum set consisting of very well designed and built components. Alesis has succeeded in creating a professional-level electronic drum set that looks and plays like a real drum set.
Everything feels sturdy and rock-solid with the Alesis Strike Pro, and the included 4-post steel rack and double-braced snare stand feel sturdy and secure.
Playability
How does the Alesis Strike Pro feel to play? The playing response is fantastic. The module responds instantly and all of the drum and cymbal pads trigger exceptionally accurately.
The realistic sized mesh pads provide a thoroughly engaging playing experience. The mesh heads are seated on real wood shells that are sized to a standard drum kit. It’s seriously impressive to sit behind.
In fact, because the sizes of the Alesis Strike Pro are the same as a real drum set, it’s so comfortable to play you begin to forget you’re playing on an electronic drum set!
The Strike Pro features a patented enhanced articulation system and latest-generation tunable mesh heads that respond very well to all different playing nuances, from strong backbeats on the snare drum right through to ghost notes and buzz-rolls.
The Alesis Strike Pro cymbals offer a good level of responsiveness and accurate triggering when being played. All of the electronic cymbals have choke functionality, and the ride cymbal has three individual playing zones. I found the hi-hat cymbals to be particularly engaging to play.
Value
Without a doubt, the Alesis Strike Pro is the best bang for your buck flagship electronic drum set on the market. It’s priced significantly cheaper than it’s direct competitor offerings from Roland and Yamaha, yet it still offers a considerably high spec.
In fact, the Alesis Strike Pro is the only kit of its kind to utilize a 20” kick drum and it offers a real impact and feel of its acoustic counterparts.
Ultimately, the Alesis Strike Pro boasts a specification and features that trumps everything else in its price range. The flagship Roland kit costs three times more.
Verdict
Overall the Alesis Strike Pro electronic drum set is a very attractive kit both aesthetically and sonically. It is unmistakably enjoyable to play, thanks to the number of drum components included, the realistic sizes of the wood drum shells, and the sensitive mesh heads included.
The drum module is also particularly impressive and has a huge wealth of realistic sounds at its disposal. It also has all the connectivity and functionality you would expect from a pro-level electronic drum kit.
If I had to be critical, I would say that whilst the Alesis Strike kit is considerably more affordable than the flagship Roland and Yamaha kits, it doesn’t have quite the same premium feel.
But all things considered, if I had to choose which kit had the ultimate balance of performance, quality, and affordability, it would be the Alesis Strike Pro SE!
What Comes In The Alesis Strike Pro SE Box?
The Alesis Strike Pro electronic drum set includes a huge number of drum and cymbal pads. It does not include a bass drum pedal, hi-hat stand, or drum throne, however. Included in the box you receive the following components:
- Strike drum module
- 14″ Snare drum pad
- 20" Kick drum pad
- 8" Rack tom
- 10" Rack tom
- 12" Floor tom
- 14" Floor tom
- 12" Hi-hat cymbals
- 14" Crash cymbal
- 16" Ride cymbal
- 4-Post steel rack
- Snare drum stand
Alesis Strike Pro SE At A Glance
Pros
- Exceptionally realistic and fun to play
- Fantastic value for money
- Whopping 11-Piece drum set!
- Powerful drum module with 1,800 sounds
Cons
- FX engine could be improved
- Cymbals do not have full-surface playability
- Potentially too large for smaller living spaces