Purchased my Alesis Core less than a month ago, already experiencing failure to boot issues with the module. I was hesitant to get this kit with the history but saw a firmware update had reportedly resolved it. Unfortunately does not appear so. If you're in the market for a kit in this price range, I'd recommend another brand. Reaching out to my sweetwater rep on Monday for resolutions.

I upgraded from the Nitro Max to these and it's gonna take some getting used to. They are a lot more like real drums. The Nitro Max are nice too but they hide a lot of flaws. This Core set exposes the flaws and that's a good thing. Love 'em. My favorite part is probably the module. Very simple and I like simple so I can focus on playing and not needing a degree to make a simple change.

Roland has a new flagship drum module called the V71 that has 200 kits, 1000 drum pieces, what they call a LARGE color display (NOT TOUCHSCREEN) that is small and they make a big deal out of table stakes WIFI. Bully... Yes, the Core has less drum sounds, but the Roland module alone costs $2,600! What's more is you get my most hated menu system in the electronic drum world.

I am an old drummer - I owned the first triangle shaped pads from Roland, I owned a Roland TD something another kit as well and I owned a mini Octoapad kit (bought anther recently since I forgot how much I disliked the old one 20 years ago) and from 1990 to now I have never disliked a menu structure more than Roland!

Strata Core - an actual LARGE 7" touchscreen with simple to use menu structures, tri-zone cymbals with 360 degree touch-ability (you can run your fingernail down them and you can hear the ridges play like a real cymbal), 5 piece drum set, 3 cymbals and hats for $2k.

The rack is competent, the mounting system is very good for cymbals and toms, the mesh playing surfaces are responsive and natural and the only nits I have is the snare stand is not awesome AND I would have liked individual outs.

Now for the reason I taking the time to write the review and why it is 5 stars... It's the extra gear that you get on the Strata kit! I am heavy handed drummer and YES, all drum pads from every manufacturer are velocity sensitive, but this is kit is different. When you get pissed and crack the tom striking the rim and the head at the same time, you feel it and hear like a real drum set. Is it the richness of the samples? Dunno, but when you can still hear the 12" tom ringing when you hit the floor tom, it goes into another gear. Believable - recordable - playable...

Read More Show Less

I was worried this kit compared to the strata prime would be horrible, I was wrong. Probably the best electric kit I've ever laid my sticks on

I've had this kit for a month. I've played 3 gigs with it. Besides me getting used to the high hat. This kit rocks! Once u get a hang of the menu. U can fly thru settings and adjust stuff incredibly fast. Custom kits are simple to make. I play a variety of music and with this I can build kits to the songs. The other review mentioned freezing with the kit. I've not experienced much of that. I updated the kit pretty quickly. It can glitch and freeze if ur doing a very certain thing. In stacking drums if u have it on hit to select. Then u start playing wildly and hitting a bunch of different stuff. This will cause it to glitch or even freeze up for a bit. Worse it will restart itself. Other than this I've had no problems. The compact size of this kit is nice. Some of places I play there's not a ton of room. If u looking 4 big sound in a small kit. Buy this it's worth every penny!

Read More Show Less

Like everyone else the samples are great, mesh heads are great, and plenty of kits with no throwaways. My only concerns are with the module. I've had it for a week and it has frozen up twice. I've had to reboot it to bring it back up. Also, long startup and power down times and some clunky operation. I haven't used it on a gig yet, but the freezes make me uneasy. It's new, maybe updates will fix its shortcomings, but it shouldn't have been released before it was 100%