Alesis Strata Prime e-Drum Kit: Layer Deep in New Features!
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Alesis Strata Prime e-Drum Kit · Source: Alesis
Alesis Prime Module · Source: Alesis
Alesis Strata Prime e-Drum Kit · Source: Alesis
Alesis Prime Module Rear · Source: Alesis
Alesis Strata Prime e-Drum Kit · Source: Alesis
Alesis Prime Module · Source: Alesis
Alesis Active Magnetic Hi-Hat · Source: Alesis
Building on the success of the Strike & Strike Pro, can the new Alesis Strata Prime e-Drum Kit continue to challenge an increasingly dense market?
The Alesis Strata Prime e-Drum kit is the latest in Alesis’ line of top-end kits that deliver feature-rich pads and modules at aggressive prices. That said, the price of the new Strata Prime may seek to break with that tradition somewhat. More on that later. Let’s see what the Strata Prime has to offer.
Alesis Strata Prime Kit
Bucking the trend of going for full depth in all the shells, the Alesis Strata Prime sticks with shallow shells on all but the kick drum. This will please the space-conscious e-Drummer who still prefers to pack their kit up in bags! The sizes are as follows:
- 1x 20″ Kick Drum
- 1x 14″ Dual-Zone Mesh Snare Pad (inc. stand)
- 4x Dual-Zone Mesh Tom Pads (8″, 10″, 12″, 14″)
- 1x 14″ 360º 3-Zone Active Hi-Hat Pad with magnetic open/close sensing
- 2x 16″ 360º 3-Zone Crash Cymbal Pads
- 1x 18″ 360º 3-Zone Ride Cymbal Pad
All of the above are mounted on a typically sturdy, tubular rack. Cymbal mounts are two-part affairs to allow for precise positioning. The finish on the drum pads seems to be a darker, deeper red than the brightly coloured Strike pads.
The PRIME Module
The drum module seems to be where the biggest advancements have been made. Market leader Roland has always had the best drum brains and it looks like Alesis has really focused on improving this on their kits. The new Alesis Strata PRIME module features a 10.1″ touch display. That’s iPad territory. This is very welcome indeed.
Behind that screen lies an engine based on BFD. BFD is one of the leading drum plugin brands and, coincidentally, owned by the same parent company as Alesis, inMusic. In recent years, Alesis have been tapping into BFD as a co-brand but now they seem to have gone all in.
The Alesis Strata PRIME module contains 75 preset drum kits and, according to the blurb, can accommodate a virtually unlimited amount of user kit configurations. There are 440 kit pieces included. That should be enough variety for even the most demanding drummer.
But kit and drum quantity means nothing without detail. Inside those 440 drum kit pieces are 1092 articulations across 200,000 samples, all recorded via multiple microphone channels. That’s 40GB of sample data. In essence, you’re getting an installation of BFD in a box. There’s a total of 128GB of onboard storage, ripe for expansion and your own samples.
Alesis promise a new and revolutionary, customisable trigger engine that features automatic crosstalk filtering. Crosstalk is the bane of an e-Drummer’s life and adjusting the settings is an obligatory part of setting up any kit, especially when you first set it up. If Alesis have nixed this with an automatic system, it would be a real boon at this price point.
Price and Package
And what about that price point? Alesis have always delivered great features for a lot less than the likes of Roland. However, it seems that for whatever reason, be it spiralling component costs or increased shipping charges, Alesis have dared to get a bit closer to their competition, price-wise. The Alesis Strata Prime e-Drum Kit has an MSRP of €3,499.00 (check here).
Whilst that is still some way short of a comparative Roland kit, it puts it into the same area as other players in this end of the market, such as EFNOTE and GEWA. The kit hardware seems to be very similar to the Strike but the PRIME Module is clearly a major advancement.
More Information
The Alesis Strata Prime kit comes with a one-year manufacturer’s warranty and has a 90-day Drumeo subscription and a 30-day Melodics subscription included. However, you will need to supply your own hi-hat stand and kick drum pedal. The BFD desktop application software is not included either.
- Alesis Website
- More from Alesis
- Products at Thomann shop (affiliate)
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