Alesis Strike Pro SE Review: The Big Mesh Kit, Discontinued and Worth Hunting Used

The Alesis Strike Pro SE was the kit that made a lot of people look twice at Alesis. It has a full 20-inch kick drum, wood-shell toms in real acoustic sizes, a 16-inch three-zone ride and a module that can load your own samples. For years it was the most drum-like kit you could buy for well under the price of a Roland flagship.

It is also a kit that is no longer made. Musician’s Friend lists it as discontinued with no inventory, other major US retailers show it unavailable, and Alesis has moved its high-end line to the Strata kits. So this review answers two questions. What is the Strike Pro SE actually like on paper and in owners’ hands, and is a used one still a smart buy in late 2026?

I have not played one for this review. Everything here comes from the Alesis launch materials, retailer spec sheets (zZounds, Musician’s Friend, Long & McQuade, Kraft Music), and patterns in owner feedback. Where sources disagree, I say so.

Our verdict in brief

On paper, the Strike Pro SE still looks impressive next to many kits that are on sale new today. Eleven pieces, mesh heads on real shells, three crashes with choke, a big ride, and a module with eight direct outputs. Few current kits in its old price range give you that much physical drum.

The weak spots are well known by now. The hi-hat takes patience to calibrate, the cymbals have a single sensor that must face the right way, and some built-in sounds (snares and cymbals especially) get mixed reviews. Owners who run it as a trigger for drum software tend to be happier than owners who rely only on the onboard sounds.

Our score: 7.6 / 10. That score reflects the kit as a used buy in 2026, not the kit as it was at launch. As a new purchase at its old list price it no longer makes sense, and in practice you cannot buy it new anyway.

Who it’s for and who should skip it

Good fit

• Drummers who want the look and size of an acoustic kit. The 20-inch kick and 8, 10, 12 and 14-inch toms put pads where your hands already expect them.
• Players who will use drum software. The 5-pin MIDI and USB ports make it a solid controller for a VST, and owners often pair it with one. Our guide to drum VST plugins covers the popular options.
• Recording and practice-room setups that want separate outputs. Eight direct outs let you send kick, snare and toms to an interface or mixer on their own channels.
• Bargain hunters who are handy. A good used kit costs far less than it did new, and most issues are fixable with settings or small DIY fixes.

Skip it if

• You want a warranty and a simple setup. A used Strike Pro SE comes with neither.
• You live in an apartment with thin floors. A 20-inch kick drum hit with a real beater sends a lot of low thump into the floor.
• You want the best possible hi-hat feel. The hi-hat is the most common complaint, and newer Alesis kits use a different, magnetic hi-hat system.
• You are a first-time beginner on a budget. You would be paying for size and outputs you will not use yet. Our list of the best electronic drum sets for beginners is a better starting point.

Is the Strike Pro SE discontinued?

Yes. As of November 2026, Musician’s Friend marks the Strike Pro SE as discontinued with zero inventory, and the other big US stores show it sold out or unavailable. I could not find a major US retailer with new stock.

Alesis announced the Strike Pro Special Edition on November 26, 2019, as an update to the original Strike Pro. Its place at the top of the Alesis lineup now belongs to the Strata series, which launched with the Strata Prime in March 2024. The Strata Core followed in October 2024 and the smaller Strata Club in April 2025.

The Strata Prime is the closest spiritual successor. It keeps the 20-inch kick, 14-inch snare and 8 to 14-inch toms, but moves to a 10.1-inch touchscreen module with a BFD-based sound engine and a magnetic hi-hat controller. It also sits in a much higher price bucket. I go into the details in Strike Pro SE vs Strata Prime, and the Strata Prime has its own full review.

One more point that matters for used buyers: Alesis still publishes support articles for the Strike Pro and Strike Pro SE, including firmware and trigger setup guides. Discontinued does not mean abandoned, but do not expect new features.

Strike Pro vs Strike Pro SE: the original 2017 kit

Plenty of used listings just say “Alesis Strike Pro,” and that can mean either kit. They share a name and most pad sizes, but they are not the same drum set.

When each kit came out

Alesis first showed the Strike Pro at Winter NAMM in January 2016, according to MusicRadar’s show report, with a Q2 2016 target. It reached stores later: Modern Drummer dates the release to late 2017. The SE replaced it after Alesis announced it on November 26, 2019, and Sweetwater and zZounds now list the original as no longer available.

What actually changed

From the zZounds, Long & McQuade and Sweetwater spec sheets and Kraft Music’s SE launch article:

Both use the Strike Performance Module design: a 4.3-inch screen, 13 trigger inputs, eight direct outs, onboard sampling and the Strike Software Editor. Sources disagree on the original’s kit count: Sweetwater and Long & McQuade say 100, Kraft Music says 110. Kraft also notes that the SE’s boom arms clamp to the horizontal rack bars instead of the vertical posts. I could not confirm that a firmware update adds the SE’s extra kits to an original module, so do not assume it does.

How to tell them apart on a used listing

• Look at the kick. On the original, the 14-inch kick is the same diameter as the floor tom. On the SE, the 20-inch bass drum is clearly the biggest drum in the photo.
• Look at the hardware color. Chrome rack and lugs mean original. Black rack, black hoops and gold tension rods mean SE. Both have red sparkle shells, so the wrap alone tells you nothing.
• Do not count cymbals. Both kits have five. Measure the hi-hat instead: 12 inches on the original, 14 on the SE.
• Check the box or receipt. Long & McQuade lists the model as STRIKEPRO KIT for the original and STRIKEPROSE KIT for the SE.

Which one to buy used

If prices are close, I would take the SE. The 20-inch kick, bigger hi-hat and extra content are the main upgrades, and the newer kit has usually seen fewer years of playing. The original makes sense if it is clearly cheaper, complete and tested, or if you want a smaller kick in a tight room.

Expect the same weak spots I cover below. MusicRadar’s 2017 review needed a lot of trigger tweaking and still saw some bass drum re-triggering, and DrumSpy lists the familiar hi-hat and one-sided cymbal sensor complaints.

What’s in the box

Here is what a complete Strike Pro SE kit includes, based on the Alesis press release and the Long & McQuade and Guitar Center spec sheets.

Not included: kick pedal, hi-hat stand and throne. That is normal for kits in this class, but it surprises first-time buyers.

A 16 GB SD card ships with the kit, per zZounds and Long & McQuade. The module accepts SDHC cards up to 32 GB, formatted FAT32, Class 10, so a missing card in a used kit is an easy fix.

The Strike Pro module and sounds

The module is the brain of the kit and the part that has aged the most. It is still capable, but you can feel that it was designed before the touchscreen era.

Kits, instruments and samples

Alesis lists 136 kits built from more than 1,800 instruments and about 45,000 samples. The original Strike Pro had fewer kits and instruments, so the SE is a real content upgrade, not just a new finish. User kits are limited mainly by the size of the SD card.

The screen is a small color display of about 4.3 inches. Below it sits a 12-slider mixer, which is handy for balancing kick, snare and cymbals without digging into menus.

Onboard sampling and custom sounds

This is the module’s biggest strength. You can record samples directly into the module or load WAV files via the SD card or the free Strike Software Editor. That means you can build kits from your own snare recordings, add electronic sounds, or load multi-sampled instruments.

Owners who use this feature tend to love the kit. Owners who want to plug in and play great sounds straight away are more mixed.

How the sounds hold up

From what I’ve gathered from owners and long-form reviews, the kicks and toms are the strongest part of the library. Snares and cymbals draw more criticism, and snare, ride and hi-hat response is often described as a step below Roland’s.

Effects are another weak spot. The effects work across the whole kit, so you cannot add compression or EQ to a single drum the way modern modules allow. Several owners say they leave the two effects slots alone.

Firmware

Alesis recommends updating to firmware v1.4 before you adjust triggers. According to Alesis support, that version added new kits and content and improved hi-hat calibration and playability. To check your version, press Utility, then F5. If you buy used, update first and then judge the kit.

Outputs and connections

The module has plenty of connections, even by current standards. From the zZounds and Long & McQuade spec sheets:

• 13 x 1/4-inch TRS trigger inputs
• 2 x 1/4-inch TRS main outputs
• 8 x 1/4-inch TRS direct outputs
• 1/4-inch stereo headphone output
• 1/8-inch stereo aux input
• 5-pin MIDI in and out
• USB Type-B
• SDHC card slot (up to 32 GB)
• 12 V, 2 A power supply

The kit uses individual 1/4-inch cables rather than one snake, so the 13 trigger inputs leave room for an extra pad or two.

Pads and feel

Snare and toms

The snare and toms use mesh heads on hybrid wood shells, with lugs attached directly to the shell like an acoustic drum. You tune tension with real tension rods, so you can set each pad tighter or looser. All of them are dual-zone, meaning head and rim.

The 14-inch snare is a big deal if you also play acoustic drums. Many cheaper kits use 10 or 12-inch snares, which makes rimshots and cross-sticks feel cramped. Owners often say the SE feels closer to their acoustic kit than to practice gear.

Kick drum

The 20-inch kick is a real drum shell with a mesh head. Because it is a full-size drum, any standard single or double pedal fits without the squeeze you get on small kick towers. It also means more low-frequency thump into the floor, which I cover in the noise section.

Cymbals

The SE uses Strike cymbals with full rubber pads: three 14-inch crashes with choke, a 16-inch three-zone ride and a 14-inch hi-hat. Retailers disagree on zone counts. Musician’s Friend and Guitar Center call the cymbals triple-zone, while zZounds and Long & McQuade list the crashes as dual-zone and only the ride as three-zone. I go with the dual-zone crashes from the more detailed spec sheets.

One quirk matters a lot. The cymbals have a sensor on one side, so they must sit with the Alesis logo facing away from you. Hits on the far side of the pad can misfire or feel weak. Locking washers or a careful wingnut setup keep them from spinning.

Hi-hat

The hi-hat is a 14-inch pad that mounts on a real hi-hat stand, with a control unit that reads pedal position. Alesis’s hi-hat guide lists several setup steps: remove the felt washer under the controller, plug in the short 1/8-inch cable between the hi-hat parts, check that the spring’s black stopper faces up, and do not compress the spring before tightening the clutch.

Done right, owners report it works well enough for most styles. Done wrong, it double-triggers, misses closed sounds or feels on/off. It is the most common complaint in owner feedback.

Hardware and footprint

The rack is a four-post steel rack in black. Reviews generally describe it as sturdy, and I did not find a pattern of rack complaints. Cymbal boom arms clamp to the horizontal bars.

Alesis did not publish an overall assembled footprint that I could find. What I can tell you is that the kit uses full acoustic sizes: a 20-inch kick, four toms from 8 to 14 inches and five cymbals, three of them 14-inch crashes. Plan for roughly the floor space of a five-piece acoustic kit, not a compact e-kit. zZounds lists a shipping weight of about 141 lb for the full kit, which tells you how much hardware is involved.

The module itself measures 12 x 8 x 3 inches and weighs about 3.45 lb, according to zZounds.

When you buy used, check that the seller has all the rack parts. Used listings without tom mounts or boom arms are common, and replacing them eats into your savings.

Noise for apartments

Mesh heads are much quieter than acoustic drumheads, and Alesis says the Strike cymbals are quieter than older e-cymbals. Your neighbors will still hear something, though. Stick noise on the pads is moderate, but the bigger problem is the 20-inch kick drum. A full-size kick transfers low thumps through the floor, and that is what downstairs neighbors complain about.

If you live in an apartment, a riser or isolation platform is close to essential with this kit. Our guide to making electronic drums quieter covers the main fixes. A softer beater also helps.

Alesis support adds a related tip: setting up on carpet instead of a hard floor reduces crosstalk between pads. A thick rug helps with both noise and triggering.

Connectivity and apps

The Strike Pro SE is from the era before Bluetooth and phone apps on drum modules. There is no Bluetooth audio or MIDI. To play along with music, you use the 1/8-inch aux input or load tracks onto the SD card (the module supports MP3 playback, per Guitar Center).

For computer use, the module offers USB and 5-pin MIDI. You can use it as a MIDI controller for drum software, and owners commonly do. Expect to map the hi-hat by hand: the open and closed hi-hat control values may not line up with your plugin’s defaults, so expect to spend some time in your software’s settings. Our guide on connecting electronic drums to a computer walks through the basics.

The Strike Software Editor runs on a computer and is used for building kits and importing sounds. It is not a phone app, and it is not as slick as current touchscreen editing.

What owners say

I looked for recurring themes across owner reviews, forum threads and long-form reviews. I did not include an owner quote block because I could not verify specific Reddit thread URLs for this kit, so here are the patterns in my own words.

What owners like:

• The look and size. Owners talk about the kit feeling like their acoustic kit, especially the 20-inch kick and 14-inch snare.
• The ride. A 16-inch three-zone ride with a playable bell was rare in this price class, and it still gets praise.
• Sampling and outputs. Players who load their own sounds or record with direct outs rate the module highly.
• Value used. Many recent owners bought theirs secondhand and feel they got a lot of drum for the money.

What owners complain about:

• Hi-hat consistency, by far the most common issue.
• Crosstalk between pads, especially on hard floors or when pads touch the rack.
• Stock snare and cymbal sounds that do not match the quality of the kicks and toms.
• Cymbals that misfire when hit away from the sensor.
• Build issues on some units, though the SE is generally seen as an improvement on the original Strike Pro.

Problems and fixes

These are the problems that come up most often, with the fixes Alesis support and owners recommend.

1. Hi-hat double-triggers or will not close properly

Update to firmware v1.4 first. Then follow the Alesis setup steps: no felt washer under the control unit, the 1/8-inch cable from the bottom cymbal plugged in, spring stopper facing up, and the top cymbal resting on the spring before you tighten the clutch. Alesis notes that an upside-down spring can make the response worse.

After that, adjust settings one at a time. Alesis support explains that Offset sets where the pedal counts as closed, Foot Sens controls the dynamic range of the foot “chick,” and Pedal Curve changes how quickly the sound moves from open to closed. A Log curve gives you more closed sounds, an Exp curve more open sounds.

2. Crosstalk (one pad triggers another)

Alesis lists four fixes: keep pads from touching each other or their clamps, set up on carpet, adjust cymbal wingnuts so they are neither loose nor overtight, and use the XTalk Send and XTalk Receive settings. Raise Send on the pad causing the problem and Receive on the pad being falsely triggered.

3. Ghost notes or missed soft hits

This is usually a Sensitivity or Threshold issue. Alesis says Sensitivity is the main setting for how a pad feels, and Threshold sets how hard you must hit before the pad responds. Too low a threshold causes ghost triggers. Alesis advises changing threshold mainly when using third-party triggers, since defaults are tuned for Strike pads.

4. Cymbals misfire

Make sure the logo faces away from you, so the sensor sits on the playing side. Use locking washers to stop rotation.

5. Weak or failing pad triggers over time

A used kit may have years of heavy playing on its sensors. Before you buy, test every pad at soft and hard volumes, including rims. A pad that only responds to hard hits after you raise its sensitivity usually needs internal repair.

6. Resetting to factory settings

If a used kit behaves oddly, Alesis says you can reset by holding STOP and ENTER while powering on. Back up any user kits on the SD card first.

Buying a used Strike Pro SE

Since new stock is gone, most readers will be looking at used listings. Our general guide to buying used electronic drums covers the basics. Here is what matters for this kit specifically.

Price. Used listings I found in 2026 typically sat at the low end of the 1000-2000 bucket, roughly half the original list price. Much below that, expect missing parts or problems.

Confirm it is the SE. The original Strike Pro had a 14-inch kick, a 12-inch hi-hat, a chrome rack, 110 kits and about 1,600 instruments, per Kraft Music. The SE has the 20-inch kick, 14-inch hi-hat, black rack and hoops, white mesh heads with black pinstripes and gold tension rods. Both have red sparkle shells, so check the hardware, not the wrap.

Check for complete hardware. Ask for photos of the rack with all clamps, boom arms and tom mounts. Missing hardware is common.

Test every zone. Hit each head and rim, the ride bow, edge and bell, each crash edge and choke, and the hi-hat open, closed and foot chick.

Check the module. Ask what firmware it runs, make sure the SD card is included, and confirm the power supply is the correct 12 V, 2 A unit.

Budget for extras. You need a kick pedal and hi-hat stand, and many buyers also get a riser for apartment use.

Upgrades worth buying

• A solid hi-hat stand. Since the kit has no hi-hat stand, choose one with a smooth action and a stable base. The hi-hat feel depends on it.
• A good kick pedal. The 20-inch kick works with any pedal. A softer beater lowers floor thump.
• Drum software. Using the kit as a MIDI controller for a modern VST gets around the dated snare and cymbal samples.
• Good headphones. The module has a 1/4-inch headphone jack. Closed-back headphones help you hear detail.
• A riser or platform. Almost essential in apartments.

Alternatives

Alesis Strata Prime

The direct successor at the top of the Alesis range. It keeps the acoustic sizes (20-inch kick, 14-inch snare, 8 to 14-inch toms) and adds a 10.1-inch touchscreen, a BFD sound engine with about 40 GB of sounds, 128 GB of storage, two 16-inch crashes, an 18-inch ride and a magnetic hi-hat controller. It is sold new with warranty, but in a much higher price bucket.

Alesis Strata Core

A smaller, cheaper Strata kit with a 7-inch touchscreen, a 12-inch snare, an 8-inch kick tower and Bluetooth MIDI. It gives up the acoustic sizes but gets the newer module and hi-hat. See the Strata Core review.

Alesis Crimson II SE

A mid-range Alesis kit with a 12-inch snare, 8 and 10-inch toms, a 14-inch three-zone ride and a module with 74 kits and 671 sounds. It is still sold new, but US stock is thin, so check availability before you plan around it. Our Crimson II SE review covers it.

Roland TD516

If you want a new high-end kit with strong triggering and a current module, Roland is the usual comparison. The TD516 from the V-Drums 5 Series replaced the TD-27 kits. It costs more, but it is sold new with Roland’s US warranty. See the TD516 review.

Final thoughts

The Strike Pro SE is no longer a kit you buy new, and it should not be judged as one. As a used purchase, it still offers something many new kits do not: full acoustic sizes, three crashes, a proper ride and eight direct outputs. If you are willing to spend an evening on hi-hat and trigger setup, and you check the kit carefully before buying, it can be a lot of drum for the money. If you want a new kit with warranty and a modern module, go straight to the Strata line.