The Alesis DRP100 is an audio-isolating electronic drum monitoring headphone. Despite its budget price, the Alesis DRP100 offers decent quality and comfort, and is a good budget option for practicing, as well as for basic studio mixing and even live performances. In this review we'll go over the DRP100's specs, performance, durability and comfort, where it outperforms other (similarly priced) headphones and where it falls behind, and outlines some pros and cons and other potential options if the DRP100 isn't for you. you.
Specifications
- 40mm Full Range Drivers
- Wide frequency response: 10 Hz – 30 kHz
- Maximum SPL: 98 dB
- Impedance: 32 ohms
- 6ft cable with 1/8″ stereo mini-jack
- 1/4″ headphone jack adapter included
Performance
Because the DRP100 is a monitoring headphone, it is designed to provide a very smooth response across all frequencies, ensuring you can hear all the little nuances and details of your playing. If you're not used to gaming with a monitor headset, the overall sound will feel a little flatter compared to a headset that boosts certain frequencies. The second part of the DRP100's function is sound isolation. This is self-explanatory: the headphones are designed to block out all external noise. So in terms of monitoring performance, the headphones perform very well, producing an accurate and balanced representation of your playing across all frequencies, which is exactly what you expect from a monitoring headphone. The sound quality itself is also really good. In terms of sound insulation, they do well. They block out most outside noise, but you can still hear certain noises (for example, hitting the cymbal pads of an electronic drum set). Overall, its performance is above what you would expect from such cheap headphones.
Durability
While the Alesis DRP100 offers great performance, its durability falls a bit behind. The main complaint is that the audio cuts out or fails completely on one side of the headphones after 5 or 6 months of use. This is usually due to poor soldering of the wires, and while it's a relatively easy problem to fix if you or someone you know has soldering experience, it's annoying to have to do it in the first place. This issue isn't common enough for me to recommend against purchasing these headphones, but it's something we definitely want to highlight.
Comfort
In terms of comfort, the Alesis is pretty average. The design includes a sweat-resistant silicone headband and comfortable ear cushions. Alesis is one of the leading manufacturers in the electronic drum headphones space, so as expected, the headphones felt good and I didn't experience any pinching or discomfort around my ears. My only complaint regarding comfort was that the headphones felt a little tight around my head, but maybe I just have a big head. Overall I thought the comfort was adequate given the price of these headphones, I used them for quite a while and never felt like I wanted to stop playing because they hurt my ears or my head or anything like that.
Conclusion
In terms of electronic drum monitoring, the Alesis DRP100 performs quite well at a great price. It may not compete with professional electronic drum monitoring, but if you're not a professional drummer and are looking for a budget option with noise-isolating headphones, I would definitely consider the Alesis DRP100. If you're looking for other options, check this out. list of the best headphones for electronic drums.
Mark James is the editor-in-chief and senior writer of Headphone reviews. With over 10 years of experience reviewing headphones and music-related accessories, he knows all the details any music lover wants. Not only that, she is responsible for guiding and advising the Headphones Reviews editorial team. The best thing is that you make sure that all the information on this site is valuable before publishing it.
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