Alesis SR18

198 Customer ratings

4.3 / 5

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57 Reviews

Alesis SR18
829 AED 209,24 €
Plus 277 AED shipping
The price in AED is a guideline price only
Since we ship from Germany, additional costs through taxes and customs may be incurred
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G
Easy to use! That's my favourite part!
Gerardo5491 15.07.2020
The Alesis SR18 drum machine is really simple to understand and to use.
I'm the kind of person who thinks "Hey, I'm a musician not a programmer"
If you are like me then probably you feel extremely irritated when using an instrument in which one whatever you need to do you have to access a menu and "program" something.
Well good news! that's not the case with the Alesis SR18!
This drum machine is intuitive and easy to use, man I can compare this with the Boss Dr.880 which I ended up selling because you need more time understanding it than playing.
The Alesis SR18 offers a variety of rhythms, rock, funk, latin, it is actually missing metal, I was surprised, but ok, it offers you the possibility to play your own rhythms and save them.
A cool feature in the SR18 that some other drum machines are not offering, is that it has as well bass and percussions, which you can mute at your own taste.
Example, wanna play drums? then mute the drums on the SR18 and play along with the SR18 bass and percussions.
Wanna play bass? no problem, mute the bass in the SR18 and so you play the bass yourself while jamming with the SR18 drums and percussion.
The SR18 comes with a variety of basses, drum kits, from acoustic to electronic, there will be something to fit your needs. Drums are sounding powerful and realistic, electronic drum sounds are also high quality.
I'm using the SR18 in a wide variety, to practice bass, and as well I use it with my Roland FA08, or to play along with my Meinl Congas. It is a very versatile drum machine that allows you to create and have fun without breaking your head.
Another good reason why I chose the SR18 is because of portability, it can be used with AA batteries.
I recently bought a Yamaha Reface DX (you know, those mini pianos) and so I thought that it would make a great duo with the Alesis SR18, especially when going outdoors or to countryside house. All this and a little speaker can easily fit into a backpack.
UPDATE = You can connect via midi cable your SR18 to some other keyboard or pad, I connected my SR18 to my Roland Octapad, and so practically my Octapad got an expansion pack, now I can enjoy my Alesis SR18 drum kits on my Octapad.
As usual from Thomann fast dispatch, fast delivery, around 10 days to Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Danke Thomann team!
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BM
Using it for real gigs
Bogdan M. 20.09.2013
So you've read in the Internets how better is Alesis SR16 (predecessor) and now being scared, and therefore have some doubts to buy SR18? Well, I was the same. :-)

What I really like:
1. Each pattern/song has own default tempo!

2. Sounds are really great, not "nintendo'ish" and sounds much more like human is playing. Especially, if you record the pattern with the real drum kit (electric).

3. Percussion mode.

4. Tempo and switching knob. This this was simply missing in the SR16!

5. Awesome effects for the drums.

6. Possibility to connect another instrument through (I play also bass).

7. Glowing display is just great when your gig is in the dark.


What I don't like very much (but survivable):
1. Playing pads. They are by no means better than in previous model SR16. Now they are fixed and does not canceling previous sound and does not sound triple-piano silent (PPP) when you really hitting them, like in SR16. However, you still have challenge to let it sound real.

2. MIDI channels are somewhat oddly set. When I connect my Roland V-Drums TD-20 Pro, they trigger "who knows what", but what I do expect. For that reason I had to create my own MIDI setup only for this machine. But once you've done it, it works fine.

3. You don't have much drums to use in the current set. I cannot squeeze several crash cymbals, bell, ride, toms etc. But it is enough for the rhythm and simple fills.

Myths, you could hear in the Internet:
1. Myth: Switching fills between patterns is unpredictable. Reality: They do work just like in SR16 with no differences.

2. Myth: Is very difficult to use for gigs and live play. Reality: Just like SR16, except you can much faster switch between patterns and they even do remember their default tempos!

3. Myth: It is very difficult to handle. Reality: It is as same as SR16, except it just has more features, therefore more things needs to be known. Hint: read the documentation. :-)

4. Myth: It is too expensive for its value. Reality: In fact, if you compare to other machines within its class, the prices of other devices are much higher, while feature-wise they are not as SR-18.

Verdict:
1. Totally worth its price.

2. Awesome for gigs.

3. Easily replaces your lousy drummer. :-P
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Classic Updated
YoBake 21.06.2021
I was an SR-16 user from the 90s. I did a ton of songwriting demos and self produced CDs using the SR-16. It's not a real drummer, but if you know how to use it, it's a damned good replacement when there's no drummers around. So, when my SR-16 blew out on me, I replaced it with this baby. It's an upgrade - it's just as easy to use, but sounds better. I haven't gotten into using it live yet, but I will. So far, it's better than its predecessor and I am all good with that.
PROs: When you get the basics of it, it does what its supposed to do and can be used for pro recordings and live shows.
CONS: it's not Steve Gadd... but if you don't expect it to be and use it for what it is, it's excellent. The bass stuff in there is icing. I've not used it yet as I also play bass, but the patches sound good.
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Excellent drum machine
Colan 06.10.2020
If there's a better hardware drum kit then I haven't found it yet. This is almost perfect for practice, composing and stage work.
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Review Alesis SR18
Peter1845 16.03.2014
Hello,
playing with a metronome is a good way of studying music, but playing with a metronome can become boring very fast.
so, in comes the Alesis SR18!
A lot of buttons, but can be used directly "out of the box", "as-is".
A big variety in drums and drumsounds, far more than i ever will be using. Drumsounds are of very high quality. And what's more : there are a lot of percussion sounds to make it even better.
And on top of that : there is the possibility of adding basslines to the drums, so its almost a complete band in this drummachine.
Conclusion : it's a simple and effective practising tool for me, and i can imagine someone using it live on stage for realistic drums, percussion and bass help on stage.
Glad i found this device ! And I haven't started programming it yet !
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Gakis 01.05.2021
The best hardware drum machine kit you can choose to buy! Very professional and great design. The only thing that I kinda don't like are the pads, I would like them bigger. Fantastic for composing drum beats etc. Totally worth it!

Epic customer service, great communication and trustworthy! Professionalism at its finest!
Great packaging and handling, everything came intact, in mint condition! Fast shipping and on time! 5/5 stars for Thomann!
Best regards to the employees and all my respects to all of them! Thank you so much!
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Imagine a drummer who can keep perfect time and doesn't argue, get tired or drunk.
Brian449 19.08.2015
I was going to get an SR16 but decided to pay the extra and get the SR18. Boy am I glad I did. The patterns are great and the sounds very realistic, superb in fact. Programming is quite easy using the pads. An external keyboard gives better touch sensitivity but the pads do a good job too.
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Anonymous 09.01.2017
Excellent drum machine. I use it for 5 years. I used it for rehearsals, concerts and recording albums. Very happy with the quality.
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mw
Alesis still masters of super Drum machines and products
mr winky 10.07.2022
After hours and hours of youtube clips and research, looking for your standard basic drum machine, user friendly and even has the extra function of Bass, and matching its younger brother world renowned Alesis SR16, the SR18 will not dissapoint and will give you hours of enjoyment creating your own drum and bass patterns, or if Just drum patterns, leave out the bass, I can't comment on the bass function as I have not used this function yet,
a drummer in a box and once off payment, but I have to add, you can never beat the live drummer, but SR18 will get you pretty close..
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AlanG 24.10.2016
Found this great to custom build bass and drum backing tracks. The manual took a bit of reading but the controls are fairly intuitive.
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Alesis SR18