I'm a confirmed Roland user, but my first kit was an Alesis. I like the kit sounds, but within a couple of weeks. things started to break: two rubber pads flipped right off (they looked to have been sort of glued on), and the kick drum quit completely. Long story short, i was able to get a complete refund. At the time, a local music store salesman advised me "Please don't buy an alesis from me. It will be back here in no time causing me a headache for a warranty claim!" In other words, the quality just isn't there; you have to pay the bucks to Roland, maybe Yamaha. Get a TD-11KS for around $1000 and upgrade to mesh pads, possible used ones (could cost another $600-$1000). I say TD-11ks becasue it is the low end of mid-range (but upgrade it). Of course, TD-15 and TD-30 offer more but they are the price of a decent used car.