Why I bought the DM10 Studio mesh kit -
The other 2 kits I was looking at were the Alesis Crimson and the Roland TD-11k-s. All 3 were 999.00 at GC.
First off the Crimson kit with the mesh heads had a great feel. But, I felt this kit was not much of an upgrade from the DM10 studio mesh kit. Yes, the Crimson kit looks great and the sound module was nice too. It just seems that Alesis repackaged the DM10 mesh kit, took away a cymbal, tom and painted it Crimson red. What Alesis should have done was add the extra cymbal and tom then we would have a great kit.
The Roland TD-11k-s : It was hard to pass this kit up knowing they are the gold standard. Here is where the trade of comes in though. The Roland sound module is what sets it apart from the DM10 sound module. Take the sound module out of the equation ( Im using Toontracks Superior drummer 2.0 for my kits anyhow so neither sound module makes a difference as they both have MIDI and USB that route to a computer.) so, the sound modules are a moot point for me as im bypassing their built in sounds anyhow.
Roland kit - we have 3 rubber toms, 1 mesh snare and 2 cymbals ( ride and crash ) and compact rack mount. Compare that with the DM10 kit - 4 mesh toms, 1 Mesh snare, 2 crash cymbals, Ride and rack mount that is much nicer, larger and durable.
Which would you choose to play? Rubber or Mesh. I'll take hitting the mesh pads over hitting rubber pads any day of the week. Less fatigue with mesh and a lot less noise. As far a the quality of the toms - they are just as strong as Roland. They come with steel hoops and protective rubber rings to go over them. Now you can start to see my decision for the DM10 Mesh Kit.
The DM10 Studio Mesh Kit - The first thing I did after setup was to check the firmware, it had the latest version. (Nothing worse than trying to dial in a kit and find out that the firmware is not current.) Right out of the box, I had no problem with cross talk or triggers not sensing. The toms and snare feel great after manual adjustment to my liking. The cymbals are great but just a bit under Roland quality. Everything just feels solid with this kit. I would not recommend this kit to psycho drummers who tear up acoustic kits daily, its a durable kit but, not indestructable. Its a great kit for a home studio, small venues but pair it with Superior drummer or a similar program and it rocks. You can also add 10 single zones pads with a Y cable using the dual zone inputs for 20 single trigger zones or single zone pads.
The money to value is great. You get more for your dollar. I bought this kit for 600.00. An 200.00 rebate from Alesis and 20% coupon from GC made this kit 600.00 out the door. Here is a tip for you if you go to a place like GC to test these kits out. Most of the demo kits have been messed with and setting get all out of whack. Here is what I do, I reset all the settings back to factory on the sound modules. Just pull up the info on a smartphone for the kit you are testing out. Makes a huge difference.
Thats just my 2cents worth and hope it helps with making a decision in buying a electronic kit.