Our Favorite Compact Drum Sets - Which Is Best For You? 

A better comparison of compact kits would be a video of you hauling each of these on and off the subway.

I liked a lot the Yamaha. Even the kick drum. The attack was immediate. Even with stock heads the sound was very pleasing

The Yamaha kit was the winner for me!

In the old,old days I played in a "wedding" band with my dad and his high school buddy. Guitar,accordion and me on drums. In mid 1968 my darling wife surprised me with a Slingerland compact kit. It has three single head toms-two rack and one floor which telescope in one case.It has two cymbal stands and high sock. The 18 inch bass has two heads. In any event it needs three cases for the drums,hardware and high sock cymbals and a cymbal case for the ride and crash ride cymbals. The Slingerland catalogue said the kit was perfect for the "jobbing" drummer. It is still in pretty good shape. I enjoy your videos.

It's hard to say because you guys make everything sound so good! But I'd go with the Tama. Even with crap heads it sounded great me!. Thanks you guys. Super fun to watch. Happy New Year.

You guys got the best sound out of the Yamaha kit that I've heard so far! Other demo videos I've watched, the kick drum and rack tom left a lot to be desired but in this video it sounds real nice.

I use my TAMA club jam vintage for small gigs and I'm really pleased with the ratio sound/size, with good tuning and good skins it sounds good for me, and size wise, it's smaller than those 3 reviewed kits and it has a cymbal attachment on the bass drum saving me even more weight not needing to carry an extra cymbal stand.

Great job guys! Another great effort on display here. Thank you for including TAMA on this. Much appreciated. The kits all sounded great and looked great, but I would have to give the nod to the TAMA here. For obvious reasons obviously!

Great video! You guys always produce quality content

Good job as always, guys. All three sounded great, but if you're going to force me to choose, I would lean towards the DW. But I would be happy with any of these kits. Also, I like how Tony goes out of his way to make sure we get to hear how the toms sound. He always seems to focus on that, so thank you, Tony.

DW. The quality of sound immediately stood out.

Yamaha is the overall winner.

For me Yamaha was the best. However I prefer birch over maple, so that was definitely a factor. I was also really surprised how lively and full these smaller sizes sound like.

A superb presentation guyz! Honest, to the point and solid playing to compare each set's features. I'm a bass player but paying attention to these types of videos are a benefit to all musicians regardless of your instrument. Well done.

That Yamaha sounds amazing, for having such diminutive sized toms.

Great job, guys! Just bought the 22" Neo Mod from DCP and have to agree about the heads. I took it one step further by purchasing better hoops for the 12" and 16". Kit sounds great with these adjustments.

I’ve seen the official Yamaha UK demo videos of this kit and it sounds awful. You guys actually took the time to tune it properly and it sounds incredible! That 10” Tom! 😍😍

Pretty nice video! Hands down to Tama... For the price, sound and quality are just amazing! Really versatile and practical kit in my opinion!

My biggest congrats to the sound engineer. All models sounded awesome en his hands

Depends on what you want from a compact drum kit. my favorite is Yamaha. It reminds me of a balanced separation between kick, tom, and floor tom that's inherited from the top notch Recording Custom. Tama and DW kits are possibly ideal for those who desire drum sounds close to a normal-sized kit. But, in my opinion, their kick sounds are too modest (or unbalanced) compared to 'ringing' sounds from a 12" tom and 14" floor tom. Small venue/space may require separated sounds from individual instruments, as such playgrounds are not equipped with an adequate PA system.

Cool review; 3 really different kits in the same compact kit vein. Yamaha toms were "fuller" sounding than I expected. Saw a neo-mod in your shop in black/gold duco and it was gorgeous. Those design series snares are no joke, and considering they sell +/- $300 alone, the selling price of the DW kit seems to be a real value. Thanks guys!

The Drum Center of Portsmouth is the best thing on the web. Thanks you guys!

I really like the Tama Neo Mod, I hope they will introduce more finishes in 2021.

Man! I really appreciate the full mix.

DCP back at it again making the videos we didn’t know we needed

Well, the DW does indeed sound the most like a high-end "standard" drum set, but since I already have one of those, my money (if I had any) would go to the Yamaha. Great sound (especially that 8" deep bass drum) and you guys definitely nailed that they give off a "Play me FUNKY, Big Boy!" vibe. And that SNOM looks like 8x13 inches of good, clean fun!

The DW kit featured is definitely the best! My boss has this kit and he let me use it for a Jazz Band concert I was playing for. Same finish!

All of these kits sound great. There have been many a night when I wished I was moving one of these small kits. 🥁❤️

That DW sounds insane! That floor tom went on forever too- that face haha

Love these videos guys!!! They were the bright spots of 2020 and I think they’re going to carry us through this year too!!! With that said, I liked the sound of the Tama kit. May have liked it better with good heads on it, but by far the Design Series rules. I have the Mini Pro and it sounds amazing as well. People can’t believe the sound out of it for as small as they are. Other manufacturers kits I’ve heard sound like just a step above those little junk toy kits!!!

All three kits looked and sounded good! DW’s being Tops for sure! But….. like You guys said the quality in the DW’s are unmatched. The choice would be between having a beater kit or…….. A Small Venue Quality Kit….. Great Job Guys !!😊❤🎶🥁

I've ordered the Yamaha and look forward to experimenting with it!

Hands-down the DW! Oh my god what a beautiful sounding and looking instrument 👏 Daddy soo wants! 🤗

The Ludwig NeuSonic maple/cherry (12,14,20 config) is a great sounding compact kit. Nice lightweight shells made in the USA, easy to move around.

Great video guys! Thank you! Love that intro too haha! Flyin the flannel! All cool kits and I too lean towards the DW Design Frequent Flyer! Incredible sound, overall build, ease of tuning etc. Love the sizes but would also add, the DW kit is super close to being a standard kit so while smaller, not really compact like the Yamaha which also sounds pretty amazing and is more compact. The Tama was third place for me but is still nice (dry, tight) sounding imho

They actually sound great for being so small - I'm very surprised and impressed. I'd have the Yamaha.

The DW Frequent Flyer is my fave, followed by the Tama.. I think I'd actually buy the DW. You two are hilarious as per usual. Great fun vid! lol SNOM!

I've had a DW Frequent Flyer for almost 4 years now and Love it! I got the Bug and added a 10x8 and a 16x14 and use them in my Home Studio leaving them mic'd up for recording and rehearsals. I fell in love with the 12X20 feel/sound/convenience. So, I also created a gig kit by getting another 12x20 shell and I cut down another Design series to 10x5.5 and 12x7 (+14x12) and re-wrapped them in a Turquoise sparkle for my Gigs. Great job on the Comparisons of the 3 kits here!

Best overall I'd pick the DW but the Yamaha Snom surprised me with how great it sounded, would make for a cool addition to any kit if sold separately.

Thx for the video very nice.. I liked the DW for the reasons you pointed out. The other two weren't bad just not my preference.

I'm a Tama guy This is how I rate these kits in order of my liking 1 DW 2 Yamaha 3 Tama

DCP 🤘🏻 Awesome video quality and very entertaining guys!! Keep up the great work and thanks for the good info! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

I don't think I would think these were compact kits if I weren't looking at the vid. Wild stuff

What a great video, sat here watching wondering why I have such an expensive dw collectors when you can get a tiny kit to sound like this! For ref my dw is always used mic’d up. These small kits are incredible. Thanks for such a great video.

I love the Yamaha Stage Custom Hip, their sounds is really beautiful. However I think the DW have a more sound range

All three sounded great. Have you guys had a chance to try the Wayfarer kit from Inde Drum Lab??? Also, I know you guys reviewed BDC's Imp kit before, but it would've been fun to hear it included in this lineup, w/ similar tuning, etc.

Great review! For the money, the Yamaha with a crosstown hardware pack, an added triple tom holder for extra pads /cymbals suspended off the bass drum, a Yamaha EAD 10 with a XP80 pad and triggers for the Stage Custom Hip 13" snare, 10" tom and 13 'snom; will be a very versatile and easy to haul around unit to cover pretty much every situation (plus a a good overhead mic, because the EAD 10 will not cut the mustard just by itself) I wish Yamaha would have made the bass drum spurs disappear into the shell or fold onto the shell like the DW does for an even faster (no drum key needed:-) set up / teardown and the crosstown HiHat stand could rotate its legs to accommodate a double pedal . . .

I love these videos! Would have liked to see the INde compact kit.

All three sound great. The DW is the most refined of the three, and hence, appeals to my ears the most. Of course, it's also 2x the price of the others, so it had better be.

Great review fellas 👏

I have a Pearl Roadshow Series Jazz kit (12 x 18 kick,7 x 10 rack tom,10 x 14 floor tom w/legs.5 x 13 wood snare) as a secondary kit.Despite it being marketed as a entry level kit for beginners with pro heads & proper tuning it serves as a great little inexpensive kit (with complete double braced hardware pack included) for smaller gigs & rehearsals where my main beast would be too much....I got it brand new for $349 from GC....

I thought all three kits sounded really good. Thanks for the video

I bought the Yamaha and LOVE it - it’s really inspiring to play

I have the 14x6.5 version of that black tama snare drum and it is a seriously underrated drum. maybe this is because it’s a steel drum but it also sounds powerful like i feel it in my chest every time I wack it.

I bought a DW frequent flyer 4 years ago,and it was the best decision I ever made regarding a smaller "portable" kit purchase. As a matter of fact,I sold my old Gretsch Jasper shell kit,22 bd/12 tom/16 ft,because I could get just as deep/full sound with the flyer kit,with more resonance than my old faithful Gretsch. I then traded my Sonor Safari for the dw ultralight hardware,because the 20 by 12 Flyer bd ran circles around the safari. The shells to the Flyer kit are HVLT with no rerings,so each shell sounds 2 inches bigger than it size if tuned properly. It is now my go to kit for recording & live venues. Trust me,you buy one of these,you'll love it!

good work panning the toms according to the camera angle :)

I might be going for the DW, but going to need that 12” changed to a 10”

Years ago I bought a 7 piece DW Kit, complete with rack and all. I was so excited. Until the 3rd gig. The 1 hour set-up and 1 hour tear-down was draining. Not to mention the weight on my back, and the lack of room in my vehicle for all of this. I kept the kit at the house permanently setup there, and decided to buy a Taye GoKit. Hyper small! It was ok. Didn't sound as good as the DW of course. Bass drum wasn't very deep in sound, and tuning the top 8" drum was difficult with only 4 lugs around the drum. But the idea got me thinking about a small kit. So much easier to load into and out of the vehicle. So much less setup time (about 15 minutes set-up and about 20 minutes tear-down). Not to mention so much easier on my body carrying everything. 2 years later I custom ordered a DW 5 piece. The short stack toms in 8", 10", and 12" diameter, with a 18" diameter by 12" deep bass drum. The thing sounds amazing! That little bass drum sounds great, and the tuning is obviously much easier to achieve. The band and gigs stopped 1 month prior to having the kit arrive. But just moving around the house has been easier than any drum set to date, and I have had MANY. Small kits are the way to go! Excellent video!

Id start with this cute set and end up with a 8 pcs...LOL. Now that I listened to them all. These are great sounding just the way they are

Great video as far as looks and sound. Thanks. Did you mention the cost for all of them? How much space do they take up - show them stacked next to each other. Weight? They do not come with any hardware correct? How well do they roll ( just kidding).

I use a Ludwig red sparkle burgundy breakbeats kit on my Jazz gig. Love it.

Last Tuesday I played with my friends on my son's SPL 10/13/13/18 Street Bop kit. I prefer a 20" bass drum. But that Yamaha... Wow. And I'm a Tama guy.

Great Playing!!

Great review - thanks!

From this video by far the nicest sound Yamaha, DW second and way back last Tama.

It's hard to tell on this video, but what about 'volume'? Are the Yamaha much less volume than a full size kit? I'm guessing yes, but maybe on a % basis? Would they cut stage volume by 25%? ... 50%? I'm a heavy hitter, and the combo of that plus a full size Sonor kit makes it a struggle for me with onstage volume. Thanks

Of the three the DW was favorite especially for the finish, but all three kits were amazingly good sound wise. I was shocked at how good sound was for such smaller drums. I guess size doesn't matter (at least when it comes to drums)!

The TAMA and DW Kits sounded solid. What exactly are the shell makeups for the 100% Maple on these two kits? Nice quality on the TAMA for the price!

Its Stage Custom Hip. Yamaha Sound Awesome.

YAMAHA ! 699€ unbeatable! the DW is 2 times more expensive! for a compact set the YAMAHA is hard to beat. Sounds awesome!

I have a frequent flyer and was considering the stage custom as I have had a reduction in space at home and could use a break as far as lifting (the DW's have rather thick shells and are quite heavy). Thank you so much for this comparison video, I know now that it's not worth the swap!

I own a Crush Kit that when I want to lug a bunch of drums I can bring out. I recently purchased the Yamaha Kit and what I love about it is that I can fit the Kit in my 20in Kick Bag! Also, once you change the heads and make it your own it sounds great!

I’m not a drummer, but sound wise I was digging the Tama kit. Great video!!!

Awesome video! Would love to see a comparison video between the Ludwig Breakbeats, Sonor Safari AQ2, Pearl Midtown, and PDP Daru Jones New Yorker compact drum kits too!

A friend bought the Yamaha and I was floored by how huge the kick sounded, and mic'ed up - shazam. Amazing. Toms in the room, are hard to judge, but seemed a bit wonky on the SNOM - agreed. I am dyed in the wool DW so it was pleasant to see a critical review here - thanks guys. Really curious on the kick depth now. Recently purchased a used performer series 20x16 kick and love the deep punch this "smaller" kick can produce. DW also makes a smaller version, with 18 and 16 inch kicks. Could you do a review on those type sizes? ( and smaller?14?) Nice work - great stage sound too btw.

The sonor aq-1 safari/martini are good options.

The snare on the Tama Kit sounds Awesome.. DW sounded great you get what you pay for..

Fantastic demo.

All 3 sound great. These would work well in the majority of places our band plays in.

Great video, they all sounded great! I went with a Sonor AQ2 Safari kit for a compact setup which I love! Although I did get a 20inch bass drum too, for gig vs studio options. I wish the Yamaha kit was available when I got my kit, that seems like a really great option too!

I'd be interested to know what you think of the Tama club jam

I liked your ghost notes on the DW set. You seemed more inspired. Great playing was my take away.

Something about that Yamaha kit really stood out. The tone and attack....not to mention SNOM! 😆 they all look and sound good though. As far as a compact kit, I have the Sonor Safari Kit and it’s great.

In an earlier version of the Yamaha set that bore the model name Manu Katche, a full 5 piece configuration was available. Initially they sold it as a four piece set but later added the extra tom tom. They featured all birch shells just like the one in this video, so the sound is comparable. As always, add premium heads, and you've really got something. Mine is very fun to play. The Yamaha hardware is rock solid, and the added portability can't be matched by a full size kit.

I’m sure you have a list of other kits you could have added, but you seriously missed the Natal Jazz Ash. I have calftone heads on mine and for a 12” rack, 14” floor, and 18” kick it sounds massive. Great video guys.

Except for the depth of the kick drum it takes up almost the same room, but that kick drum depth is vital when it comes to saving room and that kick drum there sounds phenomenal the whole kit did I'm speaking of the Yamaha guys a smooth player

How did y’all tune and muffle the neo mod kick? I have the neo mod and absolutely love it. Funny enough, I don’t use a rack Tom, and I swap out the floor Tom for a 16” acrylic one, so the kick is the only neo mod drum I use a lot of the time.

Thanks for this guys!!! This was the EXACT video I needed to help me make a decision. New Subbie Here ☺

Great demos as always. Though I would have loved to hear these tuned up in a jazz context. Especially those kick drums. I'm interested in a more round rumble bass drum and not so punchy.

I have a Tama Starclassic full set (Zildgen A Custom cymbols) so I'm admittably partial to the Tama compact set. However, biases aside, the DW set sounds the best of the three.

The DW kit is gorgeous. That's my pick.

I really like the Yamaha. As you guys said it's the most unique, and it's at a great price point. Plus the snom is sick. The dw is a little too close to a regular kit for me, if I were to get a compact kit I'd want it to be really small and different then a standard set.

The cold opens are the secret jewel of the videos

The Tama set sounded the best especially the kick drum and while it was on and off the mic.

Whatever happened to Arbiter Flats? Loved those, and they were really compact.

No Sonor compact kits? Would have loved to see that up against a DW

DW is what I’d be looking for in a versatile gigging kit .

I want the Yamaha kit now!!!

I rather like the DW kit..nice full sound. The snare is killer. I've gravitated towards smaller size kits over the years primarily due to the venues and styles of music I play..church praise bands and jazz. My favorite 'small kit' I have is a Ddrum 'SE Flyer' in natural ash veneer finish. Great sound, easy to tune and keep their tuning. I used it once for a rock gig to sub for their regular drummer who couldn't make the gig. It was more of an experiment the drums were not mic'd it worked out fine I was pleased (so was the band). My other 'small kit' is a Sonor Bop kit that too is an excellent little drum set. Both represent a lot of 'bang for the buck'. Drum construction has come a long way you don't always have to have a big set or spend mega bucks to get good sound.

Nice work. I miss the room mic sound without snom on Yamaha😉just as a regular tom. But very informative