As a beginning drummer, you will come across many brands of electronic drums, including the Millenium brand. We previously wrote a review about the models HD-120 and the Millenium Rookie, and this time it is the Millenium MPS-450 next in line.
Millenium is a popular brand within the electronic drums, mainly among beginners and (semi-)advanced drummers. This house brand of Thomann offers a wide range of drum sets for every budget, from the Millenium Rookie till the MPS-1000.
Now that I have played the MPS-450 for a few weeks I would like to share my opinion about this kit with you in this review.
In this blog
Millenium MPS-450
Review
The Millenium MPS-450 is an attractively priced electronic drum kit with mesh heads and a real kick pedal. What immediately stands out is the sturdy steel rack, the large 10″ mesh head snare and the real kick pedal. The kit is therefore a serious competitor for popular kits such as the Alesis Nitro Max. Beginners who want to start drumming, but also musicians who already have experience will not miss anything with this electronic drum kit that can also be expanded with an extra crash and tom.
Pros
- Very sturdy and stable electronic drum kit
- Large 10" snare pad
- Mesh heads that feel realistic and can be adjusted in tension with a drum key
- Expandable with extra Tom and Crash
- Realistic sounds
Cons
- Relatively simple drum module
- No Bluetooth
- Drum throne and headphones not included
- Included poles are very light in weight
Pros and Cons of the Millenium MPS-450
As soon as I opened the box and took the parts out of the box separately, I noticed that the quality of the material very good. Especially the steel rack feels more robust than similar kits.
What plays nicely are the mesh heads, especially the 10" snare padAn 8″ snare is often too small and with a 10″ you notice that the feeling of an acoustic drum kit comes much closer.
Another plus I found was the quality of the sounds, these sound quite realistic.
There are also a few minor drawbacks to the Millenium MPS-450. For example, I found the module's screen to look a bit old-fashioned and I don't find navigating through the menu very user-friendly. The module also doesn't have Bluetooth, something that the Alesis Nitro Max has.
It is also good to know that the kit does not come standard with a drum throne and headphones. drumsticks included, but they are very light and therefore not suitable in my opinion.
What's in the box?
- 1 x 10″ Two Zone Snare Drum Pad
- 3 x 08″ Mono Tom Pads
- 2 x 12″ Cymbal pads
- 1 x 10″ Hihat Pad
- 1 x Bass Drum Pad
- 1 x Bass Drum Pedal
- 1 x Hi-hat Controller
- 1 x MPS-450 Drum Module
- Drum rack
- Drum sticks
- Manual (also available for download online)
💡 The kit looks nice without wires, but as soon as you connect the pads to the module, the cables hang loose behind the drum kit. You can easily hide this with the V2020 Cable Tie so that the kit immediately looks a lot tighter.
Toms and Cymbals
The Millenium MPS-450 comes in a standard setup: a kick and hihat controller, snare pad, three toms, hihat, crash and ride cymbal. All pads are velocity sensitive, so they respond differently when you hit the pad hard or soft.
10" Snare Pad and 8" Tom Pads
Because the snare pad has a size of 10 inches, it feels nice and realistic. The snare has two zones and also gives a sound on the edge, making rimshots possible. The standard tension is quite low, so it is advisable to tighten the screws considerably so that the skin is tighter.
The snare is attached to the rack as standard, but you can also choose to mount the snare on a snare stand, so that the rest of the kit moves less during play.
The three toms are 8″ in size, which is large enough to play comfortably on the kit. I personally would have liked the floor tom to be a bit larger, but for that we have to go to the Millenium MPS-850 are.
The toms also have mesh heads and are adjustable in tension. The toms are single zone, so they always give the same sound regardless of where you hit them.
Three Cymbals
The cymbals of the Millenium MPS-450 are 12″, which gives them a large surface area and you will not easily miss. The arms on which the cymbals are mounted can also be tilted, which makes it easy to determine the right position. Furthermore, the cymbals feel realistic and solid.
Want to expand the kit with an extra cymbal? This is easily possible with the very affordable MPS-450 12″ Mono Cymbal.
Kick Pedal and Hihat Controller
The Millenium MPS-450 comes with a kick pedal, kick pad and hi-hat controller. This is in contrast to kits such as the Millenium HD-120 or the Roland TD-02KV where both the hihat and the kick are trigger pedals.
The hihat trigger is the same size as an acoustic drum pedal. The spring under the head ensures that the pedal springs back realistically while playing.
The kick pedal that comes with it is good, but nothing more than that. You can also buy a double bass pedal connect, giving you even more options.
The kick pad also has a mesh head surface, which further dampens the sound.
MPS-450 Module
All signals are received on the module of Millenium. The cables are combined in 1 plug, which makes connecting to the module quick. The module is quite simple in design and looks a bit old-fashioned in my opinion, but this does not detract from the sound quality.
30 Preset Kits and 10 User Kits
The MPS-450 module contains 30 kits, I will demonstrate these in the video at the beginning of this blog. Almost all genres are represented and I am more impressed with one kit than the other, but overall the sounds sound good.
In addition to the 30 preset kits, there is room for composing your own kits with the 10 user kits. This gives you enough freedom to create your own kit of choice.
Not only the sounds can be changed, also the volume per instrument. Handy, because I found the standard volume of the snare very soft. Do you want a kick drum or a cymbal louder in the mix? No problem, with the button Utility you can easily adjust this.
Metronome
The integrated metronome allows you to work on your timing. The metronome click sound has a clear and distinct sound.
Connections
The module has a number of different connections:
- Power connection (for the wall socket)
- USB-MIDI (allows you to import the drum kit sounds to your PC)
- 3.5 mm stereo jack aux in (to connect your smartphone so you can play along with your favorite music)
- 3.5mm stereo jack headphone output (for headphones )
- 2 x 6.3 mm stereo jack line output (connect to a amplifier or for recording a drum cover)
- 2 x 6.3mm jack trigger inputs (for connecting two additional pads)
Overall playing feeling
The overall feel reminds me of the popular Alesis Nitro Max, which is a good sign, as the kits are both the same size and similar in functionality.
After tightening the snare a bit it plays nice and realistic, the same goes for the other toms. The kick drum also has a good response and is big enough for a double bass pedal.
Having played the kit a few times now I can't find any major drawbacks and have to admit that this is one of the best budget kits I've tried.
Included sticks
The drumsticks supplied by Thomann are very lightweight and feel cheap. The regular 5A sticks from Vic Firth worked a lot better for that reason.
If you are going to use the Millenium MPS-450 as an adult I would recommend other drumsticks to consider.
What alternatives are there?
If the Millenium MPS-450 isn't quite your kind of drum kit, there are a few alternatives you can consider. Also read the Top 5 Electronic Drums with the best kits for beginners.
Alesis Nitro Max
We already mentioned the Alesis Nitro Max, an electronic drum kit that is very similar in specifications to the MPS-450. The Alesis Nitro Max distinguishes itself with 1 important specification, namely the availability of Bluetooth. The module also has a more modern design.
A review of the Alesis Nitro Max read here.
Millenium MPS-150 and MPS-150X
Two other electronic drum sets designed specifically for beginners are the Millennium MPS-150 and the Millennium MPS-150X. Both kits are suitable if you have a slightly lower budget.
For a reasonable price you have a fully electronic drum kit including a real bass drum pedal. The MPS-150X even has mesh heads and a 10″ snare drum, just like the Millenium MPS-450.
Conclusion
As I mentioned, the Millenium MPS-450 is one of my favorite budget kits I've tested so far. The kit contains basically everything you need as a beginner drummer.
This electronic drum kit positively surprised me in terms of stability and overall firmness. The material is really good quality.
For me, this kit has two drawbacks: the included drumsticks are not suitable for the adult drummer and the module does not have Bluetooth.
Apart from these two drawbacks, with the Millenium MPS-450 you get a full fledged starter kit with big snare, realistic mesh heads, a real kick pedal and a good module. For less than 400 euros, that is definitely worth a high rating.
