Beatello Muffler Silent Drum Set 18" Review: Two Kits in One, With Honest Limits

Reviewed by an anonymous professional drummer · Collaborating with Beatello.

Here's the problem the Muffler 18 solves. You want real drums. Everyone you live near would rather you didn't have them. Beatello's answer is a five-piece kit with the muting system built into the drums themselves, plus a low-volume cymbal pack. For $539 you get the shells, the stands, the pedal, and the cymbals.

Sound

Warm and punchy, and it plays bigger than an 18-inch kick has any right to. Great for jazz, funk, worship, and low-volume rock.

The 18-inch bass drum is this kit's whole personality. You get a fast, dry thump instead of the chest punch of a 22-inch, which is exactly what you want in a small room and exactly what you don't want if you're chasing metal. The 13 x 5 snare and the 10/12/14 toms use a basswood and birch hybrid shell, so they sit in the middle of the tonal range: warm and controlled, less bright than an all-birch kit but also less muddy. Silent mode drops the volume off a cliff. Worth being straight with you, though: "silent" is shorthand. You still hear sticks on heads and cymbals ringing, just much quieter. In a flat with thin walls that's plenty. It is not an electronic kit through headphones, and it isn't trying to be.

Build Quality

Clean shells, tuning that stays put, and hardware that does its job without impressing anyone.

I found no bubbles in the finish and no rough edges. The lugs and tension rods hold tuning, which is the part that matters after a few months of playing. The included Power God hardware is where the money was saved, though it's less dramatic than the price suggests: the stands and pedal are steady enough for practice and small stages, and most kits at this price turn up as bare shells with no hardware at all. Gig regularly and you'll probably swap the pedal and hi-hat stand first.

Features

The reason to buy this kit is that the muting belongs to the drums, not to a bag of pads you'll lose.

Five adjustable mufflers are mounted on the drums themselves. Nothing loose to misplace, nothing extra to buy. Pull them back and it's a normal acoustic kit. It also arrives complete: 20-inch ride, 16-inch crash, 14-inch hi-hats, tom mounts, clamps, and a drum key. You can assemble it and play the same day. The low-volume cymbals give up a little brightness in exchange for a big drop in volume, which is the deal you're making, and it's a fair one.

Value

A complete two-mode kit for $539, for less than it costs to assemble the same setup piece by piece.

Price out a shell pack, stands and a pedal, a low-volume cymbal set, and any aftermarket muting solution, and you're past $539 quickly. If you never need to be quiet, this isn't the cheap route. A basic kit and a $30 set of pads costs less. But when quiet is the actual requirement, you're getting a lot for the money.

Verdict

Bottom line: if you need real drums you can play at night without a complaint from the neighbours, this is the most practical route under $600. If you want a big, loud kit for a stage, this isn't it, and a full-size 22-inch set is the better call. For the problem it solves, nothing at this price comes close.

Specifications

• Kit5-piece, 18-inch bass drum
• Snare13 x 5 inches
• Toms10 x 7, 12 x 8, and 14 x 12 inches
• Shellshand-selected basswood and birch hybrid
• Cymbalslow-volume pack, 20-inch ride, 16-inch crash, 14 x 2-inch hi-hat
• Modesnormal (acoustic) and silent (low-volume) practice
• Mutingfive built-in, height-adjustable mufflers
• HardwarePower God series stands and single pedal
• Weight42 kg (92.6 lbs) complete
• Price$539