NAMM 2026: Donner is known for squeezing-in plenty of bang for your buck, and new for 2026 is its Groove Series, a new line of professional electronic drum sets made exclusively for the US market, and delivering what it describes as “portability without compromising the authentic feel and expressiveness of an acoustic drum kit”
There are three kits in the Groove Series: Groove, Groove Max and Groove Ultra. Each kit follows a five-piece drum pad setup, with mesh-headed snare and tom pads throughout, and the trio uses the same quick-setup Swift-Rack system.
The Groove Series starts with the Groove kit, which is designed to be a space-saving compact setup for daily practice. In addition to the five-piece pad setup (3x 8” tom pads, 1x 10”, dual-zone snare pad, 1x 6” bass drum pad), also comes with a single-zone 10” hi-hat pad and two 10”, dual-zone cymbal pads with choke.The hi-hat is controlled by a remote foot pedal, and of course, it also includes the Groove drum module.
The Groove Max follows a similar configuration, with the same drum pads and module as the Groove. However, when it comes to the cymbal configuration, we get an upgrade courtesy of an additional two-zone, chokeable 10” cymbal pad.
The Groove Module features an integrated, tilted phone support to keep your device safe while you jam to your music library. It’s home to over acoustic, electronic and percussion instruments, which are arranged into 50 preset kits. There are 50 ‘demo songs’ to jam with, and the module allows for expansion with additional tom pad and second crash trigger inputs. In addition to this, the Groove module offers L/R stereo outputs, a headphone output, aux-input (mini-jack) and MIDI over USB for connecting to a computer for recording/software control.
When we get to the flagship Groove Ultra, things start to change up a bit. First, the drum pads are all upgraded to match the shell-like appearance of the snare pad. The sizes remain largely the same, but the floor tom is larger at 10”, matching the diameter of the snare pad.
The cymbals are improved, with a stand-mounted, 12” hi-hat pad, as well as an upgraded ride cymbal which includes a third zone (bell) for more expressive ride cymbal playing. Finally, the Groove Ultra also sees the introduction of the Groove Ultra module, which retains all of the functionality of the Groove module, but comes packed with an additional 175 (575 in total) sounds.
Donner’s Groove Series is available now exclusively from Guitar Center and Musician’s Friend.
