I've heard various opinions on the subject but the choice basically comes down to the environment, the quality of the current gear in question and budget. Speaking from a drummer’s perspective, I'm personally not a big fan of being cutoff from communication with the rest of the band in a live setting. However, we all know that drums can very easily over power the other music in a service and can actually be a hindrance or distraction in a service rather than a blessing. Since I prefer acoustics over electronic drums and even though isolation is not my preference, still being able to play acoustics is a good trade off, even in isolation.

Your Budget & What you already own:
If you already have invested in a high quality acoustic kit, that is a substantial part of the overall investment. However, when you isolate, the cost of the iso booth and high-quality microphones will need to be considered. The iso booth and mics can cost a couple thousand dollars, in addition to the kit itself. So with an acoustic kit along with the iso booth and mics, the total investment can easily be over $5,000 but the sound and overall stage feel is worth the investment. And, the additional cost to isolate will be less than re-investing in a good electronic kit. With that said, if you already own a good kit, an iso booth will be the way to go from a budgetary perspective.

On the electronic side, a professional, high quality electronic kit and setup can start at around $3500. Anything less than that in today’s market, will more than likely be inadequate for a worship service. I’ll explain the differences in kits and gear such as amps and monitor systems in a later article. So, if you’re going to have to re-invest in another kit, then an electronic kit will be more cost effective to achieve the desired result of controlling the stage volume of the drums. But, if it falls within your budget to go with an isolated acoustic kit, I would recommend going with an isolated acoustic kit.

Environment:
If your church is small (50 – 150), then electronics will probably be the better choice. Even though iso booths do a great job of controlling the sound, in general they’re not 100% sound proof and there will still be ambient sound that will still get through depending on how hard the drummer plays. This may be acceptable in your environment but in smaller sanctuaries, you will probably want as much control as you can get which can be done with a good electronic kit.