[Crasher]

Hello all. First time poster here. I'm soon going to buy my first drum kit as well as being a beginning drummer. I've been around music my whole life and have fooled around with guitar, keyboard but have finally pursued my love for drums. I have read tons of material and visited some drum shops but none of them can compete with online prices. Here are the kits I'm having trouble deciding on:

1. Mapex fusionese 5pc 100% birch shells $399.99 I can add SP hardware pack for $100 then some starter cymbals.

2. Tama Imperialstar 5pc 100% poplar, Tama Hardware pack, Meinl cymbals (terrible) all for $699.

So, my main question is do you guys think the birch Mapex will give me a better sound than the Tama poplar? I will be playing Rock music primarily and just love to play, not looking to get gigs or anything like that...at least not for a long time.

Any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated!