By using the finite difference method and transfer matrix method, the acoustic transmission models in the periodic cascade channel are respectively established to accurately achieve acoustic transmission characteristics in drillstring. The presented models are on the ground of the one-dimensional low-frequency extensional wave transmission theory. By introducing the actual channel boundaries including the conditions of receiving end and the length of drillstring, the transient responses of drillstring channel are studied by simulation to analyze synthetically the performance of solving channel models in relation to the two above-mentioned modeling methods. In this case, the effects of space-step on channel model analysis are also illustrated. The numerical simulation results show that both the two modeling methods can determine analytically the characteristic of the frequency distribution like bandpass filter and fine structure in the passbands with its number related to the number of joints. However, for the finite difference method, the numerical computation errors caused by improper finite element meshes and space-steps will result in numerical dispersions which produce the phenomena of smoother frequency responses and less fine structure patterns in the passbands. Especially for a longer drillstring, the phenomena will become more obvious. As a result, it’s more preferable that the transfer matrix method is used for the channel modeling and analysis in frequency domain for a much longer or non-periodic complicated drillstring.