Electronic Drum Pads for Hybrid and Stand alone performances

[Brandon Amador]

Hello Gentleman,

I'm looking to add a Electronic Drum pad to my gear. I've been really looking at the Yamaha DTX Multi 12, but the 64 MB internal memory is moving me toward the Roland line of drum pads. Such as the Roland SPD-SX or SPD30. I like that the Yamaha has a bit more trigger inputs for different scenarios. Doesn't have a lot of storage. Anyone have a lot of experience with this kind of hardware? Also experience with load times of switching setups for different gigs?

Thanks,
Brandon

[Bart Elliott]

I feel similar to you regarding the Yamaha's small amount of ROM, however this is just the memory space for the sounds you load. It's not terrible; 64 MB Flash-ROM is an industry standard ... but dated in my opinion. The Flash-ROM is just temporary memory... you have to load the sounds, via USB, every time you want to use your own sounds. Just wanted to make sure that you weren't thinking the 64 MB was RAM... because it's not.

I think one of the Roland units would be great. My experience with load times would say that it is a non-issue, especially if you are talking about loading sounds for a specific performance. If you are loading different sounds between songs, there may be enough time required that could cause you some concern, but you won't find any other units that are any faster.

Most of my gear is outboard samplers, using drum triggers as well as a drumKAT. I also have a Roland HandSonic which is loaded with it's on sound library (sampling not available).

[Brandon Amador]

Thanks Bart for the input! I'll dig a little more into the Roland units, I like the sensitivity aspect of the Yamaha for doing some hand percussion sounds, but quite unsure how often I would use it. Most of the time I'll have sticks in my hand. Still really interested into adding something as a hybrid setup, but also like the option of a mini kit for smaller rooms.

[Bart Elliott]

Let us know what you end up going with... and what sealed the deal for you.

[Jon E]

I am not going crazy-electro-matic with either of the rigs I am about to mention, but they have both worked well:

I have been using the Roland SPD-30 for years as an addition to my acoustic kit--both the unit itself as well as adding some additional pads.  I love it.

I have also used the KAT-KTMP1 for the same situations.  A decent semi-pro unit for a fraction of the price (and fewer inputs), but still with some decent features.

[Nick Cesarz]

Hello Gentleman,

I'm looking to add a Electronic Drum pad to my gear. I've been really looking at the Yamaha DTX Multi 12, but the 64 MB internal memory is moving me toward the Roland line of drum pads. Such as the Roland SPD-SX or SPD30. I like that the Yamaha has a bit more trigger inputs for different scenarios. Doesn't have a lot of storage. Anyone have a lot of experience with this kind of hardware? Also experience with load times of switching setups for different gigs?

Thanks,
Brandon

What did ya end up going with if I might ask?

I've been using Roland's line of sampling pads since the SPD-S. That pad had major problems. After a few year's use, multiple pads would fire when just hitting one. I remember having to take all the screws out and open it up to clean the sensors.

The sample load time from the flash memory card was also terrible. If I remember right it was like twenty minutes to load a few samples to the pad.

Fortunately, Roland came out with the SPD-SX which has been vastly improved upon. Samples can easily be loaded from a computer via USB and the time is almost instantaneous. I've used mine for a solid four years, touring in clubs across the states.

There is a major power issue with the motherboard that causes the power button to stop functioning, at least on some models. Mine was one of those affected. Somehow, it magically stopped having this issue, and I have no idea why.

Alesis just released a new sampling pad, the Strike Multipad, which is strikingly similar to the SPD-SX. No clue if it's any good, but it must be an improvement on the SamplePad Pro.