You’ll be happy right out of the box, I guarantee. My setup was a bit too extravagant, but it didn’t need to be. It’s compelling the things you can do with today’s technology. The computer took care of all backing tracks and all my samples during a show. The malletKAT fed MIDI data into the SPD-SX and then was able to send all that information to my laptop which ran Ableton Live. In addition to the two pads, I had a MIDI percussion controller, namely the malletKAT, that would sit under my SPD-SX. These two pads allow me to have access to the sounds on the sampling pad without having to move all the way over to the unit, which typically sits to my right above the floor tom. With my SPD-SX, I use two extra Roland PD-85 pads one is to my right, and one is to my left. The SPD-SX features two analog inputs, two analog outputs, two sub outs, a 1/4″ headphone input, MIDI in and out, USB MIDI, a 1/4″ footswitch input, and 2 1/4″ TRS trigger inputs for additional pads. I eventually had to cut my losses and upgrade, despite the fear of the new pad suffering from the same problems. The pad I had prior, the SPD-S, had tons of crosstalk issues which led me to perform surgery on the sampling pad many times a year to minimize these issues. My SPD-SX has never had any crosstalk issues.
The concept is simple: hitting one pad may accidentally cause another pad to fire unexpectedly.Ĭrosstalk can especially be terrible if some of your pads are STOP and START triggers for your playback system. No Crosstalk Issuesįor example, some percussion pads can suffer from an issue called crosstalk. The SPD-SX was perfect for this application. Before adapting backing tracks into our setup, I used the pad as you usually would with a DI box.įor our backing tracks set up, I needed something that allowed me to start and stop songs reliably. The SPD-SX is very simple to use alongside a DAW. Very useful! SPD-SX is Powerful with a DAW One of the added benefits of having different kits for each song is that the SPD-SX can act as a setlist for your show.Īs you move through the set, you can name each kit the respective song title to know what song is coming next. The SPD-SX allows me to have different electronic or sampled sounds to match the album recording to the best of my ability. I typically have a different sound configuration for each song in our setlist. The top left and right shoulder pads on my SPD-SX are programmed to choose the kit I’m on.
ROLAND SPD 30 BATTERY PLUS
You’re not limited to changing kits with just the plus and minus button either.
The kits load relatively fast, and I haven’t experienced any lag issues like I used to with the SPD-S. Excellent user experienceĬhanging kits is as simple as pressing either the plus or minus button on the front of the sample pad.
Programming kits is a simple process and the SPD-SX provides us with 100 kits to edit to our liking. I also love processing samples inside Cubase with plugins, like Soundtoys for example, prior to importing them to my SPD-SX. It’s nice to have the ability to bring some of the percussion and electronic drum sounds, like the Simmons Claptrap, on the road. The recorded samples included are very much usable, but I love the option to import your samples via USB or using Roland’s Wave Manager software. They can also be full-blown backing tracks. Imported samples don’t only have to be the sounds of instruments. Whether you like the pre-packed samples or not, you also have the option to import custom WAV samples from either your library or somewhere like Splice. Under the hood, there are three multi-effects engines, tons of included sounds, and 4GB of internal storage. The Roland SPD-SX is Roland’s “most advanced percussion pad” featuring nine velocity-sensitive zones, allowing you to play samples or loops with ease.