The build quality looks good.
New kits load as fast as you select them.
Everything from sidechain compression to 53 different Roland Fx from filters to reverbs and delays with everything in between with programming depth.
4 Fx per pad and 32 voice polyphony.
Ability to layer multiple sounds and Fx to each pad.
I remember when the Alesis Strike Multipad came out that I was really interested in its capabilities around sampling, looping and sequencing from a non-drumming perspective.
Looks nice but I haven’t had the appetite to look into or get excited about this one yet, but one day want to make a small electronic drum kit around one of these sorts of things.
I just really want to see someone do a deep dive from a non-drummer perspective.
The Roland looks to have a lot more under the hood as far as memory and processing power goes for Fx and swapping (loading) kits.
Looks to be practically as fast as you select the kit it loads… The Alesis takes longer than you would want a pause in a live set.
(Video queued to a demonstration of load times for the SX PRO and then the Multipad)
The SX PRO also has a bunch of assignable outs and can accept up to 4 stereo triggers (8 inputs total) if you want to add pedals for h-hats and kick drum… Audio in… It certainly looks like it has more than the competition.
Granted it is double the cost of other pads. But compared to buying another electronic instrument the pricing is not so bad.
I don’t have one. I had its predecessor for about a year, and sold it on.
The UI looks very similar to the predecessor, and the computer app definitely has a nicer looking screen. The previous version looked a lot like a command line window.
I never had a problem with the UI, most of the functions were fairly obvious and easy to get to if you know what you’re doing.
From a quick perusal of the manual it seems like not much has changed under the hood.
It still can’t send CC’s from pads, and is underwhelming as a sampler.
It’s more like “pad-based sample player that you really should use your computer to get sounds into”.
@Stone262
I was curious as to what you meant by “a deep dive”. We have different ideas about the word deep.
We probably don’t. I was reflecting on when the Alesis Multipad came out. In the year or two after I probably watched every video I could find, read every review and forum post, and read the manual cover to cover. I found hardly anything talking about the experience of using it that wasn’t in the context of complementing a drumkit.
I’m not saying there were no in depth looks at the features, I’m saying I found nothing that was a deep dive on a non-drumming use case.
I wasn’t talking about about the above in relation to the SPD SX or SX Pro. The Pro made me think about going down the rabbit hole again, but your comments re sampling vs sample playback above suggests it’s probably not what I’m hoping for, which I guess is basically a 1010 Blackbox with pads.
Yeah, I agree with you, our concept of deep dive is probably similar.
While useful for playing electronic sounds, loops, and stems with drumsticks, “sampling multipads” in general aren’t things I’d call deep in regards to sampling.
Comparatively, they’ve been like toy samplers forever. Like plastic kiddie pool deep. Ankle socks deep.
Imagine a stand-alone sampler that has no filter, no L/R or polarity inversion, no collapse to mono, and doesn’t allow you to play the sample chromatically.
In addition, you have to resample through the effects to get anything done, though sometimes you can sample through the effects, and have access to another sample layer, so maybe two velocity layers.
It’s probably the market, most of the folks that I know use them for triggering backing tracks for shows or firing off analog samples to complement the acoustic kit they play.
The manufacturers have opted for simplicity - one can only assume that this is due to market research dictating the feature-set.
Something like Alternate Mode DrumKat Hybrid with AR mk2 inside would be an amazing step forward. It would probably weigh 7-8 kilos!
You’re better of pairing the BB with a good feeling pad.
As far as live sample/loop manipulation goes these two pages seem to be it. (reviews I have read suggest the Multipad is a better choice for live looping/samples)
After a deeper dive in the reference manual, it was unclear to me if pads can send CC’s.
The HiHat pedal can send one to detect the position of a foot pedal, but that’s all the manual made clear.
To be of service, as well as answering my own question, a Google search turned up this bit of info:
I just got one to complement my 3P. It can’t compete with the 3P for use with my Zendrum percussion controller, which has 60 finger-sensitive triggers. In comparison, the 3P benefits greatly (as expected) from synth-per-channel so that you can vary the timbre with well-placed MIDI note numbers. The 3P also has a better dynamic response, but external finger drumming probably isn’t a use case for many people.
Soundwise, the SX PRO is a good complement (as expected), providing acoustic drum sounds. These can’t compete with the many velocity layers of Superior Drummer’s dedicated acoustic reproductions, but the SX PRO isn’t meant to be a faithful reproducer of vintage drum kits. I got it to sequence mostly with a Torso T-1 while performance-sequencing and playing other instruments. SX PRO’s lack of timbre response via MIDI note number does waste some of the best capabilities of the T-1, but I was prepared to mess around to see what I could get out of it as an escape from Superior Drummer on the laptop. The real-time patch changes are cool, as I can switch around between kits in rhythmic time. If I can program that from the T-1, I’ll be very happy.
I used to use sticks on my 3P’s, laying them out as a 12-pad drum synth kit, but I don’t play with sticks anymore, and I doubt I’ll ever touch a stick to the SX PRO. It does handle hand drumming sort of OK, but a lot better than the 3P, which is not sensitive enough (even on its hand setting) for hand drumming, let alone finger drumming. The SX PRO is also difficult to drum with fingers, but on the other hand (pun), you don’t have to whack it with the force the 3P requires, making it useless for that. The SX PRO is fun to hand drum, but the limited sensitivity (I’ve worked through the response settings) sends me back to my Zendrum+laptop for anything serious.
