Does anyone have experience with different drum pads? I am struggling to make a decisions. I already have a td-27kv set so really want something that can augment that plus can be taken places easily.
Options:
Roland Octapad - looks pretty cool. 2x4 rows means one fewer pad but might fit in a backpack. But doesn’t do sampling? Might be best bet for a hi hat controller?
Roland SPD - samples only. I don’t think it supports hi hat controller. Gets great reviews and seems to be on a lot of “professionals” kits
Nord Drum 3p - Seems to be loved by synth community for sound generation. But only has 6 pads and I can’t tell if they are good pads or not. Could double duty in my EDM station? Doesn’t play samples.
Resurrecting this very brief thread to ask the forum for advice.
I’m looking at putting together a compact e-drum kit on a budget. The conversation regarding drum pads (Alesis Sample Pad / Pro, SPD-SX series, etc) seems to mostly deal with the software features. I’m effectively just looking for a midi controller to trigger my synths/samplers so I have no interest in loading kits into internal memory, the quality of the FX, or looping capabilities, I’m only looking for something that feels good to play and can be expanded with additional triggers.
I’d be interested to hear broadly about people’s experiences with sample pads/e-drums
I’ll start - I had a Yamaha DTX Multi 12 years ago and sold it, the pads were super mushy and it felt awful to play…
I’ve had an spd-30 for the best part of a decade. Decent pads, built like a tank. Internal sounds OK, but by no means amazing. Got a mesh snare, kick, ride and hi hat so it effectively functions as a mini kit. Recently acquired a 1010 black box, which should give it a new lease of life…
This is essentially what I’m looking to set up (including triggering a 1010 blackbox!) but I’m unconvinced I need a sample pad that’s as expensive as any of the Roland models. What kind of kick pedal are you using?
Agree they’re not exactly cheap! I can’t comment on what else is out there, as I’ve never tried any of them… but imagine the roland models could be bought second hand and sold for a limited loss. All the add ons I got were ebay purchases. Kick pad is a kd8, pedal itself is a generic model, can’t recall what exactly…
Love my Nord Drum 3P but also have an SPD 30 Octapad that I’m not using at the moment due to space but is far better for midi triggering and built really well. The interface and sounds are a bit old but OK. But considering how many triggers and other inputs you get and that you can do different midi per velocity and all sorts it’s great for midi triggering.
Sad that Roland don’t just do a firmware update completely rewriting the internals or release a new version of it as it has so much going for it. I had some issues with saving my midi mapping as a preset but I think that was me not it.
As above really intrigued by the BopPad and may be getting one when I have more space.
Sounds great. How long have you had the boppad for? Seemed to be quite a few reports of issues with reliability when I had a look online… Does it play well with hands?
my live rig consist with 4 Roland pads with a td-8 drum module triggering the 1010music blackbox, making baseline on the fly and drums and percussive elements. the other a Alesis pad and s&s industries pad that triggers the audio inputs of the eventide h-90 using the synth algorithm by hitting the pads on inputs
I love the sound of the Nord Drum 3P and I’m a sucker for drum synths. I was hell bent on getting one for a while there (after the thread here started back up…) but now I’m pretty set on just getting a set of pads to expand later.
Anyone had any experience with the Avatar / HXW PD705 or the various re-badges? The reviews all seem to be from a few years ago but they are generally positive. Price is a huge factor for me at the moment and you can get one of these in a bundle with two pedals and a stand for about two thirds of the price of an older second hand Roland pad. I just want to know what they feel like to play, the reviews only seem to cover software features.
