Which One's Better? | Roland SPD-SX Pro vs. Alesis Strike MultiPad | Sampling Pad Review | Thomann

[@ThomannsDrumBash]

So, what do you say: Which brand won the battle of sampling pads and why?

[@The_Silver_Guy]

Roland all day

[@sdoijhadaoskdjfasokd]

I came to this video so you could tell me which one is better and there's only like two seconds of opinion at the very end So in response to your question "Which brand won the battle of sampling pads and why?", my answer is "Screw you, pal"

[@mrphlegmatic2369]

I am using the Alesis now for about three years and I really recommend to buy the Roland! The hardware of the Alesis is quite nice. It looks good, it feels good and you can connect enough external pads and footswitches. Triggering is precise and it works fine with external pads. When it comes to the HiHat Controller it is a bit picky. It doesn’t work with any Roland Pedal, but very good with the Millenium HiHat Controller. The Software is a catastrophy. There has been no system update for about two years, although there are known bugs. The unit „produces“ corrupt samples under some circumstances (I have some of them in my unit). In my case: If I want to delete any sample, the unit will crash. Fortunately the Memory is big enough, so I will be able to use this thing a few years until the memory is full … If the unit crashes and produces a „corrupt“ sample in that process, you won’t be able to start the unit ever again, because it crashes everytime, when starting up with that program containing the corrupt sample. There is no restore mode or anything, you can’t reset the unit. In that case, you have to send it to the customers service and they will change the motherboard! (So backup your data from time to time!) Creating and editing Programs feels like you were back in the 80s and there is no software editor for Mac or PC. Another very big disadvantage: check the time it needs to switch from one program to another. In most cases, it needs several seconds! That is much too long for live performances and also the tails of sounds are cut, when switching. Some examples for bad software: Pitch changing has to be calculated into the sample (!) but is although always in „classic“ mode, so pitch changes time. Every change you do is „saved“ immediately to the program, so you can’t return to a saved state. And there is no undo. So: Better make a copy of your program before you start editing. BUT: If you have a power failure it will not save the changes. So worst of both worlds. Me and a lot of other customers were hoping, that Alesis would do some software improving, but they didn’t and it feels, they never will. So, if you just want to have some electronic sounds with your acoustic kit and don’t want to do a lot of editing etc., then the Alesis would be ok, but if you really want to have a professional unit: Don’t buy it!

[@mypetdrgn]

WoW! Good info! Glad I sold mine

[@lambCHOPSSSSS]

I’ve experienced all those issues and my Alesia won’t even fully boot up. I’m gonna try and re download firmware v1.3 and see if it does anything otherwise it’s just a big hunk of plastic that was $700 and now worthless.

[@davidbcg286]

Went for Roland after reading many reviews. Really satisfied

[@jimbo121]

I just got mine a few hours ago and I am very impressed with it so far.

[@tonycarpenter-Makzimia]

I had the Alesis for about a month, in that time the power supply died. I sent it back, got a refund, and bought the Roland. That was over a year ago. Roland going strong and using it with FD9 and KT9 is AMAZING!. It’s my new go to small gig set along with a Roland KC350 keyboard amp.

[@ramonkey2939]

I have the roland, but I would definitely buy the used version of the Alesis, which is selling for $400.00. With a lot of the same functions that is a decent deal, however, the "CON" is you still have fewer triggers, and the time to build kits is nearly double. HOPEFULLY alesis will update the software to address that limitation and improve the connectivity in the next hardware version. I am having trouble splitting signals on my spdsx so taking the 4 triggers and turning them into 8 isn't working for me. So if that's your only reason to buy the roland Buyer BEWARE.

[@mannykeller]

It took me over a week to import backing tracks and custom samples to make about 20 usable kits with the Alesis Strike Multipad, it took me only 4 days to make 40 kits with backing tracks with the Roland SPD-SX Pro with the included editor. The Alesis also takes too long to load kits on stage, the Roland is very fast, doesn't cut off the sustaining sound when switching to another kit, I can switch kits mid song. The SPD-SX Pro has many more features (step sequencer, multitrack audio interface and routing, great effects, velocity switching with layers etc. The factory presets in both units are very poor, those don't really showcase the capabilities, there is no machine gun effect if it is programmed right ( using layers pad link and step sequencer for round robin sounds). Even at the higher price the Roland SPD-SX Pro is a much better value than the Alesis Strike MultiPad.

[@jimbo121]

Can you please elaborate on the last bit you mentioned using layers pad lin and step sequencer to get round robin sounds. I got my unit today and am very interested in what you said there.

[@mannykeller]

The SPD SX Pro lets you layer up to 2 sounds on a pad und link a pad to another pad. So I often put a left hand hit on layer A and a right hand hit on layer B set to alternate, then link this pad to a pad doing the same with louder left and right hits, set to only kick in at velocity 100 - 127. This gives me 4 slightly different sounds. Playing a paradiddle will sound different than playing hand to hand or rrll, as do left hand accents and right hand accents, just like it would sound on an acoustic drum. The SPD SX Pro also has a step sequencer@@jimbo121 I can capture up to 16 (very similar) drum or percussion sounds and assign them to different pads or external pad inputs and let the step sequencer round robin through them for a very realistic performance. The only downside is sacrificing several pads for a similar sound. I wish the SPD SX Pro would let users assign one or several step sequences within a kit and have extra slots for sounds accessible by the step sequencers without sacrificing other pads. I purchased a Korg MPS 10 Pad which also has very promising layer features, switching kits in the middle of a performance will not cut off sounds and is very quick, it sounds very organic, but editing this Multi Padis also very time consuming like the Alesis, however.

[@mannykeller]

@@jimbo121 Unfortunately there is no mention of this in the manual and after contacting Korg, I have not received any answers, just weekly email to be patient. Those e-mails have now stopped, I never got an answer. You have to invest a lot of time to try programming the MPS-10 from the front panel, something I gave up on.

[@TKbeatwerk]

Value isn’t a question when the Spd Sx pro is 400 more than the alesis tbf

[@mannykeller]

IMHO time is the most valuable commodity we have, to pay $400 more to save hundreds of hours of programming time for a unit which will last longer is a great value. The SPDSX Pro is on sale for $999 at the moment @@TKbeatwerk

[@MarkuzP66]

I just bought the Roland and love it. Its totally worth it, I guess! Zero crosstalk, durable as hell and the nice editor. No experiences with Alesis but I like the loop function of that product. One Feature that the SPD SX Pro doesn't have.

[@terrillmel]

zero cross talk on the Alesis as well.

[@blurayguru]

The SPD-SX Pro also loops.

[@azertyuiop0000]

@@bluraygurunot live

[@mypetdrgn]

I've had the Alesis for quite awhile and it feels abandoned by the company. no updates for a VERY long time. Roland on the other hand is a much better company. So depending what you have in mind you can get an Alesis at a low price now that Roland stepped up to the plate. Fast loads, software editing for laptop, window into what midi note transmitting and so on make Roland my next purchase....wake up Alesis

[@kirkydaturkey]

It's boggled my mind how they've seemed to abandon support for the Alesis Multipad. Truly just a few features away from being an amazing cheaper competitor to Roland.

[@mkemusic4826]

I agree. I had the Alesis Strike Multipad and I thought it would work for what I do. I didn't think the load time would affect me that much playing live, but I was wrong. Plus editing - especially deleting kits on the Alesis was painful. I was also surprised that there really wasn't any ability to program the Alesis via software whereas I can with the Roland. I ended up trading the Alesis in and purchased the Roland. As for support, I forgot I opened a ticket with Alesis on how to delete whole kits. They finally updated my ticket to say they will get back to me. I ended up replying that they could close the ticket. I resolved the issue by purchasing the Roland.

[@cadenceangel]

Ditto. And Alesis abandoned the Multi-Strike fairly quick, after a few initial updates. Smh

[@mefrnet]

abandoned is the right word, 5 years, and no editor, is criminal abandonment, i returned mine, (loved and miss the looper), and got the Spd SX pro, instead, no regrets, i hope a new firmware upgrade does the trick

[@ChrisTibaldiDrums]

Just got my pro for $899 on Sweetwater. Much more reasonable price for what appears to be a killer machine.

[@GRMS_Ian]

Hey Simon! I’ve been wondering about this exact comparison since hearing about the new Roland. It’s great that you checked them out for us, thanks! A while back I went for the TM6 Pro (which is awesome) instead of the old spd-sx because the TM6-Pro has the hi-hat input and the old spd-sx does not. The new spd-sx Pro has it, so I would naturally go with the SPD-SX Pro if I could afford it. It would be the cat’s meow as an ultra-small footprint E-kit in my opinion. 👌🏻

[@ThomannsDrumBash]

Hey! Our pleasure. Any other ideas for further videos? Would love to pick up requests :)

[@RODOSARTPARK]

Thank you for this video. For me the best is Roland because i owned Yamaha for many years and without a software its really difficult to get the best out of a device that it has so many features. So i will rather pay more than loose many hours to program settings.

[@anklem]

Because I already have Roland pedals , I would go for the Spd-sx pro. But for the money probably the Alesis, but I like the sounds of the Roland more personally.

[@Withajay]

Great review! I appreciate the time you put into it. Thank you

[@eDrumsInANutshell]

Hi Simon, as you mentioned already, we use or own sounds or we're triggering external plugins or tracks in Ableton. I bought that low priced Millenium NonaPad kind of Gear4Music DD90 sample pad. Because I just wanted to trigger some percussion instruments or FX from Superior Drummer 3 or backing tracks, samples in Ableton, or just fire a note to control LiveProfessor2. And therefore that low-priced think work like a dream. The NonaPad got some cool blue background lighting, my DD90 got orange for the display, but ... 🙂 Of course the build quality isn't the same, but ... dude, I get 5 NonaPads for one fancy Roland device. Thanks for the content!

[@ThomannsDrumBash]

Hi. Cool to hear that you're happy with the Millenium NonaPad. Of course it's always a question of what you're aiming for, but it's a nice alternative to get into the "sampling pad-game". Looking forward to seeing more videos on your channel :)

[@eDrumsInANutshell]

@@ThomannsDrumBash Oh. Yeah. Me, too. Haha.

[@kirkydaturkey]

would love to see a video of your Ableton setup with the NonaPad! Subscribed+ 👍

[@eDrumsInANutshell]

@@kirkydaturkey Ha, great! I made a video for the setup of the lauch scene thing. I mean, no reading your text the second time, I guess you want it a lot more fancy. :-) Ahm... but basically that's it. That's why I don't need a 700$ Roland pad. I could even use a rim trigger of one of my tom pads. One year ago, I messed around with a Behringer FCB1010 MIDI foot controller to scroll through the matrix and lauch individual scence and record arm tracks etc. Would be possible here, too. But that was a deep dive.

[@TheSoulcraft]

Thanx,I needed exactly this! Wanting to integrate a pad into my td7/b drum set up

[@jhonthedrummer]

Buddy please a video showing how to run 10 backing tracks (like stage mode) on the Alesis multipad 😳😳😳please

[@The_Silver_Guy]

The power save function ALONE sold me on the Roland. The extra outs/ins didn’t hurt either

[@johnhricko8212]

Roland is like Adobe, Fender & Gibson. I still have an Octapad from the 80s (with ex-triggers). Hate the hard noisy pads, but I love experimenting. Hi-hats deserve real ones. Have fun kids!

[@terrillmel]

So far in the comments, I see that the Roland is more user friendly when making drum kits. But I can save 600 dollars getting the Alesis and only use a few kits. It's not $100 or $200. It's $600. That's a high end ride cymbal or a new guitar amp or neuman vocal mic. Or new in ear monitors. hmmm. Alesis it is.

[@mefrnet]

let us know

[@glebroug]

​@@mefrnet I have the strike pad with my strike pro kit x2 .. no complaints .. the Roland gear is great too. But the difference is negotiable. Sounds are good.. If you like the Roland great.. if you don't cool . They are tools meant to unleash creativity. That's the bottom line. I'll call bull on the not splittable .. I do that it's flexible and works. Agreed on alesis slow to move on updates though.

[@Meteotrance]

The output is also balanced trs jack to XLR on the Roland but even with more output i wonder if it justified the 500 euros of différence between product unless there is kind of sequencer like an MPC akai, i think the Alesis is enough for using track in play-back during a show with a regular acoustic drum or e-drum.

[@RichardCyberPunk]

what about durability of the pads etc ? long time support ? spare parts / etc.

[@kirkydaturkey]

This is what the people have been wondering! Great comparison. You seriously have to play both of them to understand what's best for your workflow and performance style. I've had the Alesis MultiPad for a couple years, and although it's worked great, I'm getting the Roland to compare and will probably switch. I think the rubber pads feel much better on the Alesis, and the looping feature has provided some fun performances too. I just get so annoyed with loading tracks and switching kits on the Alesis lol

[@matstokesmusic111]

Great video man. Thank you [From Australia]

[@edmasi]

Thank you!

[@brushman20]

What pedals do people recommend for the Alesis?

[@sweetdrumster]

The only HH pedal that supports open/closed sounds ans is proved to work out of the box is Alesis RealHat pedal. For kick as far as I know a lot if pedals will work. I personally use Roland KT-10.

[@marktarantini5971]

Can you link the pedals please

[@PooNinja]

6 pads no waiting 🤘🏽

[@PooNinja]

I can’t decide I guess I like the roland but that’s probably just my personal brand bias?

[@richardriccio9953]

Hi Thomann I looking at either of these, and I understand that Roland would be a better built quality product. What is the audio quality like with respect to noise level (through a big sound setup) and the dynamics of the sound between the 2. I had a smaller Alesis sample unit a while ago and the noise level from the outputs made not suitable for live despite best efforts with balance Di;s etc. Hence I reluctant to purchase another Alesis unit.

[@richardriccio9953]

Hi Simon I apologise incorrectly stating your name in my original post. BTW I checked another youtube link about the Alesis unit, I assume you are running the latest firmware on this unit, as there was an issue with the HH controller footswitch in previous firmware which as apparently been addressed in a later firmware.

[@ThomannsDrumBash]

Hi Richard. It all depends on what you're intending to use the pad for. In general the latest software of the Alesis sampling pad really is good. It also works for live.

[@xaza8uhitra4]

are the kick pedals bluetooth or wireless? I was expecting to see a cord

[@lickufied]

Great, thanks!

[@gonzalopeinadoricci364]

Great video!! I wonder which one have the more sensitive pads, cause I have a Maschine MK3 with really good sounds, and my idea is to conect the drumpads to the maschine, so actually I dont care about the sounds and the looping features cause I already have it on my Maschine app; so which of these 2 you think have a better play sensitive??

[@aransenojak987]

How did you get on with the choice and integration with Masch.

[@gonzalopeinadoricci364]

@@aransenojak987 I went for a Alesis, it's ok but I think I'll go for a Roland for a better sensitive pads, it work good so far, I plugged a MIDI to MIDI cable on MIDI OUT of the drumpad (in this case the Alesis Strike Multipad), the other side of the cable on the MIDI IN of the Maschine, then on "maschine 2" program (on the PC) click on the circle-ish icon on the left to the word "master", then click on groups, input, and change the MIDI routing on DrumKit, after that change the MIDI note of each pad on the drumpad to match the same note I wanna use on each pad of the maschine. Pretty cool integration for the maschine I have to say, but not the same backwards, the Alesis have a very poor MIDI in integration

[@kyanstack]

same question please if some one knows what high hat to use with alesis

[@geopercussa3023]

Hello, I'm experiencing a latency problem using a sustain pedal on the footswitch input of my spd sx pro, I've already sent several emails to Roland to find out if they're going to do this recall in the next update, do you know anything about this subject?

[@markjaysonortega1993]

thank you.. but is roland triggers compatible with alesis strike multipad?

[@richardthurlbeck2730]

Simon: Thanks for the comparison....Question for you?? Have you had any issues with the Alesis Strike Pad after filling up the hard drive with your own samples? I have spent hours loading samples 10 at a time, then hours programming kits, only to find out that once its a bit over 20 gig on the hard drive I lost access to any internal sound factory or user. Can't access the library! So if I try and change a sample it will disappear and I will have no sound on that pad, very frustrating. Have you ever heard of this?? One guy at Alesis recreated the same issue but now no one in the company will talk to me and blame my samples. Everyone of those files plays 100% in Logic, Live & Pro Tools. Oh by the way Alesis was nice to start and have replaced the strike pad several times but won't admit fault with there hardware or software. I have recreated the exact same issue with all software versions 1.1, 1.2 & 1.3??? I would only recommend the Alesis Strike MultiPad to drummers who don't want to add that many samples to the device, they rate it 30 gig - the operating system LOL Once its about 20 gig adding a sample is like rolling the dice. Other than that and the top bumper being a hard hit required that the regular pads it has promise if the fix the hard drive access issue....

[@dasefe2216]

interesting. but, which kick pedals are these?

[@Edwinshawin]

which one best for price

[@eDrumsInANutshell]

I don't know why Simon has not included their Millenium NonaPad ... Did you notice that? I got the Gear4Music DD90 version but I just use it for triggering Ableton or some percussion or audio fx.

[@ThomannsDrumBash]

Hi. In this format we only compare two products against each other, therefore the Millenium NonaPad was not in there. @Edwin: It's always a question of what you plan on using the sampling pad for and what features matter to you most. You can find all the product details and sound examples on our website :)

[@hollywooddjs1]

For the money. ALESIS hands down.. for 600 more the sounds are not that much better even if there are. a little tweaking. you will never here the difference. I bought the ALESIS. ALSO 7000 SOUNDS KILLS ROLAND 1500

[@Iphixel]

Hello which HH and kick pedal did u use for Alesis? I read somewhere that a simple M-audio Sp-1 is enough as HH?

[@cross-hairz800]

Roland fd9.roland kt9

[@Iphixel]

@@cross-hairz800 thanks but i sold it and bought the spd sx pro and the pedals u suggested

[@cross-hairz800]

@caglarust2513 the strike pad that bad??

[@ChristianPaulson-Music]

I really want one of these for shows when I need timpani. Can I tune different pads to different pitches easily?

[@munch2311]

They are $599 right now for the Alesis. I think I'm pulling the trigger for that price!

[@ChristianPaulson-Music]

I'll answer my own question. Yes. You can tune multiple pads to different pitches. I may have to buy one to see how good timpani rolls sound on it.

[@do8671]

Did you buy the Alesis for your timpani sounds? I would utilize it for the same purpose: Timpani, Hand pan, Tabla percussion and stuff like that, + thunder sounds, gong etc... i would like to know if the Alesis would suit my needs... For approx 500$ less than Roland... Thx!

[@ChristianPaulson-Music]

I made timpani samples with my Musescore. Vst sounds.I just did one quarter note and it works for single strokes as well as rolls. I'm very stoked about the rolls.

[@yahyamasca4013]

What is the price alissis

[@munch2311]

Right now it's $599 for Black Friday sales.

[@colinclerk3008]

Tempo setting update is not available in spd sx pro... 😂 😂

[@SoniyaAsif-es2kh]

Hi roland spd sx tempo sync setup disply tempo up down setup best setup

[@mypetdrgn]

i might also add read the respective user forums for eye opening real life user praise n hate

[@xprophet9]

Roland!

[@yahyamasca4013]

Here, its price is more expensive in Algeria

[@saucissonfurtif]

Sauf que… c’est complètement con de comparer un multipad à 550 balles avec un multipad à plus de 1000 balles. Compares le SPD-SX (pas pro, le précédent) avec le Alesis et là tu verras que Roland se fait plier par Alesis qui malgré le fait qu’il n’y ait plus de mise à jour, a fait du bon boulot (ce qui était assez rare avant mais qui commence vraiment à faire mal maintenant) Comparer un SPD-SX vs ALESIS Multipad Strike: Oui. Comparer un SPD-SX PRO avec un Multipad Strike: non.

[@do8671]

Dites vous quil ny a plus de updates possible sur le Alesis? Si jachete ce multipad aujdh, est-ce que jva avoir des probleme defficacité?

[@saucissonfurtif]

@@do8671 Je l’ai depuis pas mal de temps et ça fonctionne très bien … il y a déjà eu des mises à jours et il y en n’a plus certes mais elle fonctionne très bien. Ne pas oublier qu’elle coûte moitié moins cher que la Roland.

[@do8671]

@@saucissonfurtif parfait merci! Ca maide a faire ma decision:) ✌🏻

[@lechlerguttersllc9553]

Alesia Junk I have one Nearly impossible to download your own samples Way way way too complicated Unless you have a degree in computer science

[@SoniyaAsif-es2kh]

Hi roland spd sx best setup loops tempo sync up down and display tempo up down setup best sx pro no tempo sync setup no disply tempo up down setup 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@AsifRaza-qq5yu]

No tempo sync tempo up down pitch up down 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎

[@groovesmith2112]

Alesis sucks!

[@HassanAli-hb8wu]

Hey brother best system roland spd sx loops tempo sync best system sx pro no loops tempo sync system ❌👎❌👎❌👎❌👎❌👎❌👎❌👎

[@geopercussa3023]

Hello, I'm experiencing a latency problem using a sustain pedal on the footswitch input of my spd sx pro, I've already sent several emails to Roland to find out if they're going to do this recall in the next update, do you know anything about this subject?

[@ThomannsDrumBash]

Hi! Unfortunately i haven't heard of this subject until now. Let me check with our e-drum departement if they have experienced this already. All the best, Simon