In addition to the 10 preset drum kits on offer, which feature various combinations of the 25 on–board samples, you can also load in your own samples via an SD/SDHC card slot. The SamplePad 4 accommodates cards up to 32GB in size, though the maximum capacity of 89 user kits and 512 samples per card may mean you can get away with one much smaller. Connect the SamplePad 4 to a Mac or PC using the USB 2 port — which also functions as a USB MIDI output — and you can drag and drop samples onto the SD card from your desktop. Once loaded, samples can be retuned and treated with the built–in reverb effect. In Use

The Samplepad is Alesis' latest offering in affordable electronic percussion instruments. The Samplepad is a 4-pad trigger pad which contains 25 built-in sounds.It even features the ability to output MIDI data so you can trigger samples on a sampler, computer, or any other MIDI compatible module. The six rubber pads are smooth, responsive and a joy to play. The unit comes in at a modest 4lbs (1.85kg) but feels sturdy and road-ready. The downside to the Nord Drum 3P is that it’s priced relatively high when you consider what you can do with it. However, what they are offering is a high quality drum synthesizer for use in live and studio environments. If you're not sure whether to upgrade your SPD-SX, or whether you spend the extra on the SPD-SX Pro, our comparison piece will help answer all your key questions.

Compact All in one Percussion instrument

Please note that this extended warranty is currently only available on products sold within the UK, EU or EEA, and is subject to the terms and conditions as detailed on the extended warranty certificate provided. The emergence of hybrid drumming – that is merging acoustic and electronic drums to enhance and expand your sound – has meant everyone from bedroom players to pro drummers are looking for electronic elements to add to their kits. Some opt for an array of triggers or individual pads positioned around the kit, whereas others prefer a more economical approach in terms of space, convenience and affordability. That’s where the best electronic drum pads in this guide come in. In practice, importing sounds turns out to be a relatively smooth process. Once a sound is selected from the card it takes a few seconds to load into the pad, and when you’ve filled all your pads with suitable sounds and set the parameters as you want them, you can save the kit. Still with us? Okay, let’s get into it. With the exceptional high quality we’ve come to expect from Nord, the 3P displays a vast array of sonic capabilities. It has 200 sounds and a large variety of modulators, oscillators, reverbs, filters and various other FX on-board. You can use these to alter specific aspects of each sound and save them as your own in one of the 400 available banks. There is also a sequencer app for iOS, called Nord Beat, which will make beat-makers and producers feel at home.

Also new to the Pro is a desktop app that enables full control of your unit, so you can assign samples to pads, apply effects and so much more without having to deep dive through endless menus and button pushes.Prepping for your next gig has never been easier. A percussion pad will not allow you to import samples, however it will be loaded with - as the name suggests - a multitude of drum and percussion sounds, along with tools to colour and manipulate them. If a sample pad is an electronic Swiss Army Knife, think of a percussion pad as a thousand drum kits in a box. They're not just great for drummers either. Perhaps you’re a live DJ with a nice loop going. Why not spice it up by stepping away from the booth and playing a percussion break? You can then add effects and layers to colour it however you want, or loop it to keep the break going while you mix something else. What is a multipad? Solution home Alesis Support Alesis | Getting Started Alesis Drums | Connecting your Kit to a Computer When compared to options from Roland or Nord, some of the on-board sounds are a little unsophisticated, and we experienced some awkwardly long loading times when switching between functions. While this is not too much of a problem at home, this could potentially waste precious seconds on stage.

If the Pro model is a bit rich for your blood, there’s still plenty to love about the red ‘Special Edition’ of the original SPD-SX, which features a hefty 16GB of storage space and is currently a decent chunk cheaper than the new pro model.

All the features are the same – loop control, mute groups etc and the user samples can be layered or velocity switched. Pict can go up or down by 4 semitones, reverb is adjustable and pads can be individually assigned midi notes and individual sensitivity. The Alesis SamplePad Pro contains eight drum pads. This includes six pads on the main face of the device, and two on each of the top corners.Based on years of providing digital drummers with the sounds they demand, Alesis loaded up the SamplePad 4 with a set of 25 of the most commonly requested drum and percussion samples out there, ensuring that you're off to a good start from the moment you plug it in. These sounds even come arranged into 10 useful preset kits. What's more, it couldn't be easier to add your own samples to your SamplePad 4. Just connect it to your Mac or Windows PC via USB, insert an SD/SDHC card up to 32GB in capacity, and you're ready to load up to 512 samples in up to 89 user-defined drum kits. And thanks to its onboard processing, the SamplePad 4 will even let you tune and add reverb to your sounds. Alesis SamplePad 4 Electronic Percussion Instrument Features:

With the SamplePad's easy-to-use interface, you won't be rifling through endless submenus and categories to find the sound your looking for. Simply strike the pad you want to change, dial to the sound you want and you're done. If you discover a great combination of sounds you want to keep together, simply designate it as a kit and the SamplePad will save it for easy recall anytime you want. If you'relooking for a dedicated sample triggerthe Alesis Samplepad is ideal. It's low cost, rugged and functional, with velocity sensitivity and an SD card slot for use without a distinct sampler unit.The Samplepad is the ultimate compact sampler module, ideal for enhancing your live performances with highly-creative sampled sounds. Here's what Alesis say about the Samplepad: To get started you'll only need to plug your kit directly into your computer via a USB cable. All of our devices are class compliant, so if you run into any connection issues please be sure to eliminate any hubs or connectors between the computer and your module.

Customer Reviews

Any captured sample may be saved onto the SD card (via USB), without having to remove it. Facets of any user sample may be altered, copied and saved (without affecting the original), including tuning, pan and reverb. Regarding samples, try to keep the sample sizes relatively small if you’re planning on switching kits often between gigs. Big samples here can mean relatively long loading times between kit changes, but it’s fine if you can plan for it. Here atMusicRadar, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing, creating and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music gear related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides. So, talking of user samples, things haven”t got any better in the loading speed from the Samplepad Pro. Transferring a 10 meg sample via USB from my computer to the Samplepad 4 took 73 seconds and then loading it from the card into memory to be played off a pad took another 80 seconds. Its also worth noting that the samples load each time you select a new patch (of which there are only 10) and when the samples are loading, the rest of the unit becomes entirely unresponsive. You HAVE to wait for the samples to load before you can do anything else, including moving to the patch you really wanted to be on. Waiting up to 80 seconds between patch changes can be a little frustrating at times, and because of this, I could not recommend the Samplepad 4 for stage use if you are using long samples – the frustration could cause you to strangle the guitar player… actually, thats not a bad idea…