The Roland SPD-SX has been the go-to sampling pad in the music industry for several years. Whether you’re a drummer or producer, it’s the best tool to use for live sampling and setting up an electronic rig around drums or other instruments.
Roland shocked everyone when they recently released the Pro version of their famous pad. The SPD-SX Pro aims to topple the quality of its predecessor, and it’s quickly becoming the new industry-standard option for hybrid drum kit setups and electronic rigs.
In this review, we’re going to take a deep look into this powerful tool. We’ll explain everything it can do, and we’ll discuss whether it’s worth upgrading to this from a standard SPD-SX pad.
The Roland SPD-SX Pro shares all the features of the original SPD-SX, but it has several enhanced ones that make it a superior sampling pad.
It has around 1500 preset sounds onboard, and all the pads are very responsive to dynamics, so those sounds have massive playability.
You have the option of creating 200 kit patches. 43 of those are preset kits that come with the pad, while the other 157 are up to you to create.
You can import your own samples to the pad, and it has 32GB of space to store those. You can use the SPD-SX Pro app to deeply edit everything onboard the pad. It’s a lot easier than using the interface to edit things.
Lastly, the pad has eight external outputs, allowing you to attach different triggers and pads to create a larger electronic setup.
The overall quality of the SPD-SX Pro feels very similar to the original SPD-SX. However, the shoulder pads are a lot more sensitive, giving you better sound quality when you play sounds that are triggered by those.
When it comes to the onboard offerings, the SPD-SX Pro has double what you get with the original pad. You get an incredible 200 kit spaces and 32GB of storage, which gives you plenty of space for customization and personalization.
If you’re someone who loaded up the SPD-SX to full capacity, you’ll love the extra space and playing options that the SPD-SX Pro gives you.
The new preset sounds added to the pad are Roland’s high-quality samples, and they’re great fun to mess around with.
The new SPD-SX Pro has a few construction differences compared to the standard SPD-SX. The most obvious one is the different coloring. The SPD-SX has unique LED lights that switch colors, and you can choose the colors depending on what kits you’re using to make it easier to memorize where to play certain things.
The interface on the SPD-SX Pro is also a bit larger. The screen is bigger, allowing you to see things more clearly when you’re editing, and there are a few more control knobs to utilize.
Overall, the SPD-SX Pro is designed incredibly well. We can say without a doubt that it will last just as long as the original SPD-SX has for so many musicians. You could easily use this pad for ten years or more
The performance aspect of the pad is the biggest upgrade. It feels a lot smoother to use, and integrating different sounds and samples is a breeze. You can feel the upgrade of the technology, as using this pad makes the original SPD-SX feel quite outdated.
This pad also has more outputs, allowing you to create a larger rig to perform with. It was common for drummers to add a kick pedal to the older SPD-SX to have an electronic drum kit setup. With the SPD-SX Pro, you can add a pedal as well as a few other pads to create an even larger and more exciting playing setup.
Roland has outdone themselves with the performance aspect of this pad, and we’d say it’s the biggest selling point.
The SPD-SX Pro costs about $300 more than the original SPD-SX Sampling Pad. We think that the price jump is well worth the upgraded features that you get.
It’s an expensive pad from the get-go, but it’s an investment that will last you up to a decade of good use.
If you use electronic sounds when playing live gigs, a sampling pad is essential to have, and we suggest getting the best one possible. The price-to-value ratio is good enough for us to steer you toward this pad over any other available on the market.
The SPD-SX Pro is only a good studio tool if you’re creating beats and using samples. If you’re simply recording acoustic drums for albums, this probably isn’t the best piece of gear to spend your money on.
It’s a different story when it comes to live gigging. Sampling pads are essential in drumming setups for styles like pop, hip-hop, and anything electronic-focused.
The Roland SPD-SX Pro is one of the best tools that a drummer can get for live gigs. Not only can you run samples and play electronic sounds, but you can also run a click track from it to feed to your whole band.
While Roland didn’t hype this pad up too much before releasing it, we strongly agree that it’s going to be the industry-standard sampling pad for years to come. It takes everything good about the original SPD-SX and improves on those aspects.
If you’re in the market for an electronic drum pad, the Roland SPD-SX Pro is undoubtedly the best option to pick from.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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