Alesis Samplepad Pro

It just stopped working

After using it no more than 10x, I connect it to the power supply and it simply wont turn on. The equipment is basically new.

Disgrace

Bought for testint sampling and DAW usage

PROs: This product is really great if you want to try out sampling-MIDI-DAW opportunities. It has the possibility to play virtual instruments (with a notebook, DAW, sound card of course), upload sample packs to memory card, plug in additional drum pads, switches, pedals, etc. It is really great to test if bringing electronis in to your play is the route you want to take. If yes, you should sell this and buy a better product (see cons below), if not, sell it, and you lost only minimal money.

CONs: The top two pad is not playable, it is just good for programmed stuff like all mute, etc. The remaining six is okay, but you have to tweak with the sensitivity. Loading samples is awful slow, you don't want to change it in the middle of a song. One of the knobs in front shows wear after light usage less than one year.

SUM: To see if bringing electronics to drumming, this is perfect, it is really versatile, and you can do everything what more expensive stuff provide - in a less perfect way.

Pretty noisy for normal drumsticks.

After some tweaking I finally got the sensitivity where I wanted. When playing at my home studio I really don't want to bang the pads like when playing them live so the sensitivity was sub-part sometimes. Meaning that it didn't register all my hits that clearly were ones since I have an Electronic Drumset as well and it's much much more sensitive when it comes to hits. The preset sounds are not that great, but with a memory card you can add 10 more or just use it as a MIDI Controller and you have all the sounds in the world. When you go live, just take those sounds with you on a memory card and voilá - you're CPU free in a live situation which is always nice and reduces the amount of stress one might have when you need to get your stuff done in ungodly short amount of times sometimes. This thing I can trust - just turn it on, plug in audio L+R, choose a kit, set the volume and start playing. Master clock can also be used if needed which is great with a lot of electronic controllers and synths + drum machines we are using in live situations. Maybe even more than we should. :)

I also like the extra trigger inputs for a kick, hi-hat, and two more pads which I do own and after testing the whole setup it felt like I was playing a drum set standing up. Also learning a song or a set is as easy as it gets since you can just stick audio in with a click and backing tracks or the in-ear mix you are going to use, just play along and listen it afterwards. Instant feedback, faster learning.

better than expected

Pro: great sound with my Alesis Strike Pro. Sounds is soft though and the sounds are limited. To create new sounds or load them on the pad it's quite fiddly. Overall, im happy with it.

Great low-cost samplepad

I ordered this product as it was one of the cheaper samplepads I could find with a larger number of triggers. I used this samplepad hooked up with a hi-hat trigger and e-kick trigger with a bass drum pedal so I could practice an electric drum kit feel in a more portable manner. This product isn't silent but does a good job of dampening the majority of hits.

The flexibility of the sounds on the product is very impressive, with complete control of each pad with the sample, volume, pan, pitch of sample, sensitivity and trigger type.

Good product

It's a great pad, good for beginners though the extra shoulderpads are probably not a necessity. The quality and the kit that comes with it is pretty good and does the job for many setups. It's also a good idea to look in getting additional kits online.

Most of the time the pads take bit more force to respond, which is the only downside.

Aside from that it is a great multipad, I'd recommend it to everyone looking to do some studio-work or investing in learning how to drum.

Exactly what I need!

I bought the Alesis Samplepad to trigger home made loops or effects during live performances with various bands. I needed something that isnt hooked to any computer or laptop in order to do this and I got exactly what I needed. Very easy to work with your own sounds via the SD card (which of course is not provided).

The time in which the sounds from the SD card are loaded when you switch banks are not the smallest, but it didnt prove a problem during life performances between songs. If you have to change banks during a song...well, that can prove to be tricky (3 to 8 seconds depending on the size of your files)

All in all, its easy to work with, easy to navigate through the menu and its well built. The pads feel good when hit with a drum stick, if you wanna hit them with hands or fingers, you might have to make sure that you turn their sensitivity high from the menu

Ideal to start learning, but also for more serious use.

Use to experiment, learn, and play with samples.

Pros: Price / quality ratio / offer of options, correct size and very good looking.

Cons: Intuitive navigation within the menu. Lack of a knob to speed up the search for kits and sounds. A bit outdated and unpractical keyboard combination.

Does the job

Its a really good instrument for the price but obviously doesn't compare to the Roland Pad, however I have used it multiple times live and its great! Would definitely recommend for a beginner!

OK... but not without its flaws

the output sound and sensitivity on the pads is quite good. The only big problem is that there seems to be a bug that sometimes you hit a certain pad and another one (usually opposite from it) also sounds simultaneously. All models have this as other musicians have stated this same experience.

I do not recommend this to play live as it is slow changing from set to set.

I do recommend it for those of you who just want to practice at home with a decent samplepad. the hitting sounds are quite loud so I recommend playing with ANC headphones as it really helps. All in all, for the current price point, it is a decent purchase.