I've had a question that I can't get answered anywhere regarding the sample cross fading (or velocity cross switching - however you prefer to call it) and that is: where the velocity range overlaps between 2 samples assigned to one pad, does the lower sample fade out at the end of the overlap and, conversely, the upper sample fade in at the beginning of the overlap, or do the sample volumes stay the same and the appropriate sample simply cuts out when out of its range...? I have the sample rack pro and what I'm hearing is a cut off, not a fade in or out. This is not good if it is the case and I really wish Alesis would fix it with an update. Thanks for the video.
Can you guys teach us how to set up an HH trigger so that it links to a pad (ie Pad #7) so that it gives that pad the open/close effect? As of now, they act like 2 separate triggers and don't seem to be linked.
Thanks for the review! This has been the best review I've found so far for this pad. Have you run into many issues with one pad triggering a neighboring pad? If so, do you think this could be overcome by increasing the sensitivity of a neighboring pad?
Thanks for intel OP, and totally I agree for me at least half of the value is the visual and performance impact used live - even with a few shortcomings it adds enough to an electronic musician's set to justify it, a couple of times.
+Die Master Monkey (Die, Master Monkey) Agreed, it's awesome having some tactile to add to your music making. It's all about if the price is worth it. For some yes
There isn't a limit on sample length, however the manual states there is a limit of 40 mb available for any collective "kit." So, that 40 mb includes whatever is programmed for the eight pads in a given kit. Pads may be left empty if you wish, leaving one pad with a long sample. I have longer samples that I loop over whole verses. But depending on the quality/intricacy of those recordings you can hit 40 mb quickly. If your sample file is small, you can just loop it for an entire song if you wish.
Rebound, not recoil. It sounded like a piece of wood or plastic with a thin rubber layer on top when you hit the pad. Just how loud is it when you really play it? Or do you need to have the volume up so you can't hear it hit the pad?
very nice review my friend. I am currently searching in the net for more informations for sample pad pro and I have come up with one review that pointed the fact that when you hit a pad a "hiss" sound appears. Do you have the same situation while using it?
Anonymous Animal 2 Yeah, this is just a midi controller. Any noise coming from it is either from the sample used or somewhere else down the line, like from the amplifier, a loose ground, etc. I use to get system hum from my PC and discovered our service panel in the house wasn't even grounded. Once done.. it stopped.
Since this video, have you tried using any other SD cards that have a faster read/write capability, and are you using a class 10 SD card? I'm just curious if that could improve the switch time from internal to external kits.
How would you hook this thing into a pedal board? Can you? Where do you get the samples? Can you just go on Reason and export the sounds onto the card? So many questions.
Nice one! Once you have import your own samples on the SD card, can you edit them… like adjust starting and end points of each sample? Thanks for sharing! :)
Hi Iv enjoyed watching your very informative review...I have a question...I have a WAV files which I converted from a 3 minute intro Mp3 and a 5min Mp3 outro to our live shows... i cant load it on my current Akie sampler...Can you load larger WAV files on this product?
Thanks anonymous animal! You really helped me decide to get one! I only have one question! Where do you put it to play live? do you use a snare drum stand or a director's music stand??
+Mystery White Bird I use the top of a snare stand mixed with a cymbal stand, that way you get the grip of the snare stand and some extra height. Works awesome
Does the SamplePad Pro have an in-built ability to loop samples or drum tracks, or what ever sounds you make hitting the pads?? or would you have to attach a looping pedal?
Muchuchez The SamplePad does not have the ability to loop or sequence. You could load loops onto it but they would have to be triggered every time you want them to play. A loop pedal would be a good solution to this problem especially if you're trying to make beats on the fly.
Muchuchez There is a function to have a sample looping, yes. There's not really any ability to play and loop what you've play like a pedal would but if you had the loop, you could trigger that and play over the top.
I'm new to this kind of stuff and i'm a drummer wanting just a loop played when i hit at pad and stopping the loop if i hit the pat again. Is that what you meant by "there is a function to have a sample looping"? Anonymous Animal's reply and yours has me confused.
I'm so torn over this product. Your review was great and helpful but I've watched and read quite a few other reviews that recommend to stay away due to malfunctions and defects with pads not triggering or triggering neighboring pads. I found one of these on Craigslist locally, still new, still has manufacturers warranty and for a good price but I'm still not 100% sold. I need it for an upcoming string of shows and really need it to perform in a live setting. Musicians on a budget- go figure.
Good News is Alesis has several solutions to the cross talk issue on their site. Maybe a lot of this talk is just people not knowing how to set it up. Think I'm on board now.
+timmlive My best answer is kinda... it's not comfortable, and you have to hit it firmly to get a sound. also it doesn't have enough sensitivity for hand percussion.
+Anonymous Animal 2 Thank you I was wonder that too thanks for asking timmlive! I think I'm going to get one anyways and when I want to finger drum, trigger it from an Akai MPX8 or mb a 4x4 pad controller.
Anonymous animal I'm not sure if you're familiar with DJ controllers I have a pioneer ddj-sr it only has two channels but can this drum machine be hooked up to it?
HAving trouble with other brand eternal pads for hihat and footswitch! I think you MUST use alesis external pads to access full functionality, Im going to try a roland footswitch but the pad didnt work as a hihat but did work as a normal external pad:(
Hi bro... I'm interested to get one of this... im a drummer; and i im searching for some advice in teams of sound of this pad..percussion sound . did they come with a a good percussion sound instruments? What about Samba and all those percussion instruments? What i know is they come with some indian instruments too; like tabla,tarbukan etc... thanks bro
+andersson591 The library sounds that come stock are very basic but good. They are all tunable and changeable (volume, sensitivity, etc.) Choosing your own samples would be an easy solution if you don't like the onboard sounds. There are free libraries with high res samples on them all over. I hope this helps. PS. KAT makes a solid drum pad called the MULTIPAD. Its a lot cheaper and the samples are just as good. However its only 4 pads.
Many people disliked the original Sample Pad from Alesis because you couldn't hit two pads at the same time to get two samples. Does this one allow polyphony?
Yes it does, and it also allows 2 samples to be stacked on top of one another (named as Layer A and Layer B), so you could have a tambourine sound over a snare hit, for example.
+J. F.G Actually...yes, the samplepad takes inputs for kick and hithat controllers...those really could be anything foot-operated. As for hitting the pads with your feet, I have no idea. Worth a try
hello I've the same Sample pad.I often have this message: "memory arrange"After a few minutes it disapear but my sample is dammaged.Can you explain me why I have this?Thank you
+Fab ian It MAY be the SD card that you're using is damaged or incorrectly formatted. Perhaps save your samples to your computer and then reformat the SD card and try again. Not 100% sure. Let us know if that helps!
Avec la technologie actuelle on ose faire de la merde avec les sample pad, face aux Iphones et Smartphones... Alesis et Roland vendent des jouets "Fisher Price" au prix de luxe, j'ai l'impression que les pads midi ne font plus que regresser depuis un moment, sensibilité de merde (même avec le reglage) nuances absolument pourries comparées à DTXPLORER, DTXPRESS des 90's qui sont parfaites , interaction entre les pad, écran ridicule moins convaincant que la premiere "game boy", 4 boutons... Sur Alesis: Ne peut pas retirer le click en main out et laisser en casque, Bravo! Aucune explication sur le procédé des chargements des échantillons wav via USB, et format sur la notice, en plusieurs langues, ni sur le net. Pas de logiciel, pas de pied, pas de SD card vendus avec. Quand on achète un pied ou socle, pas de visses avec, Merci à Roland Alesis Millenium Gibraltar.
i watched like 5 demos of this thing and your the first to make it clear that yes you can use your own samples... thank you
Lol same. 3 years later the video landscape hasn't change :-p
this is the best review ive seen about this product, very useful thanks man!
you guys divulge so much more useful practical info than any other channel ;() teaaars
I've had a question that I can't get answered anywhere regarding the sample cross fading (or velocity cross switching - however you prefer to call it) and that is: where the velocity range overlaps between 2 samples assigned to one pad, does the lower sample fade out at the end of the overlap and, conversely, the upper sample fade in at the beginning of the overlap, or do the sample volumes stay the same and the appropriate sample simply cuts out when out of its range...? I have the sample rack pro and what I'm hearing is a cut off, not a fade in or out. This is not good if it is the case and I really wish Alesis would fix it with an update. Thanks for the video.
Awesome review man. Thanks.
Can you guys teach us how to set up an HH trigger so that it links to a pad (ie Pad #7) so that it gives that pad the open/close effect? As of now, they act like 2 separate triggers and don't seem to be linked.
Thanks for the review! This has been the best review I've found so far for this pad. Have you run into many issues with one pad triggering a neighboring pad? If so, do you think this could be overcome by increasing the sensitivity of a neighboring pad?
+Adam King if you look at comments above yurs, there is a guy who addresses the issue.
Thanks for intel OP, and totally I agree for me at least half of the value is the visual and performance impact used live - even with a few shortcomings it adds enough to an electronic musician's set to justify it, a couple of times.
+Die Master Monkey (Die, Master Monkey) Agreed, it's awesome having some tactile to add to your music making. It's all about if the price is worth it. For some yes
Thank you, great review and to the point !
Great review, one question how long can be the WAV sample, can i load for example a 3 or 4 minute synth sample and trigger it from a pad, thanks !!
There isn't a limit on sample length, however the manual states there is a limit of 40 mb available for any collective "kit." So, that 40 mb includes whatever is programmed for the eight pads in a given kit. Pads may be left empty if you wish, leaving one pad with a long sample. I have longer samples that I loop over whole verses. But depending on the quality/intricacy of those recordings you can hit 40 mb quickly. If your sample file is small, you can just loop it for an entire song if you wish.
Rebound, not recoil.
It sounded like a piece of wood or plastic with a thin rubber layer on top when you hit the pad.
Just how loud is it when you really play it? Or do you need to have the volume up so you can't hear it hit the pad?
very nice review my friend. I am currently searching in the net for more informations for sample pad pro and I have come up with one review that pointed the fact that when you hit a pad a "hiss" sound appears. Do you have the same situation while using it?
MforMetalhead66 I haven't noticed a hiss. perhaps the samples they were using were the source of the noise.
Anonymous Animal 2 Yeah, this is just a midi controller. Any noise coming from it is either from the sample used or somewhere else down the line, like from the amplifier, a loose ground, etc. I use to get system hum from my PC and discovered our service panel in the house wasn't even grounded. Once done.. it stopped.
Since this video, have you tried using any other SD cards that have a faster read/write capability, and are you using a class 10 SD card? I'm just curious if that could improve the switch time from internal to external kits.
Great review! How about the cross-interference between pads? (i.e. 4:33 in your review, when you hit cymbal, the other pad sound too)
there's a velocity sensitive feature on this, so there's two sounds on one pad depending on how hard you hit
How would you hook this thing into a pedal board? Can you? Where do you get the samples? Can you just go on Reason and export the sounds onto the card? So many questions.
Nice one! Once you have import your own samples on the SD card, can you edit them… like adjust starting and end points of each sample? Thanks for sharing! :)
How's this still going any major issues thinking of buying?thanks
Bro... get a faster SD card
Where can I find sounds to load on my SD Card.
Hi Iv enjoyed watching your very informative review...I have a question...I have a WAV files which I converted from a 3 minute intro Mp3 and a 5min Mp3 outro to our live shows... i cant load it on my current Akie sampler...Can you load larger WAV files on this product?
Thanks anonymous animal! You really helped me decide to get one! I only have one question! Where do you put it to play live? do you use a snare drum stand or a director's music stand??
+Mystery White Bird I use the top of a snare stand mixed with a cymbal stand, that way you get the grip of the snare stand and some extra height. Works awesome
Anonymous Animal 2
Wow! Thanks for the wise advice! i'm awaiting for the arrival of Alesis :D
When you load sounds on from an SD card, how do you assign each pad a sample? Or does it assign randomly?
Were can i get different drum pad sounds?? Like a deeper bass drum and stuff like that. Thank u!
Does the SamplePad Pro have an in-built ability to loop samples or drum tracks, or what ever sounds you make hitting the pads??
or would you have to attach a looping pedal?
Muchuchez The SamplePad does not have the ability to loop or sequence. You could load loops onto it but they would have to be triggered every time you want them to play. A loop pedal would be a good solution to this problem especially if you're trying to make beats on the fly.
Good to know. thanks for the reply
Muchuchez There is a function to have a sample looping, yes. There's not really any ability to play and loop what you've play like a pedal would but if you had the loop, you could trigger that and play over the top.
I'm new to this kind of stuff and i'm a drummer wanting just a loop played when i hit at pad and stopping the loop if i hit the pat again. Is that what you meant by "there is a function to have a sample looping"? Anonymous Animal's reply and yours has me confused.
That's exactly what I meant :) Hit it once, it plays and you have to set it so it loops but when you hit a second time, and it'll stop, yes.
What if one would want to trigger backtracks and keep a metronome in-ears? Is that possible?
Got a question can I run 5min samples with a click track on this and only get the click track in my headphones and the sample sound out to the crowd.
probably stupid question but can you play this with hands only
How do you name a kit? Is the kit saved to the card?
very good review, thank you
So it works well on stage and in studio with fl?
Hi bro if you load tones using laptop
I'm so torn over this product. Your review was great and helpful but I've watched and read quite a few other reviews that recommend to stay away due to malfunctions and defects with pads not triggering or triggering neighboring pads. I found one of these on Craigslist locally, still new, still has manufacturers warranty and for a good price but I'm still not 100% sold. I need it for an upcoming string of shows and really need it to perform in a live setting. Musicians on a budget- go figure.
Good News is Alesis has several solutions to the cross talk issue on their site. Maybe a lot of this talk is just people not knowing how to set it up. Think I'm on board now.
+Jesse Sotelo Where do they have troubleshooting for cross talk?? Can you send the link??
+Christopher Hicks www.alesis.com/kb/article/1862
Does this have a record or create phrase function ? If I want to create my own styles for example
can you play them with your hands (more like hand percussion /. handsonic style) without having to break your fingers..?
+timmlive My best answer is kinda... it's not comfortable, and you have to hit it firmly to get a sound. also it doesn't have enough sensitivity for hand percussion.
+Anonymous Animal 2 thanks bro
+Anonymous Animal 2 Thank you I was wonder that too thanks for asking timmlive! I think I'm going to get one anyways and when I want to finger drum, trigger it from an Akai MPX8 or mb a 4x4 pad controller.
Anonymous animal I'm not sure if you're familiar with DJ controllers I have a pioneer ddj-sr it only has two channels but can this drum machine be hooked up to it?
HAving trouble with other brand eternal pads for hihat and footswitch! I think you MUST use alesis external pads to access full functionality, Im going to try a roland footswitch but the pad didnt work as a hihat but did work as a normal external pad:(
Can you loop a rhythm and sync it to a sytn lets say a korg ms20?
i´d like to know if you can add a song track like the roland spd does
Dear Sir please tell me. My Alesis sample Pad pro very slow😭😭😭😭😭
how do you record the in build sound for the video?
is it safe to update alexis sample pad pro with out a sd card
Hi bro... I'm interested to get one of this... im a drummer; and i im searching for some advice in teams of sound of this pad..percussion sound . did they come with a a good percussion sound instruments? What about Samba and all those percussion instruments? What i know is they come with some indian instruments too; like tabla,tarbukan etc... thanks bro
+andersson591 The library sounds that come stock are very basic but good. They are all tunable and changeable (volume, sensitivity, etc.) Choosing your own samples would be an easy solution if you don't like the onboard sounds. There are free libraries with high res samples on them all over. I hope this helps.
PS. KAT makes a solid drum pad called the MULTIPAD. Its a lot cheaper and the samples are just as good. However its only 4 pads.
Many people disliked the original Sample Pad from Alesis because you couldn't hit two pads at the same time to get two samples. Does this one allow polyphony?
Yes it does, and it also allows 2 samples to be stacked on top of one another (named as Layer A and Layer B), so you could have a tambourine sound over a snare hit, for example.
Whenever I load my samples onto the pad, they are really treble-y and some kind of hurt my ears. Do you know how to fix that or if I got a lemon
Andre Burton try not to use MP3 files. MP3 files crush your frequencies. They compress/cut out a lot of your sound.
Matt Cobb I was using wav files but I found out what was wrong
how about latency?
hi, with this pad can i launch like a full piano part for a song?
Can i use this on my feet? i want to be a one man band and use something like this for loops.
+J. F.G Actually...yes, the samplepad takes inputs for kick and hithat controllers...those really could be anything foot-operated. As for hitting the pads with your feet, I have no idea. Worth a try
Anyone knows? Without delay change The patch 😊 ?? This pad
Do the aerodrumming review
hello I've the same Sample pad.I often have this message: "memory arrange"After a few minutes it disapear but my sample is dammaged.Can you explain me why I have this?Thank you
+Fab ian It MAY be the SD card that you're using is damaged or incorrectly formatted. Perhaps save your samples to your computer and then reformat the SD card and try again. Not 100% sure. Let us know if that helps!
hi there, I ve ever reformat my SD card. I change it , but I have the same message. "memory arrange".
+Fab ian what format are you saving your sample in?
hi sorry for late... I use .wav or .mp3
I’m looking for someone who has played it to review it? Can you do a video on the sound
Muy bien very good esta bien
i got one brand new..all i got was cross talk..just like there drum sets junk..just saying!!!
update firmware
JOE MAMA
Avec la technologie actuelle on ose faire de la merde avec les sample pad, face aux Iphones et Smartphones... Alesis et Roland vendent des jouets "Fisher Price" au prix de luxe, j'ai l'impression que les pads midi ne font plus que regresser depuis un moment, sensibilité de merde (même avec le reglage) nuances absolument pourries comparées à DTXPLORER, DTXPRESS des 90's qui sont parfaites , interaction entre les pad, écran ridicule moins convaincant que la premiere "game boy", 4 boutons...
Sur Alesis: Ne peut pas retirer le click en main out et laisser en casque, Bravo! Aucune explication sur le procédé des chargements des échantillons wav via USB, et format sur la notice, en plusieurs langues, ni sur le net. Pas de logiciel, pas de pied, pas de SD card vendus avec. Quand on achète un pied ou socle, pas de visses avec, Merci à Roland Alesis Millenium Gibraltar.
Hey, If I only want to trigger samples in my daw, can I do that with just the USB? Thanks