Out of curiosity I'm checking out dozens of drummer's setups to see what pads they might use. Most of them use the Roland. I've seen one using the Yamaha DTX M12, and now BFM using a KAT.
I'm leaning towards the SPD-SX as well, and what I see on youtube and read in various places, it seems to be possible to have backing tracks and
clicks separated cleanly.
Maybe it's changed since that thread, or most
users either don't realize or don't bother bad separation...?
I'm actually using the Alesis Sample-pad pro. Pricing wise its very nice, but lacks some things that the roland has. It also has some crosstalk issues, where samples won't trigger or gets stopped by other samples. I would deffo be interested if they made something a bit more professional. I think the Roland is overpriced.The Roland is the most available, and more capable than the Yamaha products (last time I checked.) The KAT is probably for more specific needs by drummers working with software, but it also triggers a module nicely. They're probably the hardest to find, I'm not even sure if they're still in production.
But the Roland isn't extremely easy to use, most operations require consulting one or more parts of the manual.
It's possible to trigger a stereo track, and a click, but it requires linking two pads. Depending what other sounds you might need to manually trigger during playback, you may or may not run out of pads.
I still use the Roland, but I'm not a fan. I'm talking with Alesis about developing a truly pro-level sample playback pad.
Bermuda
The KAT seems to be designed in a way you could easily hit the wrong pad...
I actually like the look of the Alesis and the fact that it's nicely backlit in blue.
I'm "glad" to know it has crosstalk issues as well. How does it compare to the
Roland when it comes to loading one's own samples into it?