Addition to my Arsenal

Chromium

Senior Member
To use with both my electronic kit and my acoustic set up and on a stand alone basis when recording...

Roland SPD-S, Roland Octopad SPD-30 or Yamaha DTXM12 ?

It's a hard choice... there's nowhere close by where I can try them. :(

Any comments or suggestions?
 
To use with both my electronic kit and my acoustic set up and on a stand alone basis when recording...

Roland SPD-S, Roland Octopad SPD-30 or Yamaha DTXM12 ?

It's a hard choice... there's nowhere close by where I can try them. :(

Any comments or suggestions?
Just wait. Scorch will be here any minute to help you decide. :)
 
Doesn't Wembley Drum Centre stock any of those? It's not too far from you, being in Milton Keynes. Probably about the same distance as it is from me.

If you're recording, are you going to be triggering external MIDI (e.g. in software on a computer) or using the inbuilt sounds in the module?
 
Thanks a lot for the comments. I will probably be mostly using inbuilt samples, but like to have midi as I sometimes like to trigger other equipment live.

I actually found a great shop in Northampton that stocks them, so went and had a try of the Octopad and Yamaha today...

Things I like about the Octopad...
the 'immediate' non-latency of the Octopad
the 'feel' when played with sticks
the phrase looper
will send midi triggering
...but it won't play samples.

Things I like on the Yamaha;

12 pads
will play samples
will send midi triggering
...but it feels more like a toy and the pads do not feel as good. The price is way more than I thought too... If I decide on this then I may have to look for an ex-demo or second-hand unit.

Any other advice or opinions would still be appreciated.

They did not have an SPD-S
 
Well my best advice would be to use external samples. That way you can use a fairly generic interface like a DTXpress II interface (I have one of these) and just use the MIDI out - an old e-kit module would be the cheapest way of dealing with it, you could even build your own triggers using a piezo and some old heads. The internal samples are the tricky part and that's down to you to decide. What are your applications for the unit?

As far as I can tell, the SPD-S doesn't have a MIDI out. That would rule it out for me and I'd go with the Yamaha unit. The MIDI out adds a LOT of possibilities. The SPD-S is a fine unit, but it wouldn't cut it for me.
 
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