Is the Roland SPD-SXPro Worth the Extra Price?

P

Poleaux

Active Member
My Roland SPD-SX has finally begun to malfunction after 8 years of beatings. Upon shopping around for a new one, I came across the SPD-SX Pro, which costs about $500 more. It seems like it is a lot better, but perhaps it is simply marketing hype. I was perfectly happy with the plain ol’ SPD-SX, but I’m hoping someone in this group has experience with both versions and can shed light on whether the Pro is worth the extra money.
 
I think it is a step up, but then I'm not paying the extra $500.
The app is excellent, and only available with the 'pro'. Being able to choose lights around the pads, colours, turn them off etc is great! Means you can colour code sound types, and turn off the lens on unused pads. The included sound library is better.
It's just an updated, more pro piece of gear.
 
Chris Whitten said:
I think it is a step up, but then I'm not paying the extra $500.
The app is excellent, and only available with the 'pro'. Being able to choose lights around the pads, colours, turn them off etc is great! Means you can colour code sound types, and turn off the lens on unused pads. The included sound library is better.
It's just an updated, more pro piece of gear.
Click to expand...
Interesting… I take it that the app is compatible with the iPhone? Or is it limited to a PC? What can you do on the app?
 
Not sure about the phone. I used it on a laptop.
It is extremely fully featured. You can set up everything on the SPD-SX Pro using the app, which is much better than wading through the pad's menus.
 
Poleaux said:
My Roland SPD-SX has finally begun to malfunction after 8 years of beatings.
Click to expand...

How so? There's a known issue with this unit in that all the sockets come away from the board - power, trigger and audio. Open her up and re-solder the lot :)
 
I spoke to Roland about that and they said it was an issue with some early units.
I certainly hammered mine for a few years on the road and never had an issue. My replacement in the band has done the same.
 
electrodrummer said:
How so? There's a known issue with this unit in that all the sockets come away from the board - power, trigger and audio. Open her up and re-solder the lot :)
Click to expand...

At first, it was the top left shoulder trigger that started sounding all wacky and distorted, but slowly the problem started crossing over to the surrounded pads and then one day, suddenly I started smelling fried electronics… that acrid smell of burnt electronics, so I unplugged the device and never plugged it in again.
 
TheDrummerFromAmsterdam said:
Love the Pro as a unit, but I don’t like the app.

I like the external SX app that was made outside of roland much more.
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I’ve heard about that 3rd party app… where do you get it? What is the developer or manufacturer’s name? Also, I’ve heard that that app works with the plain ol’ SPD-SX as well?
 
Poleaux said:
I’ve heard about that 3rd party app… where do you get it? What is the developer or manufacturer’s name? Also, I’ve heard that that app works with the plain ol’ SPD-SX as well?
Click to expand...

SPD-SX-Editor

The SPD-SX-Editor is a software to organise your Roland SPD-SX Sampling Pad.
spd-sx-editor.com spd-sx-editor.com
 
The new app does a lot more than the old 3rd party one. You can do absolutely everything in the new app that you can do on the SPD-SX Pro itself, but that's not the case with the old app.
 
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