Roland is renowned for its drum and percussion pads, and it's just announced a new one in the shape of the SPD-SX. This enables you to use your own samples and ships with 2GB of memory for this purpose.
You can read what Roland has to say about the SPD-SX below. It'll be available in October priced at £499.
Roland SPD-SX press release
Roland is pleased to introduce the SPD-SX Sampling Pad, a multi-pad percussion instrument with 2 GB of onboard sampling memory and three powerful effects engines. The SPD-SX replaces the popular SPD-S, the industry-leading sampling pad, which has been the overwhelming choice of professional drummers and percussionists. The SPD-SX leads the way with the latest pad-sensing technology, enhanced sampling performance, an assignable click output, and a host of other features.
The SPD-SX gives drummers, percussionists, and other musicians a simple, portable, and affordable way to add sampling to any performance setup. The generous 2 GB of built-in memory provides more than three hours of CD-quality sampling in stereo, which can be captured via the stereo mic/line input or imported through USB. The SPD-SX also features new Multi-Pad Sampling, a quick and easy way to capture, truncate, and assign samples to pads by simply striking pads at the appropriate start/end points of a particular sample.
User samples and factory-preloaded wave data can be organized and stored into numerous kits and played from the nine integrated trigger pads, which include six large pads and three edge triggers. The pads feature Roland's latest pad-sensing technology for even, accurate triggering and the ultimate in dynamic sensitivity. Two dual-trigger inputs allow users to expand the SPD-SX with optional external pads and acoustic drum triggers for even more triggering options. The SPD-SX has three multi-effects units onboard: one master unit and two units that are assignable per kit. In addition, two dedicated front-panel knobs provide real-time control of user-assignable effects parameters.
The bundled SPD-SX Wave Manager software for Mac and PC lets users import audio files from a computer directly via USB, assign the samples to pads, and edit/organize sample files quickly and efficiently. USB also allows users to interface the SPD-SX easily with their computer to communicate directly with DAWs and other music software, so players can use the SPD-SX to trigger software instruments and record MIDI and audio data in the computer.
The versatile SPD-SX can be played on a tabletop or stand, and can be used with standard drum hardware. Other standout features include an intuitive interface and large display, dual stereo outputs, a phones jack, an assignable click output with dedicated front-panel level knob, MIDI I/O, and more.
The SPD-SX will be available in October with a street price of £499. For more information, please visit www.RolandConnect.com.
