The RMP-3 made headlines when it was announced in early 2005. Today Roland builds on its winning rhythm line with the new RMP-5. Sharing a few key features in common with the popular RMP-3, the RMP-5 has a great-feeling, tunable mesh drumhead, and a convenient one-piece molded body with integrated pad and brain.
Price: $245.00 Buy now!
User Reviews:
Feature:
the coaching features are great. its like having your very own drumteacher at your disposal. i wish it had come with the DC wall unit, it is sold seperately, as is the mounting stand. a little extra volume on the internal headphone jack would be nice too.
Quality:
Roland quality at its best. i’ve only had it for a short time but believe it will take care of my needs.
Value:
it’s a little spendy but i feel it is worth the investment. it is an instrumental tool for improvement.
Desirability:
i bought for the right reasons and it has served that purpose for me.
Sound:
the sounds are realistic to their description and typical Roland quality.
Ease of Use:
the manual is easy to follow and walks you through step by step. it provides for a quick reference.
Support:
i haven’t required any service or support as of yet and do not anticipate so.
Overall:
i expect this piece of gear to last and serve my practice needs. i would purchase it again.
The all new YDD-60 offers pro level features at a fraction of the typical price. With great features like 8 touch sensitive drum pads, hand percussion mode, 230 stereo sampled voices, 50 preset drum kits, and 100 built in songs, The YDD60 is perfect for the beginner, looking to get started learning how to play the drums, or the professional, looking for a quiet practice solution. The Auxiliary In jack allows you to attach the YDD60 to your favorite MP3 or portable CD player and play with pre-recorded music. This is perfect for learning how to play your favorite songs quickly.
Price: $169.95 Buy now!
The HPD15 has a 15-segment, touch-sensitive pad that reacts to position, velocity, muting, and pitch. The sound engine has 300 percussion and drum sounds from around the world. An onboard effects unit gives reverb and other multi-effects. Use muting and pressure techniques for control, just like real drums.
Price: $895.00 Buy now!
User Reviews:
Feature:
Pads are wonderful, pedal inputs are great to get you feet doing something sensibel in realtime like a beat on the hi hat. Sequencer is very weak on programming & editing or maybe its just not intuitive enough, but I’ve used a lot before and I can;t get to grips with this one. . Programming the sequencer is the big downfall, so I use my boss DR-5 in a midi loop to actually record the sequences that then play back through the HPD-15. No problems with recording a pre-programmed sequence into the unit though.
Sound:
Sound quality is excellent. Playability is excellent
The SPD20 Total Percussion Pad picks up where the popular SPD11 left off, offering strikingly realistic acoustic drum sounds, ethnic and world percussion instruments, fat electronic drum sounds, and unique sound effects – all in a compact electronic percussion multi-pad.
Price: $579.95 Buy now!
User Reviews:
Value:
I really hope this unit is superior to the few others that are out there. It is the most expensive.
Sound:
This unit has a great selection of very realistic sounds. I use it next to my hi-hat and plug in one Roland PD-85 that is incorporated into my acoustic kit. I plan to use at least 2 more PD-85′s in the future
Ease of Use:
It’s easy to get the great sounds, but it’s almost impossible to find them quickly until you create your own patches that are close together. I complained to the salesman about the poor user interface that only shows patch numbers and no real description of what your getting. He told me that a more descriptive display would really raise the cost of the unit. Come on! Every $40 mp3 player or cell phone has a more descriptive display. Also, the users manual is practically useless. Roland, get a musician that speaks english to write the next version instead of a japanese computer programmer.
The SPD-S Sampling Pad is an affordable and easy way to add sampling to any percussion setup. A great alternative to acoustic triggers and a rack sampler, the SPD-S lets you record CD-quality samples and play them back instantly using six pads and three edge triggers. Naturally, the SPD-S also includes preset sounds and effects so you can start playing immediately.
Price: $495.00 Buy now!
User Reviews:
Feature:
My unit came with the mounting bracket in 2003, but I’ve heard that they don’t include it anymore. Too bad. It doesn’t come with a lot of memory, but I bought a flash card at Costco and now I have lots of space.
Quality:
I wrote a review earlier (07/30/2003) about false triggering. It was a problem with early models that has been corrected. Good old “let the consumer do the beta testing”. With it’s plastic case I try to be sure not to drop it.
Value:
I still think it’s a bit expensive.
Desirability:
This has been a good addition to my MIDI percussion rig.
Sound:
You have 3 levels of sound quality. I have used the medium for most everything and that works OK for playing throughan average PA.
Support:
I wasn’t sure what would happen with support concerning the problem of false triggering I mentioned in my first review (07/30/2003). I went to the Percussive Arts Society Annual Convention In Louisville that November and talked (confronted, really) the Roland sales rep about this issue. He gave me contact info and I was able to get this fixed under warrenty. It took about 2 weeks from when I sent it to when I got it back. I don’t know if this would have gone so smoothly without his help, but I’m happy now, nonetheless.
Overall:
I will always want something else!
The Alesis Control Pad USB/MIDI Percussion Controller is a compact (carry under one’s arm) percussion pad controller that is equally at home as a performance instrument and as a MIDI programming tool for studio recording. The Control Pad features 8 velocity sensitive pads with gum rubber surfaces for excellent stick response as well as 2 trigger inputs for connecting external pads such as the Alesis Drum Pad and Cymbal Pad expansion kits. Includes FXpansion BFD Lite software drum instrument for Mac/PC.
Price: $159.00 Buy now!
User Reviews:
Feature:
All-in-one USB bus powered solution. Presently, there is nothing on the market to compare. Expandable via MIDI I/O and additional pedal/ trigger ins. Makes sense and works as advertised.
Quality:
Mine is perfect. Lightweight (a personal preference) but not so light as to be a problem. Stays put confidently on a flat surface. Note: case is plastic, so you’re not going to want to bash mercilessly on it as if it were a real a drum (or a DK10 for that matter).
Value:
2 bills for a single piece of gear that gets the job done. That says it all.
Desirability:
Wanted it from the day it was announced. (Needed it years ago.)
Sound:
n/a. This is not a sound module.
Ease of Use:
Makes sense and works as advertised. Simple, which is what I was looking for.
Support:
No experience with Alesis customer support as yet.
Overall:
There are few products that would quite replace this – none at this price point – so if it breaks, I’ll replace it with the very same thing.
Singing Machine introduces the SMI1450 table-top electronic drum set. If you don’t have the space for a full size electronic/drum kit but still want to be able to practice or play with the same feel and sound this is the choice for you.
Price: $129.95 Buy now!
A complete all-in-one percussion station. The Alesis Performance Pad features eight velocity-sensitive drum pads and a built-in electronic drum machine with professional sounds and features. You can create and record your own beats from scratch or play along with the built-in patterns. With Performance Pad, you can practice quietly with headphones, or plug into an amplifier.
Price: $249.00 Buy now!
User Reviews:
Feature:
External kick drum controller requires that 1 pad be dedicated to kick drum. I believe that the hi-hat controller requires 2 pads (one open, one closed) but am waiting for confirmation on this. This uses up 3 pads instead of 1, leaving only 5 for other sounds.
Quality:
Experienced consistent mistriggering of snare
Value:
It is $250 cheaper than the Roland
Desirability:
’tis a silly question
Sound:
No complaints about sound quality.
Ease of Use:
No complaints about user interface. Pads have a solid feel and good bounce.
Support:
Didn’t get the answers I was hoping for, but they answered my emails within a couple of days, and I had no trouble getting through on the phone on one occasion.
Overall:
It is going back from whence it came. I guess I have to save up for a more expensive unit, such as the Roland.
The Yamaha DD65 is the perfect compact all-in-one combination for the prospective drummer. In its trendy design the DD-65 offers eight touch sensitive drum pads and two foot pedals that allows expressive playing. To play to your favourite music you can connect a MP3- or CD-Player to the AUX-IN-connector.
Price: $219.95 Buy now!