Alesis Performance Pad Pro Reviews

3.8/5.0 based on 5 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

Jake Hancock
from Lexington KY
December 7, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician

Yes Yes Yes

I've played the drum set for 14 years and I was looking for a portable system that I could lay some beats on. This thing was exactly what I wanted. All that was needed was an amp and a cable and you are ready to rock out. The sensitivity is decent. If you've ever played on an electric set before, it's similar to that. You can stick in 2 "Rock-band" foot pedals and it acts as a base pedal and hi-hat pedal. (A drum-set that you can put in your backpack!)

I use this Performance Pad Pro to jam out with other musicians. We play anything from acoustic hip-hop to Dave Matthews cover to worship music. It literally fits all types of music perfectly. If you are looking for some variation on your acoustic drum set, this is perfect too. It has some awesome percussion sounds that complete any seasoned drummers needs.

The only thing I found wrong with this was that every once in a while the snare doesn't trigger after a bass hit. It could be me not hitting it in the right spot or something else, but it is very rare when it happens and doesn't affect my playing at all.

Conclusion: Get this! If your a seasoned player or just starting this is what you need. Don't order from anywhere else other than Sweet Water. They work with you on everything and you won't find better prices! (trust me)

from
October 13, 2011

Superb drum pad

This was worth the wait. The pads are responsive and the MIDI out works fantastically. The sound quality of the onboard samples are phenomenal. This is a versatile pad that will do wonders for your live performances and recordings.

from
October 18, 2011

Good bang for the buck

I needed a small portable drum kit that could be carried in a suitcase and used for small live band performances that wasn't expensive. The Alesis performance pad pro fit the bill perfectly. I bought a Simmons drum pad bracket that screws into the back of the drum pad and then used a cymbal stand to mount it too. I can adjust the height and angle to match my liking. One thing you need to know about this drum pad, It does not use drum triggers for the kick drum & high hat pedal outputs. They will not work. You have to use a sustain pedal from a keyboard or a tap tempo pedal. I actually like this better because they are cheaper and smaller. I do have one negative with the Alesis performance pad pro and to me it is a big negative.
You have 8 pads which you can programed anyway you like, but the kick trigger output is tied to the pad # 1(bottom left) and the high hat pedal output is tied to pad # 4 (bottom right). They are not independent outputs. So if you change pad #1 to snare it will change the kick output to snare. You have to leave pad# 1 as the kick so you can use you kick drum. Dumb! If you use the high hat pedal you lose 2 pads because pad# 4 will be open high hat and pad#3 will be closed high hat and the high hat pedal will toggle between the two pads creating an open and closing high hat sound. Dumber!! Since I will lose 2 pads I don't use the high hat output, I just use the kick pedal so I only lose one pad. My kit is pad# 1 kick(which is also my kick pedal because you can separate the two for some dumb reason). pad #2 snare, #3 closed high hat, #4 ride cymbal, #5 side stick, #6 tom 1, #7 tom 2, and #8 crash. If Alesis would fix that one problem this would be the greatest drum pad kit on the planet. It is still worth $300 and I'm happy with it. I just wish they had the kick and high hat pedal outputs where they could be assignable separately from other 8 pads. But it isn't, so I will just have to learn to live with it, or go spend $500 more for a Roland Octapad. I'll just live with it.

Ric The Reviewer
from Chicago
August 22, 2011Music Background:
Drums, Violin, Guitar

PPP Review

This unit replaces a drum machine I used in my setup. Why? Because when I play to a comp, I just can't hit those small buttons on the drum machine to create a decent groove.. Enter the PPP. Put in record mode and hit the large pads with your sticks to create a comp to groove against. When I'm not needing accompaniment, I use it as a sound source to give me more colors while grooving or soloing! Nice! I conveniently mount it over my 2 floor toms for easy access. The only complaint I have it Alesis put the volume control in the back by the other jacks. Difficult to turn and adjust without standing up and bending over to adjust it. Maybe there's a way to adjust volume with the pedal inputs that are available. Anyway, great bang for the buck!

Eric Steadle
from Pittsburgh, PA
June 21, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician - Universal Beat Union

Not durable enough

I have owned this pad for about 15 months now.

Initially, it worked just fine. However, after about 3 months of playing, one of the pads no longer functioned. I returned it for warranty service through my dealer, and it was returned to me functional. I played it for another 9 months, but then another pad stopped working.
Since it was no longer under warranty, I opened it up to repair it myself. There are 8 transducers soldered together, and 2 of the solder connections had come loose. I soldered these back together, and it worked fine.

But a few weeks later, it happened again to another pad. So I opened it up again, and same thing happened. I reconnected this one, and it worked fine for a day, and then ANOTHER solder joint came loose.

I have had it with this thing. Admittedly, I play this thing pretty hard, but I'm a drummer, and I hit things... it's what I do. This thing just isn't up to taking a beating during a real performance.

If you have a light, girly touch, then maybe it will work for you, but if your music involves "fff" then pass on this and get something else.