The power switch noted in one or two other reviews as sloppy, turns out to be actually a logic controlled switch. For example, it will immediately turn on, but requires a momentary hold to turn off. The pad responsiveness is adjustable so allows for subtle pad input as well as a decent curve when striking hard. Very pleased. Best value.

The product looks nice and neat. The base drum pad stopped working after a couple of weeks. The chrome power switch on the back is rickety and seems like it is going to fall apart. Triggering is poor and takes a good hit in the center to get a response. Some pads need the sensitivity turned way up to 6 or 8 before you can get a trigger without smacking the pad very hard with a drum stick. Very dissapointed

I had this for two functions. The first was to trigger one-shot samples in a song, and the other was to start and stop loops. This pad failed me 100% of the 5 or 6 times I tried to use it. It would change "kits" without being touched AND trigger the wrong loop in the middle of a song, again without being touched. It's one thing to have a function simply not work, but another issue entirely when it starts playing anything without being told to.

I hope they can fix this issue in the future but I just had to return it and go another direction.

Drums aren't my first instrument. More like 'fourth'. I'd planned to use this for drum performance in a very small home recording situation, as a system with the KAT kick drum trigger and an Alesis Real Hat controller. I have previously owned a Yamaha DTX digital kit, and have used an old Roland Octopad, so I think my expectations were realistic. You will not get the feel or nuance of real drums on any of this stuff. The concept was a compromise, based on budget, ease of use, and lack of space.

By itself, the Alesis is solidly...OK. The sounds are decent, the playing feel is about what you'd expect, and, once the not-great factory set up is tweaked for sensitivity, it responds....OK. The upper two playing surfaces, usually used for crash and ride cymbals, don't trigger reliably--maybe 80% of the time. The six main pads are, again...OK. If you use this alongside a conventional kit, to augment it with more percussion sounds or Simmons-type effects, you'll likely be pretty happy with it.

As a system with external kick and hi-hat triggers? The KAT kick-drum trigger (reviewed separately) was pretty awful. 'Nuff said. Apparently the Real Hat hi-hat controller is difficult to find separately.

I'd love to have had this work out, but can't justify keeping it. Synopsis: use it to add sounds to a kit, not AS a kit.

If you don't want to spend a ton of money and you want a hybrid drum kit this pad is a great choice.
I like the 8 local pads plus the ability to use 4 external triggers.
When loading a kit with your samples it takes a little bit to load.

I'm using triggers and pads I'm very happy with the performance of the Alesis SamplePad Pro

I needed a sample pad to trigger loops and sound effects. Like most I want the best I can get, but for me that does not mean I am going to buy the most expensive one out there. I looked at what was available and balanced it with my personal needs and this one checked all the boxes and was at a great price. If your on the fence about it just go buy it you will not be disappointed. My one and only complaint is if you are using samples off your SD card it takes a little bit to load when turning on or switching kits. With 8 pads I can put what I need on 1 kit per set so it does not matter. This the 3rd Alesis product I have purchased, I still use the DM5 module I bought 16 yrs ago with no issues.

I've used this unit on and off for the last three or four years for random projects or triggering midi on my kit. I just recently gave it away The largest issue is the cross triggering and one of the pads eventually just died, just from moderate use. I'm a fan of their electric kits, but this piece of equipment is one to avoid. Granted, it is on the inexpensive side, however this behaves more like a $99 dollar model... Save up for their more expensive version.

Choosing this gear is really like rolling the dice. My first pad worked better than my replacement for the first month. Practices went great, I could easily load my own samples and then… one of the pads gave out after one month of practice without any travel. Sweetwater was amazing in quickly replacing it with a brand new one which unfortunately had more problems right out of the box. As previous reviews have mentioned this replacement pad had a ton of problems with the power switch, SD Card wouldn't load properly and would freeze the digital system, and when I did get it to load properly a strike to one of the pads would short the whole piece of equipment out.

If you're getting this as touring drummer to fill out your acoustic kit with electronic capabilities then do yourself a favor and stay away from this particular sample pad. I have since returned the pad and await Sweetwater's restock on another more reliable sample pad and plan to go that route for 2022

Came when was promised
Never used one before glagd

Pros: Small for small studio - price point - slick look

Cons: Extremely twitchy - definitely a beginner's controller - unreliable triggering - impossible to adjust sensitivity/curve/vel to play with any natural dynamic range -limited internal sounds are only OK - because of the "twitchiness" the pad may change while adjusting parameters so you end up with unintended edits and have to re-edit those you thought were finished- editing is very clumsy with limited curser maneuverability on display - can't imagine ever using this live

I returned this with no hassles at all.
Sweetwater remains the absolute best for support, customer service and value!! Not their fault that this is a loser. I'll be back!

Very versatile and easy to use. Plug and play

Overall the sample pad pro does all it claims. It takes some tweaking to correct cross pad trigger issues but not hard to do. I have had issues with turning it off. Golding the button, as the directions says to, does not always shut it down. Instead, it reboots and I end up having to try and shut it down several times. The external throughput works great. Directions on creating new kits and naming new kits could be better.

I recently purchased this and have found that it does everything it is supposed to do, Triggering pre-loaded and custom sounds.
There are file size limits for each sound file, so don't expect to load an entire song as a backing track however, it works well for repetitive looping tracks.
The interface is super easy to use.
The only weakness I have found is that the manual is inadequate in explaining some of the features and limitations of the product. i.e. creating new kits and renaming your new kits.
Definitely money well spent, but be prepared to research how to use it to get the best possible results.
Once you figure out the true effects of volume, reverb, and sensitivity you will be pleased with what this product does for you.
I have not used the MIDI connection.

This product is easy to program. I am integrating it into my acoustic set up. I'm still learning all of it's available functions. I'm going use it for additional drums in my acoustic kit set up.

Works right out of the box, plays the loops and samples I want it to. MY Peeps! set the sensitivity to 2 or 1 on pads that have cross talk issues and change the surface you are playing on, a desk might have more cross talk than a stand, I'm playing on a wooden TV dinner tray with zero issues. These "professional musicians" who are b****** calling it an inferior product need to take a crash course in electronics...

I have giged with the sample pad pro for a year now. I use a sample that I made. I use the claps. I use a few other effects like Thunder. I have always needed the ability to have some electronic sounds. This device has proven its self (to me) on stage. I use th SD card to load new sounds and samples. I use Pin triggers on a spare snare. Works well!

Bought the surge kit , and added the pro x hi hat, and the sample pad pro.
The original hihat became an extra cymbal and the Alesis sampler pro took this drum kit to a much higher studio / live use worthy set.
So for less than1000$ I have the best set of drums for studio I need... love it all !!
Ernest Murray

I am returning the SamplePad Pro. I have owned many Alesis products, but this one in particular is a surprising disappointment. The touch sensitivity of the pads is just not good. You have to strike the pads rather hard to generate an output signal - especially on the two top pads. So I set the sensitivity to a higher level and the pads then began to crosstalk such that if you hit a tom, then the snare may also sound simultaneously. Obviously unacceptable.

I bought this pad and it went out. First the crosstalk then the pads going out after returning the unit about 9 times. They finally sent me a new one and didn't even open it. I put it on Ebay and sold it. Bought the Yamaha DTX multi 12 and its been almost 4 years and had not had one issue... Do not buy this junk. Go with the Yamaha DTX 12 or Roland SPD SX you won't regret it.....

I don't ever write reviews. BUT, Since I've had the Alesis Samplerpad pro for a few years I just wanted to share a few things about it that I've experienced. First off the factory default sounds are good but what no one tells you is the Alesis website has huge variety of free sounds you can download and add to your library.

Definitely buy a SD card! This is what makes it worth buying. I've been drumming in a pop/rock cover band for 3years & people are blown away with the Samples from songs Ive used on the product. Note, you cant record samples onto it, you need to do that on your PC or Mac and its very specific with the format. Wav - Frequency 22050 Bits 16 , Otherwise it doesn't recognize the file. Also, you cant custom label new kits or files on the unit, that has to be done again on a PC or Mac. So, If your handy with creating Wav files from CDs/mp3s & sounds or going to add drum sounds this is for you. I've even used it as a kit. added a kick pad, HH pedal & HH pad. It's fantastic and an easy set up. I love the aux port to plug my cell or PC to practice to with head phones, doesn't bother the wife.
What's also cool is each pad has a feature to add two sounds at the same time and you can change the pitch.

I bought my first one refurbished online. The flaw I discovered is the poorly soldered wires on the pads. I bet mine up for about a year & a half until I found out one of the pads were cutting out. Opened up the unit and found the wire on one of the pads was falling off the solder. I repaired it a few times but after 3 years of doing it and yesterday one pad cut out in the middle of a gig, it was time to buy a new one.

Hope this helps a few drummers with this model. Its affordable for what it is, but if your looking for more spend more money. Otherwise a cool add for a drummer in a cover band.

Before I got this Alesis, I was keying in my drum parts on a Roland XP-10 synth. To now play with sticks on 8 active pads, it's a real step up in what I can do musically.

I don't use the native drumsets, but hook it up as an input device to my Roland XP-10, which offers better-quality percussion for recoding purposes. I wear 30dB isolation earphones while recording, so the stick-on-rubber sounds don't pollute what I hear being laid down. Also, I suggest getting the memory chip straight away, since you need one to have your settings remembered. I evaluated the MIDI latency, and
couldn't measure any (it's in u-secs), so no problem with up-tempo drumming. The dynamic range of the pads is quite good....I was impressed. This approach puts beat-tracks to shame....if you want a real drummer playing with feeling and spontaneity. That's the strength of this device.

Have used this for just over a year with the church band. I should say that I've TRIED to use this for a year with the church band. Was hoping to augment my acoustic kit with some basic percussion sounds, but it's not happening.

Pros:
Plenty of pre-loaded samples. They sound pretty good too.
Seems to be well built.

Cons:
Cross-talk is horrible. Doesn't matter where the sensitivity is set at.
Velocity settings are almost worthless. You never know what you're going to get until you hit the pad. Could be loud. Could be quiet. Doesn't matter how hard or soft you strike.

This is a fun, albeit somewhat expensive, toy. My kids enjoy messing around with it for a few minutes. I plan on ditching this and going with Roland or Yamaha.

Very impressed! Right out of the box, did exactly what I was told it would do, no problems at all !
Thanks Pastor Andy

I've only had about 2 hours of play time on this pad sence it arrived & from that the setup of sound to each pad is very easy with amazing sound quality and absolutely no white noise when not being played, very clear at all volume levels and so far no problems at all in this limited time of play! What a great way to add alot of sounds to your kit at such a small price, and being backed by Sweetwater you can't go wrong! "Thanks Guy's"

Sweetwater doesn't want us to post links, so search Youtube for DamageControl's Alesis SamplePad Pro Review and maybe I will get a detailed review posted that will help you even more.

Good points:
[1] The pre-loaded drum sounds are instantly available as soon as you turn on the device. they sound good, too. Too bad I have no intention of using them!

[2] You can upload clips / sounds (wav files) created in Garageband or another program (THIS is why I bought the device.) I have created keyboard chords, for example, which I trigger with the pad, while drumming - fills out the sound of my three piece band.

[3] The blue lighting around the pads looks cool and will help to see the black pad when playing on a dark stage in a live performance.

[4] The mounting system I bought works nicely with a cymbal stand and extension clamp.

Bad points:
[1] EVERY TIME you turn on the pad, it takes up to 2 minutes to LOAD the wav files you have upload previously onto the SD card, for EACH kit you create. So if you plan to use it LIVE, space out each song so that you have upload time from kit to kit.

[2] "Splitting" each pad by properly programming velocity, is difficult ... to make the velocity-sensitive "split" correctly, and then properly trigger Patch A or B while drumming live, is NOT easy. I am still learning how to master this.

[3] You have to either REMEMBER what sounds you assigned to each pad, or have a way of reminding yourself. The tiny display window only shows the patch assigned, WHEN the pad is hit.

[4] And you better find a logical labeling convention for your patches! I created overlays using clear plastic page protectors, I mark the chords / sounds on the overlay, on top of the pad to which the sound is assigned.

[5] You WILL experience "crosstalk" and triggering of adjacent pads if the sensitivity is turned up to high on a pad.

[6] The two "mini pads" at the top of the unit do not respond as well as the 6 large pads below.

I have had good luck so far. Very good price for me as I use it part time for a couple bands I play in. I like the option to put your own samples in a SD card and load to your kit. The top edge pads have a delay but they work good for a cymbal crash. I also like the dual pads. You can make some nice full samples.

YProblems: Yes, there is some crosstalk, but I've been able to greatly minimize it by adjusting the pad sensitivities. Yes, it does take awhile to load large samples, so playing live with large samples could be a problem. The documentation supplied is inadequate and the Alesis website is not much help on how-to-use instructions.

Good stuff: I'm very impressed with the built in sounds. You can actually get a wide range of dynamics from the snare sounds (not so machine gun-ish like many elec kits). The website does provide a nice file converter that converts files to the correct format for sample use. It also has a decent file of additional samples, although, surprisingly, tympani nor bass samples are not provided, nor are any decent brass hits. Finally, the price is amazing. This unit is soooo much cheaper than the competition. You can work around a lot of shortcomings for the difference in price. If you're making big bucks playing drums, go for one of the other 2 leading brands. If you're a hobbyist or simply a weekend warrior, you really ought to look at this unit

The product is fantastic with all of its capabilities, accessibility and fun. However, like I've seen in many YouTube reviews on this product, it seems to have consistent trigger malfunctions. A strike to one pad on almost every other strike will trigger another pad across the board at random. Even leaving a faint sound from the reactionary triggered pads.

Love it. Just what I need to program in my studio. Can be used as a stand alone unit or a controller for my internal sounds. Also user friendly.

Yea I read the reviews but bought it anyway.
As a stand alone device, using the stock samples. I would have to say it's OK.
Don't expect to load samples on the fly, unless you can wait a few bars before it happens.
Now on to creating and loading your own samples.
I gave up. I created a couple banks of samples and could never get them on an SD card.
Then I discover the sample creator. No luck.
Is it worth the price? Save up and get the Roland gear.

I don't expect to use this in a live situation. That being said, I've owned 2 Roland kits and used and Octapad live. All had sensitivity issues. False triggering and a wall wart failure that delayed the start of our set, once. If I were to consider playing live again it would be with my acoustic kit, possibly using Roland pads to trigger whatever. Even then in high SPL situations, it can be a nightmare gig.
Bought this to use in my project studio as I'm not fond of using the little pads with my fingers on my controller. So considering price and the ability to dump wav. files easily, was what sold me.
Plugging it in with sticks in hand, it felt no different than hitting an octapad. Acoustically speaking, you hear a slight plastic sound, which to me is no different than the rest of these types of products.
Menu was easy to navigate and as intuitive as anything else I've used.
The other plus is dealing with Sweetwater, makes it all the better.

When I got this product it preformed fantastic. There was nothing wrong with it. I was really impressed with the features such as looping pad, click, sensitivity adjustment. After using this pad for a few days it started to develop extreme crosstalk problems. The top two pads are not too bad if you hit them right, but it was the bottom middle pad that gave me trouble. It would ALWAYS trigger the pad above it causing weird delays and inaccurate triggering. I would not recommend this to anyone who is going to use it in a live performance setting which I was. This would have been devastating if it were not for Sweetwater. I contacted my sales engineer as soon as I started getting problems and they have been contacting me right back. They are not only allowing me to return the pad, but they are letting me exchange it for the Roland Spd sx. This is why I will never shop anywhere but Sweetwater.

This review is actually two reviews: one for beginner/novice drummers and samplers and the other for professional or touring drummers/samplers. Reading through both would give you a complete picture of this item but whichever is applicable to you is the recommended outlook on the product.


REVIEW FOR BEGINNER/NOVICE DRUMMERS:


Let me start this review by saying that this is not a bad piece of equipment. Sturdy build, visually
appealing(blue lights oooooohhhh), and a great deal lower on price than the competitors(roland/yamaha).
If you are a beginner to sampling or drumming and want to explore the world of electronic percussion then this is a great buy to learn and discover different things and get your feet wet. Loading your own loops and samples into the unit is fairly easy(although instructions for that are not in user guide, check youtube). The interface is very easy to understand and all parameters are clearly displayed on one page for each pad when selected(i like this feature a lot). There is some "crosstalk" between the two top triggers and the pads directly under each(this can be annoying and may be too much to deal with even for beginners). I will talk more about that issue in the pro review below.

Overall Rating for Beginner/Novice: 3.5 out of 5

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REVIEW FOR EXPERIENCED DRUMMERS/SAMPLERS:

I know what you're thinking. "I finally found a sampler pad with all the functions and quality as the Yamaha Mulitpad and the Roland SPD-SX at half the price!" The Alesis SamplePad Pro, while having almost all the same functions as those other models and an overall decent quality, the price difference is for a reason.

The first problem I had after unboxing was the lack of information in the user manual on loading your own samples. While this process was decently easy after finding some youtube videos, I dont think it would too much to ask for Alesis to print an extra paragraph and save you the trouble.

The second problem was the pads themselves. This is where the worthiness of this item changes for the beginner to advanced drummer. For single hits(no rolls or diddles) these pads are fine. For more dynamic and complex rhythms these pads just don't feel good. They feel very hard and almost plastic-like underneath a drumstick. May be a personal preference issue but I believe most advanced drummers would agree.

The third problem is the loading time in between the selection of different kits. If you are going through one kit to another kit(factory kits with no custom samples) it takes about two seconds to change the pads over. This in itself is not a deal breaker and you could easily get around. HOWEVER, if you add a custom loop or sample to a drumkit, it loads the kit AND each sample/loop in that kit separately. So the more custom sounds and loops you add to a kit the longer it takes to load(roughly 30 seconds for all pads custom). THIS IS WHERE THE TOURING/PROFESSIONAL DRUMMER SHOULD RUN!!! This is just not a feasible way to do things during a live performance if you plan on making a sampler pad a part of your show. While it could be argued that you might not need to fast change and you could work around it, I don't like my equipment limiting what I can do in a live setting.

Overall Rating for Advanced/Touring Drummers: 2 out of 5

(I gave it a two here to be nice and to consider others uses for the product. Some may not want to actually "drum" on it and are using it more just for triggering samples and if that is you then this product may be an option but for me it is a 1 out of 5)

Bought this thing and had high hopes because the videos look great. I think it would have likely been a lot of fun to play but I will never no because the piece of crap didn't work right out of the box... It would light up briefly and not power on. It just felt cheap too. I would stay away from this purchase. Complete waste of time and money.

Picked this little beauty up at Gearfest. Really versatile small surface. I like being able to import large amounts of sampled sounds via the SD card slot. I don't often use the stock sounds that come with electronic percussion, so being able to use what I wish while saving a big chunk of change by Alesis's choice to focus on the pads and not a huge sample library worked really well for me. I look forward to trying the external triggers, though that was not a deciding factor for me. Bottom line: If you are looking for a small footprint percussion trigger at a great price point, this is your machine. If you need a lot of built in samples, expect to pay at least 3 times as much. But if you have good samples already (or just need the basics--and they are REALLY good) This is the one. And it's really fun!

This sample pad sounds phenomenal through the house system. The sounds that I'm able able to download from the Alesis website are amazing! It's very user friendly and easy on the wallet.. The only problem I have with this sample pad is that when u hit one pad, other pads start to trigger. But if you hit it just right, you'll be ok MOST OF THE TIME.

Not too impressed with it not enough volume sensitivity poor, sounds are ok interface was difficult.
The demonstration video is better than the unit itself
I'm not very satisfied out of the gate, may need to work with it more should be bout $100 cheaper, I live and learn then die and forget it all.

I am truly disappointed in the Alesis SamplePad Pro I received. Disappointed not in the quality of the sounds as these are indeed sharp, clear, and with endless sampling possibilities. Nor am I disappointed in the play-ability of the device; it's pads have a very comfortable bounce to them and with 6 primary and 2 rim pads there are ample available surfaces.

No, my disappointment comes from something so very basic it's just downright angering. It seems that Alesis has chosen to use a particular on/off power switch in this device that is dysfunctional at best and completely defective at it's worst. The switch must be nursed, massaged, teased, ever-so-gently pushed, pressed, tickled, nudged, shoved, etc.,etc.,etc. for anywhere from 10 seconds to 3 minutes. Turning it off would be a repeatable task except that it's just much simpler to unplug it!

My FIRST unit suffered from this dysfunction and I was informed that Alesis claims that they are all this way and thats the way they are supposed to function. Regardless, Sweetwater immediately sent me a new unit, allowing me to return my original. Unfortunately, the second unit was every bit as bad as the first. Now they are both being returned and a new Roland Octapad will be arriving to my door tomorrow. Significantly more expensive but at least I will have a high quality unit that will work.

I have purchased my last piece of Alesis hardware. I am disgusted by the Alesis reaction to this problem -there are plenty of people who you can find online who have had had this issue and yet no fix. I would not recommend anyone to purchase the Alesis SamplePad Pro until Alesis corrects this switch issue. Furthermore, Sweetwater might consider removing this device from it's inventory until Alesis gets this under control.

I am very grateful that Sweetwater has been so helpful through this entire process. They have paid all the shipping for this back and forth business and provided me a great deal of very useful information. Thank you.

I had been avoiding the SPD-S unit for years, because it was just a little out of my price-range for what would prospectively be a toy. At ~ 300 bucks, buying this "SamplePad Pro" seemed too good to be true / and a no-brainer even if it was just to see how I felt about a unit like this / and if it was worth getting into a fancier model.

Since buying it, I've had tons of fun. I mainly use it to play samples on my MPC though, so I basically skip the whole "Sample" part of it and just assign the pads to corresponding numbers.

I bought a roland pad and attached it to the stand (that I also bought) - like a dedicated snare drum. It's really cool : ) I got some other triggers involved and kick / high-hat - and it feels like a very complete system.

Cons: the 2 top thin pads aren't 100% consistent / takes a bit to get loaded up / and no off switch (automatically turns off when not in use - which isn't the worst thing)

Pros: Super fun to play - seems very responsive and consistent to me. Expandable with more pads and foot-switches

Notes: The unit comes with a plastic mount (I bought a metal roland one because I didn't know it was included)

I think I'm going to buy a second one and put it up high like roto-toms ; )

I never write reviews, and I don't like to be the one negative dude. But if you are looking for a dependable sample pad for live performance, and you need to be able to run loops and tracks with click, I would not buy this. If all you want to do is play around with some loops and single "shot" samples, this thing will do the trick. But if you want something that feels professional and dependable, I'd save my money and get a Roland SPD-SX.

Does exactly as I'd hoped. Added it to a Roland TD-25KV kit. Allows me to have all the extra percussion sounds I desire + some fun stuff too. I like that you can create and use your own samples. I give it a 4 instead of a 5 only because there is a small amount of cross talk with this unit but for the most part is easily controlled. You can't go wrong for the price.

Real nice pad for the price so far. I don't believe they tell you it turns off automatically after 30min of now use.
I guess the setting can be cahnged under "options"... Good entry level pad.

The price and simple programming is what I like !! from there on out and had problems, first the lower middle pad no longer than 5 months after purchased, Second sounds, when playing live in different clubs, the pro pad just will not start pulsating blue light switched on, and it is curious that in the rehearsal room works perfectly,, and had much problem with that, I decided to leave it at home ye only for personal, not professional, now I have to buy another.

The first order of this product had the pad working great for a week and a half, but then a trigger wouldn't respond. Returned it, got a replacement and that one worked for a couple weeks, but then hitting one of the pads would trigger 2 even after fidgeting with the sensitivity of the pads. -- All in all, when it doesn't have problems, the thing is great. However, I don't know if it was bad luck or poor quality, but it doesn't seem to last.

If anyone is bad mouthing this unit, they don't really know what they're talking about, I've been playing drums for about 17 years and professionally for a while. The guys at Sweetwater rule and they hooked me up with a nice discount! Great price! This great piece of gear definitely blows away all of the more expensive ones. I was looking into getting a Roland SPD-S but they're now discontinued. And the Roland SPD-SX just doesn't really sound good to me. The Yamaha ones neither. This ones about 500 + dollars cheaper than the other ones and sounds about 100 times better than those. I mainly needed one of these to do MIDI recordings so it works out more than perfect for what I'm using it for. I'm not really using it or interested in the Sampling feature which I know it's mainly for but that seems pretty nice. All the Drum effects sound great. The things I found with the other Sampling Pad Units is that one would have one or two things that I was looking for and another wouldn't. This thing has all of them. Hi-Hat Inputs, Bass Drum Pedal Inputs, 2 extra Pad inputs and of course the USB connection. USB Connectivity. You can hook it up to a nice P.A. amp and it sound great. With other units like these, such as electronic drum kits, if you turn it up too loud on the amp it will sound too muddy. But this one you can turn it up as loud as you want and it will still sound clear so it would be ideal for live gigs. Although there is some minor problems with "crosstalk" but it seems to only happen once in a while and is not that big of a problem. You can hook it up straight out of the box and start playing. It's as easy as that. Not complicated at all! So all in all, it's a much superior unit compared to all the other ones and 500 or more dollars cheaper.

I'm surprised to read the reviews on the SamplePad Pro here. For the money, I am happy with my purchase. The pre loaded samples sound good, and It feels like it's built like a tank. I been playing mine for about a month with only one issue. If I play very lighty on the very top right and left pads, there is a little cross talk on the middle right and left pads. To remedy this situation, I don't play super soft on the them and it works perfect. I would recommend the SamplePad Pro. It doesn't exceptional amount for the money. Plus, if there's an issue, Sweetwater will always take care of you. Best place to shop music gear online. Period!!!

Got my Sample Pad Pro in very quickly, thanks Patrick! Works fine, crosstalk is pretty minimum and for me, is not really an issue. I found that hitting the pad a little harder (not excessively hard) virtually eliminates the crosstalk. My biggest reason for not giving it 5 stars is that even though the unit supports SD cards up to 32GB, the samples take a long time to load if they're large. And then if you accidentally switch kits and switch back, you need to wait all over again for the pad to load your samples back into the right pad. BUT for $299, you'd be hard pressed to find something that functions as well. And it looks freaking cool!

Received my replacement.

A loud hum physically emits from the unit.

The two center pads are completely dead.

How did it leave the factory?

Does Alesis do any quality control on these?

This is certainly not a pro-level piece of gear. As stated in Sandman's review, I'm experiencing the same crosstalk between the middle two pads, but also the upper left pad and shoulder. Hitting one will intermittently trigger the other at the same time. Alesis support suggested that it was a "user issue" with playing it too hard, although at even light taps with finger tips, sometimes the cross talk will occur.

Definitely going to be sending this back and looking at a different unit and I would suggest that anyone looking for a drum pad like this look elsewhere for a product that works consistently and correctly.

I like the unit very much, but I wish it were better made.

Out of the box
-One of the 4 mount holes wouldn't accept the screw, and
-The bottom-center trigger intermittently triggers the top-center sample and light.

On the fifth day I had it
-A new card that was working minutes ago had an "SD card error," and
-The right side of the headphone jack failed.

I returned it. I hope the replacement doesn't have the trigger crosstalk.

It isn't robust enough to be called "professional" when the headphone jack failed under normal use in 5 days. The power cord is also a very delicate looking wallwart. It would never withstand the set-up/tear-down of gigs, despite being marketed for performance use. If you are counting on it working for a gig, prepare a replacement power supply and a back up SD card.

I still want it, but I expect some frustrations.

Great design, poorly executed