Roland SPD-S and Roland SPD-30

hero12300 · 29th November 2010

Hello all,

Recently I have been looking at purchasing one of the units above. I have done some research on the differences between the two units, but would like some clarification on these differences. With that being said, what are the main differences between the units? It seems the spd-30 has better sounds, but is more like a small drum kit rather than a useful tool for uploading sounds to.

Also, is there any news on a planned upgrade to the SPD-S?

Thanks,

cortisol · 2nd December 2010

The SPD30 looks good. I like that it has white plastic so that you can see between each pad (better for playing on a dark stage) and it has more trigger inputs than the SPDs too. I also think that the performance and sequence recording aspect looks good too.

But... For me the SPDs is the right choice.

I delite most of the sounds that come with the unit and fill it's internal memory with samples and hits from my productions. I fit longer evolving pads and sounds from my productions onto a card. And I send the midi to Ableton Live with controller info from the edge pads at the top of the unit. I've arranged my sets so that I can go forward, back and next from the SPDs and placed loops of silence or quiet ambiences and sound designy atmospheres between songs. I prefer having a sampler to a drum machine with fixed sounds that aren't my favorite sounds.stike

lucidphreak · 10th December 2010

in my opinion forget the spd-s and go with the new yamaha multi-pad.. it has not only edge triggers on top, but also on bottom and also allows the loading of samples.

I believe it is a little more expensive but I bought one, and it is an AMAZING unit.. I only returned it because they had a killer deal on a full blown TD4 v-drums kit and I decided to do that, and augment it with a much less expensive (but still amazingly impressive) simmons 9 pad octapad (cant think of the model)...

andy3 · 14th January 2011

any news around here?

rachard1583 · 22nd January 2011

You can only attach two single-zone external pads to an SPD-S but any should work.The best stand is a Roland PDS-10.

Piranhadrum · 6th February 2011

Hi had the SPD-S and sold it after last summer's tour. It's great though. I loaded up back ground vocals and acoustic guitar parts for triggering, which worked fine. Sold it because it's really out of date. I heard they weren't going to update it soon because they just came out with that newer octapad.

Def a hole in this market, someone needs to step up to the plate. Now we just play along with the ipod on stage. It's really easy and I can fit in my pocket!

29th November 2010	#1
hero12300 Gear interested Joined: Nov 2010 Posts: 2 Thread Starter	Roland SPD-S and Roland SPD-30 Hello all, Recently I have been looking at purchasing one of the units above. I have done some research on the differences between the two units, but would like some clarification on these differences. With that being said, what are the main differences between the units? It seems the spd-30 has better sounds, but is more like a small drum kit rather than a useful tool for uploading sounds to. Also, is there any news on a planned upgrade to the SPD-S? Thanks,

2nd December 2010	#2
cortisol Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 601	The SPD30 looks good. I like that it has white plastic so that you can see between each pad (better for playing on a dark stage) and it has more trigger inputs than the SPDs too. I also think that the performance and sequence recording aspect looks good too. But... For me the SPDs is the right choice. I delite most of the sounds that come with the unit and fill it's internal memory with samples and hits from my productions. I fit longer evolving pads and sounds from my productions onto a card. And I send the midi to Ableton Live with controller info from the edge pads at the top of the unit. I've arranged my sets so that I can go forward, back and next from the SPDs and placed loops of silence or quiet ambiences and sound designy atmospheres between songs. I prefer having a sampler to a drum machine with fixed sounds that aren't my favorite sounds.stike Last edited by cortisol; 2nd December 2010 at 07:38 AM.. Reason: Spelling

22nd January 2011	#5
rachard1583 Gear interested Joined: Jan 2011 Posts: 10	You can only attach two single-zone external pads to an SPD-S but any should work.The best stand is a Roland PDS-10. __________________ Shamanic Drums

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10th December 2010	#3
lucidphreak Gear Head Joined: Aug 2009 Posts: 52	in my opinion forget the spd-s and go with the new yamaha multi-pad.. it has not only edge triggers on top, but also on bottom and also allows the loading of samples. I believe it is a little more expensive but I bought one, and it is an AMAZING unit.. I only returned it because they had a killer deal on a full blown TD4 v-drums kit and I decided to do that, and augment it with a much less expensive (but still amazingly impressive) simmons 9 pad octapad (cant think of the model)...

14th January 2011	#4
andy3 Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2010 Location: Italy Posts: 677	any news around here?

6th February 2011	#6
Piranhadrum Gear addict Joined: Mar 2009 Location: adirondacks Posts: 473	Hi had the SPD-S and sold it after last summer's tour. It's great though. I loaded up back ground vocals and acoustic guitar parts for triggering, which worked fine. Sold it because it's really out of date. I heard they weren't going to update it soon because they just came out with that newer octapad. Def a hole in this market, someone needs to step up to the plate. Now we just play along with the ipod on stage. It's really easy and I can fit in my pocket!