Roland SPD-SX PRO Sampling Pad

The flagship Roland sampling pad with nine playing surfaces, eight external trigger inputs, colour display, customisable pad LEDs, onboard effects, and more.   

Overview 

The SPD-SX PRO is the ultimate sampling pad for the most demanding gigs. With years of road testing and extensive user feedback from the SPD-S and SPD-SX, the top-tier SPD-SX PRO raises the bar again. Harnessing the advanced sample pad technology of its predecessors, the SPD-X-PRO boasts an array of requested professional enhancements and is built for life on the road. Illuminate dark stages with a large colour display and customisable multi-colour trigger lights. Expand your performance setup with more audio outputs, additional trigger inputs, and hi-hat and FX expression pedal control. And go further with a massive 32 GB memory, 48 kHz audio playback, increased pad sensitivity without crosstalk, and a dedicated SPD-SX PRO App for easier kit editing.  

Highlights

• Nine pads with Roland’s advanced trigger technology, including six large pads and three top-row shoulder pads 
• High-visibility, horizontal and vertical LEDs with multi-colour customisation
• Increased shoulder pad sensitivity and improved crosstalk performance 
• 4.3-inch colour display for easy navigation and viewing during performance
• Import 48/44.1 kHz (16-/24-/32-bit) WAV/AIFF files and MP3s (32–320 kbps) with automatic conversion to 48 kHz/16-bit upon loading
• Stereo main output, four direct mono outputs, balanced for easy mixing on stage
• Connectivity for up to eight external individual triggers/pads (four stereo triggers or eight mono triggers with Y-cables)
• Dedicated SPD-SX PRO App for Windows/Mac for easy importing, managing samples, and deep kit editing
• 32 GB of internal storage for samples, backing tracks, and click tracks
• Input for hi-hat or footswitch expression control
• Connect hi-hats, kick, and snare for a ‘mini drum kit’ setup
• Up to 200 kit patches (43 erasable preset kits and 157 user kits)
• Over 1550 pre-loaded, high-quality samples and sounds 
• 16-step pad sequencer function 
• Onboard effects engine with up to four effects in parallel, plus side chain with output routing
• Built-in click/metronome
• Create in real time by recording performances as WAV files and assigning them to pads

Section 1 

Reliability/Durability

Built to Hit the Road

Equipment on the road takes a beating on and off stage. Since 2011, pro drummers have put the SPD-SX through the ultimate trial by fire, from packed clubs to sold-out stadiums. The SPD-SX PRO adds to that legacy, incorporating years of feedback into its upgrades. With customisable LED lights, a large colour screen, and triggering you can count on, this bulletproof package is ready to rock night after night.

Light It Up: Customisable Pad-dividing LED Lights

When the lights go down, the PRO lights up. Customisable pad-dividing LED and trigger lights let you see all nine pads on dark stages—goodbye gaffer tape! Assign any vertical or horizontal light to one of ten preset colours or create and name your own. Group together kicks, snares, backing tracks, and clicks with their own assigned color. And set the horizontal pad lights to be on constantly, light only when a pad is struck, or flash dynamically with its assigned WAV. 

 

On Display: Color LCD Screen 

Playing in the dark just got easier. The SPD-SX PRO features a large 4.3-inch colour screen with backlit function buttons, tabs, and a jog-dial for lightning-fast sound selection. The display shows essential real-time information such as A & B sample layers, WAV sample names, sample playback progress, and more.  

Hit It: Ultra-responsive Pads

The SPD-SX PRO has nine super-durable pads. The top three shoulder pads include a revised sensor structure for increased sensitivity and even-sounding hits when the pad is played—no matter the mounting angle. You also have increased crosstalk protection to prevent accidental triggering of other pads. And if you already own an SPD-SX, the SPD-SX PRO size is so close in size that you can use your existing carry case and accessories…no need to repurchase any extra gear. 

Section 2

Sound Quality 

All the Sounds You Need

The crowd roars. The pressure is on. You need the right sounds at the right time. The massive 32 GB memory will hold your entire music catalog for multiple gigs. With 1,550 onboard samples, 200 lock-and-loaded kits, and balanced outputs, you can put the SPD-SX PRO to work right out of the box. Plus, easily sort and search your sounds with sample tags—no more searching for a needle in a haystack.

Under the Hood: Storage & Sounds

Storage worries are now a thing of the past. With 32 GB of internal memory, the SPD-SX PRO holds nearly 44 hours of crystal-clear 48 kHz/16-bit stereo audio. And there’s no need to fuss with converting your source formats. You can load 48/44.1 kHz WAV, AIFF, and MP3 files with varying bit rates, and the SPD-SX PRO will automatically convert them to its native 48 kHz/16-bit audio format—a huge time saver. 

Send It: Expanded Audio Outputs

The SPD-SX PRO has two-channel balanced stereo master outputs—left and right. Combine those with four fully assignable mono audio outputs for six individual audio feeds, so that any pad can be sent to any output for mixing flexibility. And there’s also an assignable stereo headphones output for custom monitoring scenarios. 

All Aboard: Loaded Samples and Sounds

The SPD-SX PRO comes loaded with 1,550 high-quality sounds and 200 kits (43 erasable preset kits and 157 user kits). And in the heat of battle, the SPD-SX PRO’s processing power lets you swap to a new kit without cutting off the sound of the existing kit—so as the audio decays at the end of the last sound that you played, you’ve already changed kits ready for the next track in the set. Need even more options? Dive into Roland Cloud sample libraries and explore the ever-expanding selection of sounds.

Stack Sounds: A/B Layering

It’s easy to create custom sound layers when you assign two sounds to a pad. You can assign a sound as the MAIN layer within the pad menu and then select another sample to layer with your original sample—resulting in MAIN and SUB sounds on the same pad. Then alternate between MAIN and SUB layers. You even have separate volume, pitch, transient attack, and release control for each sound, so you get the perfect blend of layers.

Section 3 

Performance and Production Tools 

A Creative Force

Putting on a killer show takes some prep work. The SPD-SX PRO is packed with features to lift the weight of pre-gig planning. Download and organize sounds with a dedicated app. Get creative with four effects engines and connect a hi-hat controller or an expression pedal. Then mix in some magic with expanded trigger inputs and the onboard 16-step pad sequencer. 

Deeper Editing: Dedicated app 

With nearly unlimited sounds under your sticks, you need to stay organized. Using the dedicated SPD-SX PRO App from Roland Cloud, you can easily import audio, and edit sound or playback parameters via USB on your computer. Drag and drop samples, create kits, adjust settings, and name as you go.  The same USB connection allows you to send 8-channel audio and MIDI to the computer for recording with a DAW.

Pedal to the Metal: Expression Control

With expanded trigger inputs, there are even more playing possibilities at your fingertips…or feet. You can play with up to nineteen surfaces when you max out all pads, external triggers, and footswitch inputs. Connect a hi-hat controller, like the Roland VH-10 V-Hi-Hat, and play with open and closed pedal expression or add snare and kick pads to create a mini drum set. Alternatively, you can connect an expression pedal for real-time effects control as you play.  

Effortless Engines: Effects and Sidechain

Embrace a vast selection of high-quality processing to enhance and color your sounds. Four MFX provide everything from mod, distortion, and filter effects to delays and reverbs, and you can assign them to any pad or external trigger input within each kit. Master comp, EQ, and effect options are also available to process the overall output. Side-chain compression is included too, ensuring that kick drums and other punchy sounds never get buried in the mix. 

Make a Connection: Inputs for Easy Mixing

Mixing from the stage has never been easier with a balanced main stereo output and four balanced direct outputs. Connect up to eight mono, single-zone triggers or four stereo head and rim triggers. With external dual trigger inputs, hi-hat, and footswitch inputs, you can let it rip on up to nineteen different playing surfaces.

Step It Up: 16-step Pad Sequencer 

Streamline your performance prep with the onboard 16-step pad sequencer. Assign from 2 to 16 steps to a pad within each kit. Then coordinate playback of different pads in your chosen sequence. There’s no need to remember where each sound is on the pads—once programmed, hitting your chosen pad will trigger the sequence, making live-show production simple.  

In Sync: Increased Pad Link

Have an audio backing track and audio click track that need to start together? When you use pad link, you can hit a single pad and start audio from two pads at the same time. And you can pad link any combination of pads and external triggers. Then use mute group to silence a previous pad as you strike the next, so only one pad is playing at a time. Together, full pad link and mute groups create unlimited track, loop, and audio combinations within each kit.

On the Beat: Click Track 

As the drummer, it’s your job to drive the beat behind the performance. Thanks to the flexible onboard click, staying in time has never been easier. The internal click is fully editable for sound and note value, and you can assign any sample as the click sound. Then start the click from a pad, button, or external trigger pad hit. And even when it’s playing, you’re still in control— the click can be set to alternate on/off via stick hits, to sound one time upon a hit, or to retrigger each time you hit it.

Take Control: Pad Editing

Pad Edit controls are within easy reach when you need to tweak samples on the fly. Adjust volume and pitch with dedicated controls in real time. Or press a button to adjust the attack and release for the pad’s transient settings. And when you need to go deeper, the color display gives you clear access to many advanced parameters. 

Specifics

- Pads
Built-in pads: 9 (with PAD LED, Vertical LED)
* Four external trigger inputs are provided, allowing you to connect up to eight pads with Y cable.

- Maximum Polyphony
32 voices (included click voices)

- Number of Recordable Wave Data
20,000
*Including preload data

-Internal storage
Size: 32 GB
*Including preload data

-Sampling Time
Sampling from AUDIO IN : 60 minutes per sample
Resampling : 10 minutes per sample

- Data Format
16-bit linear

- Sampling Frequency
48 kHz

-Import Format
WAV, AIFF, MP3

- Kits
200

- Preload wave
Factory preloaded samples: 1,550 or more

- Setlist
32 (32 steps per SET LIST)

- Kit Effects
Layer Equalizer : each pad (Layer A/B independently)
Layer Transient : each pad (Layer A/B independently)
Multi-Effects (53 types) : 4 systems
Side Chain Compressor : 1 system

- System Effects
Master Effects (53 types)
Master Compressor
Master Equalizer

-Number of USB Audio Record/Playback Channels
Sampling Rate (Original): 48 kHz
Sampling Rate (with Sampling rate converter): 96 kHz, 44.1 kHz
Record: 8 channels
Playback: 12 channels

- Display
Graphic color LCD 4.3 inch

- Connectors
PHONES jack : Stereo 1/4-inch phone type
MASTER OUT (L, R)jacks (BALANCED) : 1/4-inch TRS phone type
DIRECT OUT jack x 4 (BALANCED) : 1/4-inch TRS phone type
AUDIO IN jack : Stereo 1/4-inch phone type (with Volume control)
TRIG IN jack x 4 (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8) : 1/4-inch TRS phone type
FOOT SW jack x 1 (1/2) : 1/4-inch TRS phone type
HH CTRL/EXPRESSION jack x 1 : 1/4-inch TRS phone type
MIDI (IN, OUT/THRU) connectors
USB COMPUTER port : USB B (High-Speed USB, USB-AUDIO, USB-MIDI, App)
USB MEMORY port : USB A (High-Speed USB, Backup Save/Load, Sample Import/Export)
DC IN jack

- Power Supply
DC 12V (AC Adaptor)

- Current Draw
1,500 mA

- Dimensions
360 (W) x 330.3 (D) x 92.9 (H) mm
14-3/16 (W) x 13-1/16(D) x 3-11/16(H) inches

- Weight
3.0 kg / 6 lbs 10 oz (excluding AC Adaptor)

- Accessories
Quick Start
Leaflet "Read Me First"
Leaflet "USING THE UNIT SAFELY/IMPORTANT NOTES"
AC Adaptor

- Options (sold separately)
Pads (PD series, PDX series, BT-1)
Cymbals (CY series)
Hi-Hat (VH-10, VH-11)
Kick Triggers (KD series, KT series)
Pad Stand (PDS-20, PDS-10)
All-Purpose Clamp (APC-33)
Acoustic Drum Trigger (RT-30K, RT-30HR, RT-30H)
Hi-Hat Pedal(FD-8, FD-9, VH-10, HV-11)
Expression Pedal(BOSS EV-30)
Pedal Switch(DP-2)
Foot Switch (BOSS FS-5U, FS-6, FS-7)
Y cable (PCS-31L)
USB Flash Memory