How To Buy A Sample Pad: Advice & Tips!

Let’s talk sample pads for drummers, home studio musicians and more.

When electronic music became the range in the 70’s and 80’s, drummers faced a dilemma: how do you recreate these sounds live? Thanks to the Fairlight and other sampling computers, all sorts of strange and wonderful sounds suddenly appeared on records.

Sample pads let you sample music from just about any source and play it back via triggers. A few quick tips on buying a sample pad:

• Finger or stick playing? Some sample pads are best for finger drumming, while others are designed to be rack mounted and played with sticks. We’ll recommend the best of each type in this article.

• Mounting plates are usually extra. Most sample pads can be mounted to a cymbal stand or other drum rack . . . but those mounting plates are typically an extra purchase.

• No sound output. Sample pads are simply a device that stores sounds that can be triggered—but they don’t have any speakers themselves. You output the sample pad to a computer (for studio recording) or a mixer board (for live set-ups).

Sample pads let you edit samples and even loop sounds for live playing.

To come up with these picks, I actually played with sample pads like this one from Roland:

Best Sample Pad Roland SPD-SX

(Yes, all those marks are me hitting it with sticks—you can’t make an omelette. . . .)

Here are the best sample pads on the market today:

Best For Finger Drumming: AKAI Professional MPD218 – USB MIDI Controller

If you are new to sample pads, this model by AKAI would be our pick—it is excellent for use in home studio and also for live finger drumming (for aspiring DJ’s, etc.). I like the user interface here and the overall quality.

What We Liked

• Easy plug and play.

• Great for beginners.

• Nice feel for the pads.

• Affordable.

• Includes software.

• Expandable banks.

What Needs Work

• Too much pressure can cause stuttering and double input.

Best For Advanced Players: Roland SPD-SX Percussion Sampling Pad

As a drummer, I can attest this sampling pad is the gold standard for sample pads. The Roland SPD-SX is loaded with features, including looping, the ability to add outside triggers and software to do much more—very impressive.

I used this in a tribute band when I need to play a sample of a Syndrum, a 1970’s-era electronic drum. It was simple to upload the sample and assign it to a pad—and then trigger the pad with a stick when needed.

What We Liked

• Easy to play with sticks.

• Great for creative types who want lots of options to edit and adjust samples.

• Excellent in studio.

• Can upload own samples.

• Can use a foot pedal to trigger samples when playing live.

• Sounds can be layered together on one trigger.

What Needs Work

• Pricey.

• Quite a few keystrokes needed to navigate between menus.

Best for Home Studio: Alesis Sample Pad 4

If all the fancy editing and tech in the Roland sample pad is overkill, this simple model by Alesis is a good bet for use in a home studio. Yes, it only has 4 rubber pads (triggers), but it also includes many of the most popular electronic and percussion samples most folks need (example: cowbell, more cowbell).

What We Liked

• Sound samples are excellent.

• Small and light—very portable,

• Great for use in home recording.

• Software is simple to use.

• Interface/menus are a snap to navigate.

• Affordable.

What Needs Work

• Pads sometimes bleed into one another.

• Better for home studio or practice than live performance.

About the Authors

Denise & Alan Fields are consumer advocates and best-selling authors. The Fields have authored 12 books with three million copies in print, including the best-selling guide to baby gear, Baby Bargains.

The Fields have been featured and quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.

As consumer products experts, the Fields have been guests on the NBC Today Show, Good Morning America and ABC’s 20/20.

How We Pick Products To Recommend

We often turn to our readers (3 million strong!) to find products to recommend. We ask our parent readers for their favorites and consider their real-world experiences in our recommendations.

When we test a product, we always purchase it with our own monies. We do not take free samples, as we believe that compromises our independence.

We also fact check manufacturer information with our own measurements. If a maker claims a product weighs X pounds, we will weigh it to make sure. If the battery life is supposed to be six hours, we will see how it stands up in the real world.

In some cases, we will do interviews with experts in the field to get additional feedback on products.

To get hands-on time with products, we regularly meet one-on-one with gear companies and even tour manufacturing facilities. (When we do this, we pay our own travel expenses).

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing products for the home and families since 1994. We do extensive research, evaluating products with an eye toward quality, ease of use and affordability.

We make our living from affiliate commissions, but we always recommend what we think are the best bets for our readers (not the ones that are the most expensive). We are always looking for products that offer the best bang for the buck.

Our independence is a key reason why we have been doing this so long. As we mentioned above, when we purchase a product for hands-on testing, we do so with our own money.

Here’s another key point: we don’t take money from the brands we review. No free samples, no sponsors, no “partnerships.” Our work is 100% reader-supported!