BeatIt Test: Roland SPD::ONE

The Roland SPD::ONE pad series is a great solution for those drummers who do not need to use all the features that Roland SPD-SX offers. A single SPD::ONE is a small device that will fit in all those pockets that are slightly bigger, and certainly in a small backpack. At first glance, the pads differ only by color, but the devil is in the details. Each of these devices features completely different sounds. From the so-called kicks, percussion through to electro. A great toy for drummers who want to experiment with sound. In each pad we can adjust the sensitivity and the threshold, from which the pad will pick up stick impacts.

photo: beatit.tv

Roland SPD::ONE WAV PAD

1. Basic product specification

Light, compact, digital percussion pad
Can be played with drumsticks, hands, or feet
Import your original WAV sound data by connecting to a computer
4 GB drive can hold up to 360 minutes of stereo audio
Edit and control your sounds easily with just four knobs
Powered by batteries (4 x AA) or AC adaptor
Main stereo output plus stereo headphones output for monitoring
USB-MIDI enables use as a pad controller for music software

2. Product

The WAV Pad can hold samples with a total duration of 360 minutes. In addition to releasing the backing track, you can upload a metronome to the device, which is played in the headphones output. We have the ability to adjust the volume of the click and a backing track with the help of the BALANCE MIX knob. We don’t have the ability to add effects (we can in other pads in this series), but when we put our samples into the memory we can decide whether we want it to be played as “one-shot” or as “loop”.

Roland SPD::ONE Percussion

1. Basic product specification

Light, compact, digital percussion pad that can be played with drumsticks, hands, or feet
22 onboard sounds, including genuine drum and percussion sounds
Import your own WAV data via USB to one of the 12 sound banks
Edit and control your sounds easily with just four knobs
Powered by batteries (4 x AA) or AC adaptor
Main output (mono) and headphones output (stereo) for monitoring
USB-MIDI support enables use as a pad controller for music software

2. Product

The Roland SPD::ONE Percussion enables us to expand our set with different instruments from the percussion family, which include the following: tambourine, bells, shaker, guiro, cowbell, hi-hat, ride, crash, EFX Cym, snare drum, x-stick, conga, bongos, timbales, slap, chimes, triangle, gong, timpani. There is a lot to choose from and we can confidently say that everyone will find something for him or herself. In addition, with each sound we have the ability to change the pitch and we can use Reverb or Delay. Endless source of fun!

Roland SPD::ONE Electro

1. Basic product specification

Light, compact, digital percussion pad that can be played with drumsticks, hands, or feet
22 onboard sounds, including TR-808, TR-909, and hand clap sounds
Import your own WAV data via USB to one of the 12 sound banks
Edit and control your sounds easily with just four knobs
Powered by batteries (4 x AA) or AC adaptor
Main output (mono) and headphones output (stereo) for monitoring
USB-MIDI enables use as a pad controller for music software

2. Product

The Roland SPD::ONE Electro expands our set with 22 electronic sounds: Standard Clap, Minimal Clap, TR Clap, Proc Snare 1, Proc Snare 2, Elec Snare, Rim Shot, Percussion, Cymbal, SFX. As in the device described above, also here there are a lot of samples of great quality and we can easily apply Reverb or Delay.

Roland SPD::ONE Kick

1. Basic product specification

Light, compact, digital percussion pad that can be played with drumsticks, hands, or feet
22 onboard sounds, including genuine kick drum and percussion sounds
Import your own WAV data via USB to one of the 12 sound banks
Edit and control your sounds easily with just four knobs
Runs on batteries (4 x AA) or AC adaptor
Main output (mono) and headphones output (stereo) for monitoring
USB-MIDI enables use as a pad controller for music software

2. Product

The Roland SPD::ONE Kick includes 22 sounds: Std Kick, Hard Kick, Perc Kick, Stomp Box, TR Kick, Jingles, Cabasa / Guiro, Ankle Bracelet, Cowbell / Claves, Clap / X-Stick, Cymbal. The device also has a slot that gives the user the opportunity to upload one of his or her samples. Unlike other SPD :: ONE pads, the KICK pad has a DISTORTION effect instead of DELAY. All the samples are of great quality.

Pads from the Roland SPD::ONE family are great devices, not only for drummers, but also for other musicians who want to enrich their instrumental arsenal with such toys. The pads are very small, compact, easy to use, so a person who has never had to deal with this type of device should not have the slightest problem to understand how the whole instrument works within 10 minutes.

Roland SPD::ONE makes perfect sense when we need a small device to add some extra colour to our acoustic set. Otherwise, we would recommend buying a Roland SPD-SX. Obviously, it is more expensive but the limitation with these pads is the lack of space for our own samples. An additional downside is the lack of STEREO outputs. The only device that has such an output is the Roland SP::ONE WAV pad.

Producer: https://www.roland.com/us/

Distribution in Poland: https://www.roland.com/global

OUR VERDICT 4.9/5