Roland HPD-15 Handsonic Controller User Reviews at zZounds

"ive said enough- just go out and check it out if your serious. if you just want to play then maybe a this isnt the toy. i will" submitted December 14, 2004

By a customer from mindspring.com

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Musical Background: avisual artist and part time musican

Music Style: man, well now electronic, drum and bass, traditional middle eastern, classical indian, altenative and rock, some country, polka,

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

Sound: if you are familiar with the roland stuff then picking up the logic of programming and processing the sounds shuold be familiar. as with roland drum samples, they are all top notch and that goes for the percussions samples. all there sampled beautifully- except maybe things like guitar, flutes . but the percussion sounds and the ability to process them anyway you want and save them into a memory as well as chaining them is great . tips- i would stongly recommend a foot pedal trigger for programming anything - like a kick pedal.on a kit its been great for playing kit patches or mixing a kick sound into some other percussion patch like darbukka, tabla etc etc. can give the sound a totally different feel thatn being relagated to playing a straight sound always on only one instrument. you will find that you will become more attenutated to playing mulitinstuments simulateneously and sounds. i would also strongly recommend a volume pedal whiich i use constantly as well as a good set of headphones. great for practicing without bothereing anyone- headphones are a must to monitor yourself if playing with others and changing your patches, processing etc etc, then of course you could think of a boss looper and some foot switches as well for on/off functions heh! Feature: the main review didnt state that it has midi capabilities which for this hand controlled unit- instead of stick- is incredible. with velocity and pressure sensitive pads the ability to "bend " sounds" with the heel and alter pitch in real time is close to playing the real thing. acutally ive been playing severeal years on this and discovered that its better not to compare it to the analog counterpart. hpd 15 is its own thing and discovery of so many more possiblites of rythym tempo with affects that could not have been found using just sticking to analog. although is still love playing those congas and the dunbek- one last thing- most percussionists will marvel if you use this unit for a while that you have solved the mic problem- no feedbacks, no hum just clean soound and if you get 2 amps you output signal on the hpd 15 is in stereo. if you are playing a patch with several insturments included they can be played in stereo if your amps also can be linked- like the rolands Quality: few things i would say since playin a bit- the silver surface finish will wear off in areas of constant use- around the edge rims like a conga. also i have found that the rubber triggers end up wearing unusually fast and have worn down with finger pressure- the sound has not been affected though. Value: yes, but still pricey Manufacturer Support: havent had a need to fix or repair anything yet. i use the roland (2) digital amps linked as stereo with limited mixing capabilites. great units for the hpd-15 no problems either and excellent response The Wow Factor: pretty cool loooking and performing. minimal jetson with incredibly big sounds. people alwys get g=blown away when they hear you dialing in a kit patch and playing some of that out of your little hpd. they dont believe it- Overall: there is no other product out there, unless of course apple comes out with something to play percussion on by hand -and i dont mean garage band. look roland makes the best and most innovative drum and and digital percussion out there. what else is there?

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"Product has revolutionized the capabilities of percussion" submitted May 27, 2004

By a customer from yahoo.com

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The Wow Factor

Music Style: World Music

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Sound: The sound is fantastic. You can control all aspects including panning, individual volume levels, reverbs and other effects. Perfect for recording purposes as well as live applications. Make sure you adjust volume levels before you use it live. The attack on the pads can be loud Feature: built in sequencer and real time knobs to change stuff in real time. Should have included more tracks on the sequencer (2 percussion, 2 melodic) Quality: Could have used a better design. If you need a transport case, use a standard DJ turntable case w/ foam. It fits perfectly snug. Use a snare stand as opposed to a roland stand. More cost effective. Value: worth the price and has proved to be very useful. I hear this product constantly in recordings, commercials and live shows. The Wow Factor: Quality product

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"Close, but a few tweaks more and a little better price would give it the 'CIGAR'!" submitted July 31, 2005

By a customer from netscape.net

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Musical Background: PRO

Music Style: Classical/Jazz/Techno

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: Overall..really excellent sounds... Feature: The D beam..is frequently triggered inadvertently..It needs some kind of directional sensitivity dial that can be adjusted really quickly. Of all the bells and whistles on this thing HOW ABOUT A TAP TEMPO??? It would be great to adjust tempo of sequences in real time at a live performance..merely by Tapping the tempo on a pad as the leader of the orchestra is motioning off-the -cuff tempo changes. It seems absurd not to have one. Value: seems a little steep in price still

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Roland HPD-15 Handsonic Customer Review submitted September 24, 2003

By a customer from aznetmail.com

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Sound: Sound quality is excellent. Playability is excellent Feature: Pads are wonderful, pedal inputs are great to get you feet doing something sensibel in realtime like a beat on the hi hat. Sequencer is very weak on programming & editing or maybe its just not intuitive enough, but I've used a lot before and I can;t get to grips with this one. . Programming the sequencer is the big downfall, so I use my boss DR-5 in a midi loop to actually record the sequences that then play back through the HPD-15. No problems with recording a pre-programmed sequence into the unit though.

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Roland HPD-15 HandSonic Percussion Controller

User Ratings

"ive said enough- just go out and check it out if your serious. if you just want to play then maybe a this isnt the toy. i will" submitted December 14, 2004

"Product has revolutionized the capabilities of percussion" submitted May 27, 2004

"Close, but a few tweaks more and a little better price would give it the 'CIGAR'!" submitted July 31, 2005

Roland HPD-15 Handsonic Customer Review submitted September 24, 2003