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

Desirability:
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-

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!

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

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?

I was skeptical when I sat down to play it for the first time. Once I realized the pads were sensitive and respond to the strength of hitting the pads I was hooked. You can even mute with one hand while slapping with the other. I was hoping to be able to make better sounds with the tabla and realized that you cannot replace the real thing with this device. What it will do is save you room, set-up time, mic-ing time, and money when you add up just a number of real instruments. Revolutionary!

I've grown up in apartments and ever since the day I discovered I had rhythm I've been honing my air-drum and hand percussion skills. Not until now have I seen an instrument that has apparently been designed for me. I had a chance to play it yesterday and am impressed with the features and quality. The price is a little high so I'm going to wait a bit. But when I do buy, it will be a welcome addition to my mostly midi studio. And it's great for the fact that I don't make much noise playing it (with headphones of course) and I don't have to "learn" to play the drums to get started. I'm really enamored by the sensitivity and the sequencing capabilities. The fact that you get a d-beam and two ribbon sliders is icing on the cake!