HXW PD705 Review
HXW sent me their budget sampling pad. It undercuts the Alesis Sample Pad Pro by $100 with extra inputs the SPD-SX lacks. Stock sounds and build are weak, but for triggering backing tracks live the value is hard to beat.
HXW sent me the PD705 to test, the same way they sent me their SD201-C electronic kit. This is their newest sampling pad for Western markets, and unlike that kit, this one is genuinely interesting. For a long time, if you wanted to play with backing tracks or trigger extra electronic percussion, your only real options were expensive.
I learned that the hard way years ago, hunting down a used SPD-S at a local shop because it was the only thing close to affordable, then watching its pads fail after a short while. Alesis had the only cheap options for a long stretch after that. The PD705 undercuts them: it retails about $100 below the Alesis Sample Pad Pro and gives you one extra trigger zone.
Sound
2.3The 592 stock sounds across 30 preset kits are usable but uninspiring, the usual pre-packed-pad complaint. Loading your own samples into 20 user kits over USB gets the most from it.
Like the SD201-C, the included sounds are not the greatest to my ears. You get 30 preset kits and 592 percussion sounds. Plenty of them are usable, but I've been spoiled by the sample library I've built up over the years, and I say the same thing about almost every pre-packed pad, including the SPD-SX.
If the presets don't do it for you, you can import your own sounds from a USB stick into 20 separate user kits. HXW provides a free Wave Manager program for loading samples onto the pad. Editing and adjusting kits on the unit itself is a little confusing at first, but there's always some learning curve with this kind of hardware.
Playability
3.4Triggering is reliable on fast double-stroke rolls with no crosstalk, and the lower rebound suits some players. Per-pad LEDs cannot be set to stay on for dark venues, and kit editing takes learning.
Compared to other electronic drum pads, the PD705 has less rebound. Some drummers will argue that's a good thing, since too much rebound builds a false dependence on the bounce stroke. Triggering itself works great. The unit played back even my quickest double-stroke rolls without dropping hits, and when I ran it into a playback system I found no crosstalk issues at all.
The pads have per-pad LEDs that light up when you strike them and turn off quickly. There's a setting to keep them lit for the length of the sample, but no way to leave all the LEDs on all the time, which would be a real help on dark stages. Maybe a firmware update will add it.
Build Quality
3.1It feels close to an SPD-SX in weight and knob quality and looks great, but the chassis is the weak point: the top-left pad flexes audibly and no stand-mount plate is included.
Out of the box the PD705 looks impressive. I'd go as far as saying it feels close to an SPD-SX in quality, from the weight to the knobs, and it looks great in person with no hint of how cheap it actually is.
My one real worry is durability. The unit feels a little fragile. When I hit the large top-left pad I can hear the plastic moving, and it makes some extra noise on the strike. The one thing I wish came in the box is the plate that screws to the back so you can mount it on a proper stand. Without it, mine sat in a snare-stand basket.
Connectivity
3.8Nine velocity-sensitive pads plus USB, MIDI, aux, and two extra pad inputs with dedicated kick and hi-hat that the SPD-SX does not offer at any price. Ableton recognized it instantly.
The PD705 has nine velocity-sensitive pads, a built-in metronome, an effects engine, a looper, and supports USB, MIDI, and an auxiliary input. On top of that there are two extra pad inputs plus a kick and hi-hat input, which the SPD-SX does not support at any price. That's a lot of expansion for a budget pad, and it makes the PD705 a sensible pick not just for drummers who want more functionality but also for a first-time drummer or a parent looking for a compact setup.
For triggering backing tracks, connectivity is really all that matters. Plugged into my MacBook Pro, Ableton Live recognized the PD705 immediately and I was sending MIDI right away, after remapping a few notes for start and stop of playback.
Value
4.1It undercuts the Alesis Sample Pad Pro by about $100 and adds an extra trigger zone, sharply lowering the cost of getting into sampling and backing-track playback. No better option for the money.
This is where the PD705 makes its case. For about $100 less than the Alesis Sample Pad Pro, with an extra trigger zone on top, there's no reason not to grab this if you only need it for a playback system.
It lowers the barrier to entry for anyone who wants to experiment with electronic sounds and backing tracks without dropping close to a thousand dollars on a pad just to use it as a MIDI controller. For the money, I haven't found a better option.
Verdict
The PD705 is an affordable sampling pad, and a lot of companies seem to be cloning this exact formula now. It works well, and the value is hard to beat.
I wouldn't recommend it for much beyond MIDI triggering with a laptop, and I'd like it to be a bit sturdier, but for a gigging drummer who needs to fire backing tracks live without spending big, it does the job and looks far more expensive than it is.
Specifications
