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Alesis SR-18 Portable Drum Machine

BH #ALSR18 • MFR #SR18
 38 reviews
Alesis SR-18 Portable Drum Machine
Key Features
  • 12 Pads
  • Built-In Effects, EQ, and Compression
  • Battery or AC Power
  • Backlit LCD
The SR-18 from Alesis is a professional-quality drum machine for today's working musicians. It has 12 responsive pads, and is packed full of drum kits, electronic drums, hits, and other sounds that allow you to create music in any genre. Integrated effects include reverb, EQ, and compression for customizing your sound.
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$227.95
$38/mo. suggested payments for 6 Mos.
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Alesis SR-18 Overview

The SR-18 from Alesis is a professional-quality drum machine for today's working musicians. It has 12 responsive pads, and is packed full of drum kits, electronic drums, hits, and other sounds that allow you to create music in any genre. Integrated effects include reverb, EQ, and compression for customizing your sound.

Connectors include MIDI inputs and outputs, a 1/4" input, two stereo 1/4" outputs, and a 1/4" headphone output. Two footswitch jacks are provided for hands-free control. In addition to being fully-featured, the SR-18 is also highly portable. The slim design is easy to take on the road, and it can operate on AC power or on six AA batteries so you're never caught without power.

Slim, portable design
32MB sound bank with drum kits, electronic drums, and hits
Plenty of control from 12 responsive pads
Operates on AC power or on six AA batteries
Large backlit LCD
Built-in reverb, compression, and EQ effects
MIDI and 1/4" inputs and outputs, plus a 1/4" headphone jack
Two footswitch jacks for hands-free control
UPC: 694318010570

Alesis SR-18 Specs

Key Specs
Sound Generation
Digital
Number of Pads
12 x Velocity-Sensitive Pad
Number of Sounds, Kits, or Samples
100 x User Drum Kit
100 x Factory Drum Kit
500 x Sound Preset
Audio I/O
1 x 1/4" TS Hi-Z Input
1 x 1/4" TRS Headphone Output
2 x 1/4" Main Output (1 Stereo Pair)
1 x 1/4" TRS Unbalanced Stereo Aux Output
MIDI I/O
1 x DIN 5-Pin Input
1 x DIN 5-Pin Output/Thru
Sound Generation
Digital
Number of Pads
12 x Velocity-Sensitive Pad
Display
LCD
AD/DA Conversion
24-Bit
Sounds
Number of Sounds, Kits, or Samples
100 x User Drum Kit
100 x Factory Drum Kit
500 x Sound Preset
Number of Rhythm Pattern Presets
100 x Factory Pattern
100 x User Pattern
Number of Song Presets
100
Maximum Polyphony
32 Voice
Built-In Effects
Reverb
Dynamic FX: Compressor
Connectivity
Audio I/O
1 x 1/4" TS Hi-Z Input
1 x 1/4" TRS Headphone Output
2 x 1/4" Main Output (1 Stereo Pair)
1 x 1/4" TRS Unbalanced Stereo Aux Output
Trigger Device & Pedal Inputs
2 x 1/4" Footswitch Input
2 x 1/4" Footswitch Input
MIDI I/O
1 x DIN 5-Pin Input
1 x DIN 5-Pin Output/Thru
Power
Power Requirements
Battery
Packaging Info
Package Weight
3.74 lb
Box Dimensions (LxWxH)
12.7 x 12.25 x 5.15"

Alesis SR-18 Reviews

Great Sounding Drum Machine, Terribly Arranged Samples

By Tommy Tranq
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2023-07-02

The Alesis SR-18 is a welcome update to the now classic SR-16. The sample library is very extensive, ranging from acoustic to electronic sounds. Honestly you could definitely write a full track off this unit and this unit alone with some creative sequencing and the help of a DAW. The SR-18 sounds are wonderfully editable with pitch adjustment up and down an octave, low-pass non-resonant filtering, and, probably most importantly, decay editing. The onboard compression/EQ processing options sound quite good and the reverb algorithms are actually stellar in my opinion as well. They really deliver amazing & lush sounding standard reverbs as well as more washed out or effecty type algorithms. The onboard sequencer is easy to use but a little tiresome. Sequencing from a computer is much better for getting the nuances of off-the-grid looseness. If you wanted to gig with it you could program in the DAW and then record unquantized straight in to keep your original computer programmed feel. The only real downside to this unit, and it's somewhat irksome, is that the sample library isn't organized super intuitively. Alike samples aren't always grouped together so if you're looking for which clap to use for instance, you can't just browse all the options in series. Apart from that the samples are really quite useable and even the bass/synth sounds are pretty interesting too even if they don't have any real-time control. The SR-18 does so much to enhance the SR-16 that I really hope we get a similar & unexpected leap to what Alesis does in its hopeful next upgrade.

Old-School

By Hawood
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2015-12-13

I bought with expectation of easy construction of drum beats/rhythms . Well, I learned quickly that I am NOT a drummer. Not easy to use, but decent, simple sounds. There may be better options built into contemporary keyboards, etc. Still a nice piece of gear. CONDITIONAL recommendation --- based upon the unit being a decent drum machine, but --- not practical for me.

Great for what we needed!

By Frank the Improviser
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2015-06-24

We are a small theater and we needed a drum kit for our improv comedy shows. This was a great solution for us! The ability to change sounds and control volume is ideal for our venue. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to add some percussion to live performance.

Great Machine

By lito
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2015-06-14

This machine does the work, a bit tricky to use but with patience It can be used. the sounds are quite real some sounds are too low crash, bells if volume climbs others sound very strong. should work on that especially for the price that I consider high for the machine.

Great Machine

By Luis
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2015-06-04

I have rarely seen an instrument like this. you can create whatever you want with this drum machine. excellent product. easy to use and really good sound. I use it along with a synth and sound is perfect. the amount of possibilities you have is almost endless impossible to find everything inside this little box fantastic. I recommend it especially to create music.

Sounds great{

By Melvin
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2015-05-29

I use the SR18 to create drum loops as backup for our two peice band. I have mostly used the preset loops, but I have added a few of my own sounds for flavor. I found that the volume out of the main L/R was rather low going directly into my audio interface, so I used the right main and the headphone out with better results. I have not figured out how to use the aux output which has a stereo cable output, since my audio input expects two separate cables for Left and Right.

Good investment

By Johnson Gary
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2017-07-03

Bought this unit to build sample drum tracks for song arrangements. Interface is understandable, and somewhat intuitive, but takes some effort/practice to gain proficiency. Good features and good quality samples without a lot of crazy sound effects nobody uses. Pads are functional, but seem a little uneven in terms of pressure requirements. I get a few double-strikes, depending on how I strike the pad (especially the kick). Overall, worth the money.

Glad I bought it!

By SD musician
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2016-01-06

B&H was nice to deal with and had the best price. I've owned and used an alesis hr 16 for over 10 yrs in the past and the good news is, some of the basic functions carried over. This thing has impressive sounds and I will be home recording with it. To demystify some in regards to the bass, simply hold down mute and press the bass button. It took about a half hour to figure it out since I was unable to quicky find that in the manual. With only an hour with it, I've made a few cool user songs with little effort. Alesis is a great product.

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YOUR RECENTLY VIEWED ITEMS

Does this model have a built in speaker?

Does this model have a built in speaker?
Asked by: John
This does not have a built in speaker. You can plug it into external speakers.
Answered by: Daniel
Date published: 2020-07-13

How long will it run on a single charge

How long will it run on a single charge
Asked by: Leonard
The Alesis SR-18 Portable Drum Machine does not have an internal, rechargeable battery within but rather can be powered via 6 x AA batteries or the included power adapter. Run time when used with batteries is not indicated by Alesis and can be affected by the battery type (lithium, NiMh, etc) as well as certain settings on the SR-18 itself, such as screen brightness. The SR-18 also has a Low Battery Warning feature that helps to alert the user when new batteries are needed.
Answered by: Matt Z
Date published: 2022-06-26

question

Where can I find a list of the 100 patterns it has?
Asked by: Vincent C.
There is a Sheet Included which lists all of the Pre-Programed Patterns. As a studio drummer I recommend creating your own patterns and saving them. The included patterns are more for reference and inspiration.
Answered by: Jose M.
Date published: 2018-08-27

question

does this unit have a pre-programed 3/4 waltz beat in it????????????????
Asked by: Anonymous
Yes it does have 1, I wish it had more, but as you get used to the machin, you can buold more of your own.
Answered by: Thomas H.
Date published: 2018-08-27
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