i've not had one of these things long, and it's already become a pretty important part of a few different live sets, and is performing pretty much perfectly however...

last night at a rehearsal for some reason the phones out was only giving us one side. after lots of plugging in and out, and not getting a result; when i took it home and tried it, with the same headphones. It worked fine.

Loaded it up earlier on, still only on the right side of the phones out... but then i turned it off, unplugged my headphones, booted it up, reinserted my headphones when it was ready to go, and it was fine.

does anyone have any experience with this kinda behaviour? Is it smart enough to detect when there's either a TRS or a TS cable plugged in maybe??

getting every so slightly worried

ok just done a bit more troubleshooting... things i have categorically ruled out;

- headphone socket
- headphones
- phones volume pot on the front.

it's weird, the first track will playback fine... nice and loud in both cans, and then when i move to another track, and set that off - i'll lose the left side, and the volume will decrease and it will sound almost bit crushed?? then i go back to the first track that previously played perfectly, and now that's messed up too??

* by the way, when i say track... i've got my long 3 minute+ backing tracks (4 in total) loaded onto pads 1 and 2, each 'kit' is a different 'song'.

I'm beginning to start thinking maybe it's more of a firmware issue? i'm about to do a factory reset and load up the 'default' Roland kit, add my data and then see waht happens

quick update...

the weird one side of the stereo going funny I think must have been a .WAV file issue, I reexported all my samples and backing tracks and reloaded them into the software and it's worked fine up to now.

another issue, today -- the Roland spd-sx not turning on, was the issue I googled as mine refused to come alive.

checked the PSU, which is the official Roland one, everything was fine, tried unplugging the MIDI and all the other cables and didn't fix it... give it a slightly frustrated tap with a drum stick on one of the pads when I'd ran out of options and out of nowhere it came on! so yeah, if yours isn't turning on then give each pad a hit and see if that sorts it... maybe it's an underlying issue or something is loose underneath? time will tell

I‘ve run into exactly the same headphones issue as you described above. I also use the same setup (backing tracks on pads 1 and 2).

Did you manage to find out what the problem was with the WAV files? Did you export them in another format and did it solve the issue permanently?

Haven"t had it long or used it live yet, but so far I haven't had this issue.

I've had the same headphone issue. My last sitting, trying to work it out, when I hit the bottom left pad it would make the headphone signal stutter in and out. Still researching......

Hey guys, I use this pad in the exact same way, and I've dealt with this issue before, and started experiencing it again, the first time, I took it in for service to a Roland authorized repair shop, and it turns out there is a mulifax plug that gets loose from the percussion of being hit. A quick snap, $130 and I was good to go. This time, however, I decided to do the work myself, now keep is mind, I'm an HVAC technician and have a strong mechanical and electrical ability, and it works flawlessly now. When you take it in, have your repair technician had a few drops of glue that is safe for electrical equipment to the plug, it will prevent future issues from reoccurring

Do you have a Picture of the said plug?

Thank you! I have 2 of theses machines and they both exhibit the very same problem with the left side cutting out. I have been through many cables, plugs and IEM's trying to solve this issue. I always suspected the phone output itself and now I know for sure.

I have this same issue. Headphone out cuts nearly out and if I turn the headphone volume all the way up and something loud hits, it pops back in. I ruled out every piece in the chain, including getting a new unit. Same problem except now it won’t pop back in...

I had the same problem with the headphones cutting out - it’s due to bits of stick and dust on the underside of the pads - you have to unscrew it all take off the rubber trigger pad piece and wipe it down/blow any debris out. Then put back together and it should work fine !!

Hi there,
I had a very similar issue with my Roland SPD-SX headphone out...may or may not be the same issue as described above, but this was my resolution...

I was finding that the right-side of the heaphones would cut out, it could be at completely random times and often during a gig (extremely annoying!). I'd then get home, plug it all in and it would work fine. Other times it would cut in and out. I had the same issue as described above, that the headphones would not work, until you crank the headphone volume knob up to full, then it would kick back into life. It would also sometimes sound slightly distorted. Generally like a bad connection, but other times be perfectly fine. But then the loss of right-side audio started happening all the time. Baffled me for months. Tried different headphones, cables, connectors, etc...everything else in the chain, and all made no difference.

Finally after getting quite fed up with it, I contacted Roland and as I presumed, they said it would have to go to a Roland service centre for a full service and likely a replacement board (all at my cost as outside of warranty).

Before going down this route, I thought I'd open it up and at least clean it all out inside and attack it with some contact cleaner, etc. One of the previous posts said about dust and debris within.

However! (I'm no electronics expert in the slightest, I'll open something up...look at it for a while, clean it and put it back together)
When I opened up the SPD, I followed some wires from the headphone jack to another connection on the board, which, although looked like it was soldered fine, was wobbling around slightly on the board. Only very slightly, but I thought the shocks from being hit with a stick, might be enough to be moving it...also possibly whilst in transit. Anyway, I took the board out and used a hot glue gun to glue around the piece, stopping it from moving. Photos attached. Also cleaned out any dust and applied contact cleaner to most of the board/s.

Put it back together again, and it worked!! I've since done a 15 date UK tour (with it being thrown in and out of vans and venues), plus various other gigs and (touch wood), haven't had a single issue again with the headphone output!! Saved myself potentially hundreds of £££ worth of Roland repair costs. This fix absolutely worked for me and hopefully it will work for others.

It probably took less than an hour in total, with no more tools or expertise than some will-power to save money, a couple of screwdrivers, some contact cleaner and a hot glue gun. (Plus the Mrs to google instructions of how to get the back off the SPD , as I spent the first 15 mins getting frustrated with it!...helpful note - you DO NOT have to pull the main rubber pads off to get into the back!! This will cause you all manner of issues getting it back on).

If I do have any similar issues again in the future, I'm expecting it might be the glue come loose, so my plan would be to re-solder that part on the board and use some more substantial glue to hold it in place.

Hopefully this might help someone else!