Roland have never got into MIDI Multipads... I have no idea why, it's definitely something I'd like to see. OTOH, you CAN have up to 7 audio loops, that DO sync to tempo and pitch, and either trigger them with keys at the top, or FC-7 footswitches.

On the whole, I'd rather have the audio thing. While popping a nice conga part in or some tambourines from the MIDI drum set is OK on a multipad, MUCH nicer to add them as real audio. I still haven't figured out why Yamaha users aren't up in arms about how crippled Yamaha made the audio multipad feature on the S950 and T5. It only would take a VERY simple update to allow audio to loop, and the same thing as the BK-9 has would be a snap...