i'm trying to figure out a way to trigger percussive sounds i make and save as samples, but setting it up so i can have external triggers instead of the pads. essentially using the sampler as a brain for drum sounds like an e-drum kit, but still use it normally to trigger samples with the buttons. is this possible, does anyone have any good ideas about it?
i dont like using a laptop live, but maybe the midi capabilities might come to use for this idea..? i'm full of questions with no answers!

Well, the SP-555 lacks some things you'd get with a SPD-S or DTX-Multi 12 like panning and choke groups (the SP-606 has choke groups but no panning). But if you can work with these limitations and organize things a bit (you'll probably want to keep the drum sounds as short as possible) then it would work just fine.

There's an Alesis drumpad controller that looks pretty good, it's called Control Pad or something.