Still not 100% impressed with my hybrid Roland/2Box system....

[peanutismint]

So I have a Roland TD8-KV, swapped the module for a 2Box about a month ago and then bought the 2Box hi hats about 2 weeks ago as well, and as yet I'm just not 100% happy with it... My issues are thus:

• The 2Box hihat, whilst it does seem quite capble, isn't completely foolproof. On some kits it sounds ok, but then it's as if on others it's completely out of whack. I've done the calibration several times but don't really know what many of the other settings do...Sometimes when I play a full open hi hat sound and then close the foot pedal it doesn't cut the sound like you'd expect.... also it seems to trigger multiple hits when only struck once, but if I turn down the sensitivity to counteract this, then it doesn't detect the super quiet hits....
• My Roland cymbals (2 x CY12R/Cs for crash and ride and 1 x CY8 for a second crash) are also less sensitive than I'd like. I can't make super quiet hits like I've seen people do on YouTube videos, and if I turn the sensitivity right down to help with this then just tap them lightly they often play a full volume crash sound as if I've hit them way harder...
• The CY8 cymbal in particular has a really weird thing where, when I first boot the system up, it plays as if it's being choked, but if I navigate to the triggers page and cycle all the way around the list of trigger types back to CyEdge which I have it on, it plays fine. I have to do this EVERY TIME I start the module, regardless of whether I've saved this function or not. I tried asking 2Box why this might be, but all they could tell me was 'You should've bought 2Box cymbals...'.

UPDATE Figured out the 'choking' issue - was using a mono (TS) jack cable instead of stereo (TRS) jack; I didn't think it would need mono because it's only a single zone trigger but apparently it does...

• Finally, my PD80r snare likes to trigger the main head sound along with any rim/sidestick triggers. I can just about tune this out, but it means that to play a sidestick sound I have to hit the rim in one location SUPER SOFT to get it to work. I certainly can't do a proper 'cross-stick' hit (resting the butt of my stick on the head and cracking the top of the stick on the rim at the opposite side) because this just causes the main head sample to trigger....

Anybody else have similar problems getting Roland stuff to work flawlessly with 2Box system? Is it in fact possible to get it 'perfect'??

I don't know if I just haven't set something up correctly (I've done the hi hat calibration several times) or just don't get how to tune in the right settings properly, but neither my hats nor my other Roland cymbals (2 x  CY12R/Cs and 1 x CY8)

[Soundmanneal]

Dont know if this helps .But the wireing in the roland cymbals is probably different then in other brands. found this for wiring roland pads .

[peanutismint]

Hmmm that IS interesting, but I don't see how it could cause the issues I'm having...

On the one hand, the 2 x three-zone cymbals (well, two-zone at any one time I think - bell and edge or egde and bow...?) are working fine, except that they're not as sensitive as I'd like... And then the one-zone cymbal (which, again, is actually a DUAL trigger...) has that issue of playing 'choked' when the unit is first switched on, but after I cycle around the trigger types it kinda sorts itself out...

So technically all the Roland cymbals 'work' but it just seems they have these little 'quirks' and I'm unsure as to whether or not I can iron them out and have them function as a proper fully working system...

[billgtx]

Finally, my PD80r snare likes to trigger the main head sound along with any rim/sidestick triggers. I can just about tune this out, but it means that to play a sidestick sound I have to hit the rim in one location SUPER SOFT to get it to work. I certainly can't do a proper 'cross-stick' hit (resting the butt of my stick on the head and cracking the top of the stick on the rim at the opposite side) because this just causes the main head sample to trigger....

Anybody else have similar problems getting Roland stuff to work flawlessly with 2Box system? Is it in fact possible to get it 'perfect'??

I've tried using a 2Box module with Roland pads and found that the Roland modules generally require some cross talk between the rim sensor and the head sensor.  In other words, totally isolating the head and rim sensors from each other will cause the Roland module not to detect the rim hit.

The 2Box module, on the other hand, seems to require total isolation between head sensor and rim sensor.   I say "seems" because I haven't found any official comment as such, but my experience says this is true.

When I did my A2E conversion and totally isolated the rim and head sensors, then the rim click would work just fine.  But I could never get the rim/head sound separation to work right on my Roland pads.

Hope this helps.

[peanutismint]

Thanks; I'm having a LITTLE more success with it through tweaking, but it's nowhere near as effective as it was with my Roland module, where I could do a full 'stick across the head' type click. Now the only way I can get it is hitting the rim in a certain spot below a certain velocity (otherwise it likes to trigger a rim shot sample instead....)

[digitalDrummer]

Thanks; I'm having a LITTLE more success with it through tweaking, but it's nowhere near as effective as it was with my Roland module, where I could do a full 'stick across the head' type click. Now the only way I can get it is hitting the rim in a certain spot below a certain velocity (otherwise it likes to trigger a rim shot sample instead....)

This is probably more to do with the samples than the module per se. A lot of kits have the rim click at low velocity and then the samples switch to rim shots for harder hits. You can edit the samples to prevent this using the DrumIt editor. Just delete the rim shot samples.

[Renegator]

Are you using the 2box HH stand? If yes, switching to a brand such as Yamaha, TAMA, etc could help a lot with the HH triggering...

[peanutismint]

I'm using a sturdy Gibraltar stand but I worried that might be what was causing more of the problems, as it feels like maybe the movement of the pedal/shaft etc. is causing unwanted triggering....

Also, because there's no official 2Box documentation on using non 2Box hardware (that I know of?) I started off with the magnet pad thing resting directly on the plastic 'base plate' of the hi hat stand, as it felt as if the soft felt pad that came with the hi hat stand was causing the magnet to 'stick' a bit, but then I later replaced the felt ring under the magnet which seemed to help to 'cushion out' some of the movement triggering from the stand....

Is there a definitive way that the magnet/hi hat should be mounted on a non 2Box stand??

[billgtx]

Thanks; I'm having a LITTLE more success with it through tweaking, but it's nowhere near as effective as it was with my Roland module, where I could do a full 'stick across the head' type click. Now the only way I can get it is hitting the rim in a certain spot below a certain velocity (otherwise it likes to trigger a rim shot sample instead....)

Hi again.  If I understand correctly, you have identified 2 separate issues.

1.  Tap the rim and you get an accompanying head sound  - this is the issue I responded to earlier in the thread.  This is a head/rim isolation issue.
2.  Tap the rim and get a rimshot sound - this is either a sample setup or a rim sensitivity issue as digitialDrummer mentioned.

Clarity on the actual issue at hand will help us help you.

How I figured my issue out was I assigned a rim sound to the rim and either a cymbal or cowbell sound to the head.  Then when I tapped the rim I could figure out if I was also getting the head sound.  Once I isolated the rim and head sensors completely then I got only the sound of the sensor that I hit.

Good luck!

[peanutismint]

Thanks; I'll try to isolate the head from the rim more, though I'm not sure how... Lustar has also suggested assigning voice samples saying things like 'one' and 'two' to the head and rim so I can hear what's triggering and when. Thanks for all the good ideas, guys!

[Pret]

So I have a Roland TD8-KV, swapped the module for a 2Box about a month ago and then bought the 2Box hi hats about 2 weeks ago as well, and as yet I'm just not 100% happy with it... My issues are thus:

• The 2Box hihat, whilst it does seem quite capble, isn't completely foolproof. On some kits it sounds ok, but then it's as if on others it's completely out of whack. I've done the calibration several times but don't really know what many of the other settings do...Sometimes when I play a full open hi hat sound and then close the foot pedal it doesn't cut the sound like you'd expect.... also it seems to trigger multiple hits when only struck once, but if I turn down the sensitivity to counteract this, then it doesn't detect the super quiet hits....
• My Roland cymbals (2 x CY12R/Cs for crash and ride and 1 x CY8 for a second crash) are also less sensitive than I'd like. I can't make super quiet hits like I've seen people do on YouTube videos, and if I turn the sensitivity right down to help with this then just tap them lightly they often play a full volume crash sound as if I've hit them way harder...
• The CY8 cymbal in particular has a really weird thing where, when I first boot the system up, it plays as if it's being choked, but if I navigate to the triggers page and cycle all the way around the list of trigger types back to CyEdge which I have it on, it plays fine. I have to do this EVERY TIME I start the module, regardless of whether I've saved this function or not. I tried asking 2Box why this might be, but all they could tell me was 'You should've bought 2Box cymbals...'.

UPDATE Figured out the 'choking' issue - was using a mono (TS) jack cable instead of stereo (TRS) jack; I didn't think it would need mono because it's only a single zone trigger but apparently it does...

• Finally, my PD80r snare likes to trigger the main head sound along with any rim/sidestick triggers. I can just about tune this out, but it means that to play a sidestick sound I have to hit the rim in one location SUPER SOFT to get it to work. I certainly can't do a proper 'cross-stick' hit (resting the butt of my stick on the head and cracking the top of the stick on the rim at the opposite side) because this just causes the main head sample to trigger....

Anybody else have similar problems getting Roland stuff to work flawlessly with 2Box system? Is it in fact possible to get it 'perfect'??

I don't know if I just haven't set something up correctly (I've done the hi hat calibration several times) or just don't get how to tune in the right settings properly, but neither my hats nor my other Roland cymbals (2 x  CY12R/Cs and 1 x CY8)

Peanutismint, old thread came up in my search, but perhaps you're still follow the forum...
I'm getting similar behavior with cymbals, although using Alesis cymbals, not Roland.
Tried different configurations for them, Cymb12 seemed to work ok, saving (go to Unit and Save). But each time following power off and on, it plays like being chocked. Until I reconfigure again going through all possible types to Cymb12.
I do use TRS cable

Any ideas ?

[Deve Loper]

Hi Pret.
The Alesis cymbal jack might (?) have an (intentional) short from the ring to gnd. So a trs cable could still  behave like a TS cable. The DrumIt always senses a short to gnd of the ring as a choke. Maybe try to use a trs to 2 ts Y cable splitter. TRS to DrumIt. Tip TS to cymbal. Leave the ring TS unconnected or cut it.
Cheers, Deve.

[Pret]

Thanks Deve
GND usually resides on the sleeve, right ?
I'll check with DVM whether the TRS cable connected to the cymbal will have shortage between the ring and the sleeve...

Update: just measured - you're correct ! The cymbal shorts the ring to the sleeve...
Will consider the cables solution as you suggested
Thanks a lot

[Pret]

A quick update: the cable trick did the job ! Now works fine 
Thanks a lot Deve

Once again proves how invaluable asset this forum is for 2box users...