News:

2box forum: accident-free since the last one.

Main Menu

Why do the drums sound different through the headphone socket ?

Started by wildhorse5678, March 07, 2018, 07:03:34 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

wildhorse5678

This may have been covered before...so appologies. When i listen to the kits on headphones on the headphone socket they sound different than if i feed the output from the headphone socket into a drum monitor.   Or if i connect output 1 +2 to monitor. Why is this and how do i get the same (great sounds) from the drum monitor or pa that i get via headphones.

For info im current using Alesis Transactive 400. I also have a Roland monitor

Oh , i should mention this is for live performance.

edcito

Quote from: Deve Loper on July 08, 2017, 09:23:27 PM
Hi.
For best sound quality, convert the vst samples with as low pitch change range as needed.
Furthermore, the hp out has a series resistor to even out the differences in impedance.
This might affect the headphones frequency response. Not ideal, I know.
Use line out to compare original vst sound with downloaded sound.
Cheers,
Deve.

welshsteve

Different speakers have different sound properties. I'd say it's more to do with the quality of one vs the quality of another. But for starters, you're going from a stereo monitoring (headphones) to a mono one (drum monitor) That alone will make for a massive difference in audio fidelity.
My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

wildhorse5678

Welshsteve hit the nail on the head. I have been using an Alesis Transactive 400 drum monitor. A few days after posting this i brought out of storage my Roland 30w monitor and tried that out. Boy oh boy...what a difference in clarity and sound reproduction. Honestly the Alesis may be Big in size but the smaller Roland out shone it. I decided then and there to get a louder Roland the PM 200 as this also has the benefit of 2 direct outs. And it has not disapointed...infact i have to turn down the volume on the 2box module and the PM200. Great quality sound reproduction and LOUD as a Marshal stack lol.  Ive since sold the Alesis.  Ok so the roland was over twice the cost as the Alesis but as they say a chain is only as good as its weekest link and the Alesis certainly wasnt doing my Drumit5 any favours.

welshsteve

And you too sir have hit the nail on the head!!!

How much are the Roland monitors? There are alternatives if they’re really pricey.  The HK Lukas has a great sound and definitely perfect for stage monitoring. It might struggle if you’re competing with acoustic cymbals. But not knowing the cost of the Roland, they maybe be more.
You could always pick up a SH pair of FBT active 8” and a dedicated sub, that too would definitely be a killer system the active sub part is a major factor too.
My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

edcito

The new rolands pm-100 and pm-200 sound good in this demo:
https://youtu.be/qa6WA4wGrWo
But of course, 300 anf 500 bucks respectively...

Jman

Deve Loper has posted several times lately (at vdrums.com) about the difference in the headphone sounds. In the Drumit Five there is a resistor in the headphone circuit. The frequencies are affected/changed depending on the ohms of headphones .... lower ohm headphones are worse for that. And most of us using edrums have low ohm headphones since those are the loudest with drum modules. And if you run the headphone outs as Direct Outs there is no problem ...... and that explains why my .dsnds always sounded fine to me through the Drumit Five because I have always run everything via Direct outs to a mixer. edcito has indicated that they apparently have fixed that problem with the Drumit Three.
I could tell you where to stick that piezo! :D ;)
http://stealthdrums.com/

Deve Loper

" The frequencies are affected/changed depending on the ohms of headphones .."

Not exactly. It's not the resistive load of the phones which changes the freq response. It's the reactive part (the capacitive and/or inductive effect). An ideal headphone should have minimal reactive part, but is anything ideal?
The resistor is there to even out the power difference between lo an hi impedance phones. However it has this unwanted side effect.
Again, this is very dependent on the headphone in question. It's probably less noticable for hi imp phones. I tested most with AKG K240DF 600 Ohm phones when I tested. That sounds great.
Next time will be very low out impedance with user selectable nominal level to accomodate different phones.

Greetz, Deve.

Ps, if people want, I can point out the resistors to bypass for fixing this on DI5. However, for lo imp phones the out level will be quite hi even on low volume settings, so be aware...

geo

Official advice to void the warranty? Bring it on! Please do share.

Though, if you're going to the effort of cracking it open to bypass the resistors, may as well install an external switch instead so the bypass can be toggled when needed.

zmickles

Yes, agree, Geo. That would be really nice to have.

Deve Loper, could you kindly go ahead and point out the resistors to bypass to fix this issue on the DI5?

Thanks
Mike


Deve Loper

Hi. There are 4 resistors for each hp channel. 2 in parallel and then 2 pairs in series. Each res is 100 ohm so in total also 100 ohm. Replace these 4 with something like 10 ohm 1/4 W.
They are located just above the level pot. Each marked with 1000 (100 x 10^0).
You see by the traces how they are connected.
Good luck, Deve
Ps. warranty void of course...