What is your setup for recording with drumit 5 unit?

[Devious123]

I'm wondering what is the best setup for recording with the 2 box. Do most of you use all of the direct outs on the back, including the headphone out with a stereo to two mono splitter cable, or do you go stereo out, and record the midi data. I've been reading a lot about midi jitter with windows 7 systems to Daws, and have been wondering if should make a effort to make some more cables to get my other direct outs wired up or not. I'm currently using a midi sport 2x2, and a x32r interface.

[StudioG4]

I think a lot of the answer is in what you want to do with the information once it is recorded. If you may want to possibly swap out sounds, then midi is the way to go but if you only want to process the recorded sounds, then the more individual recorded drum tracks you have, the more control you will have at mixdown time.
Tony G

[Devious123]

I was just curious how other people were mostly recording, or playing live with it, so it could help me figure out whether or not i wanted to go with making the extra audio cables.

I was also wondering if the unit is always sending midi. I noticed that the unit has a option for "thru" which says it disables the onboard sound engine. Does this option need to be on to send midi out?

[fishmonkey]

I was also wondering if the unit is always sending midi. I noticed that the unit has a option for "thru" which says it disables the onboard sound engine. Does this option need to be on to send midi out?

no, that option does not need to be on to send MIDI as well.

[tmoney]

Does anyone know how to set the direct outs to a mix? Ive add snare-1, bass-2 , toms to 3-4, hihat cymbals to 5-6. When i plug all 6 mono cables to my tascam sd32 im getting a weird fx on it and all sounds are coming out of all channels. Ive read the manual serval times and cant figure it out. I go to the unit scroll down to the out 1&2 and it only changes between sub, mix, mix! ,1&2!. I am using the 32gb expansion with steven slate vst loaded on to it (i cant get rim or bell shots either but thats another subject). Any help would be appreciated.

[edtc]

Does anyone know how to set the direct outs to a mix? Ive add snare-1, bass-2 , toms to 3-4, hihat cymbals to 5-6. When i plug all 6 mono cables to my tascam sd32 im getting a weird fx on it and all sounds are coming out of all channels. Ive read the manual serval times and cant figure it out. I go to the unit scroll down to the out 1&2 and it only changes between sub, mix, mix! ,1&2!.

read it again...   

- you have to set out 1 2 to 1&2!    ... if not , you ll have the whole mix on them
- after you set the other drums individually to the 3 4  and 5 6 , and it should be fine ...

[tmoney]

Thanks. If your not familiar with the terms the manual can be confusing.

[tmoney]

When using the direct outs, whats the best cables to use? Trs, mono, stereo, 1/4 to xlr, 1/4 to 1/4, balanced or unbalanced?  Ive been using mono trs (not sure balanced or unbalanced) 1/4 to 1/4 and it works but the sound is a little dull to my ears, doesnt sound as crisp as the headphone out. Im using a tascam dp32. I recently came across a deal on a td30 i couldnt pass up so i bought it and even though the playability is superior to my 2box (at least to me) i ended up missing the 2box. With that said when i recorded the two and ABed them the roland sounded so crisp and clear even though im over the processed sounds. 2box didnt have that clarity, i guess im asking if anyone has had the same issues and if there any suggestions.

[fishmonkey]

When using the direct outs, whats the best cables to use? Trs, mono, stereo, 1/4 to xlr, 1/4 to 1/4, balanced or unbalanced?  Ive been using mono trs (not sure balanced or unbalanced) 1/4 to 1/4 and it works but the sound is a little dull to my ears, doesnt sound as crisp as the headphone out. Im using a tascam dp32. I recently came across a deal on a td30 i couldnt pass up so i bought it and even though the playability is superior to my 2box (at least to me) i ended up missing the 2box. With that said when i recorded the two and ABed them the roland sounded so crisp and clear even though im over the processed sounds. 2box didnt have that clarity, i guess im asking if anyone has had the same issues and if there any suggestions.

this is the information from an earlier version of the manual. i don't know why they have removed some of the wiring info from the current version of the manual:

Audio Inputs and Outputs

LINE IN OUT1-6 PHONES

Stereo line level input for media players or instruments. Mono line level outputs with the ring contact to ground. Stereo headphones output (32 to 600 Ohm).

The LINE IN can be set to accept mono or stereo signals (see UNIT- OUT page). In mono mode only the tip signal is used for both left and right, in stereo mode the tip is left and the ring is right.

The OUT1-6 outputs have the ring contact to ground. So for a balanced TRS to XLR cable, the XLR negative signal is grounded.

The PHONES output is independent of the other outputs. It can be used as 2 additional line level outputs for a total of 8 audio outputs. Use a split cable (Y cable) to obtain a separate left and right signal. Please note that the maximum signal level is two times (6 dB) higher than the line outputs. If the 7+8! bus with fixed level is selected for the headphones output (see UNIT-OUT page), the nominal signal level is matched to the OUT1-6 levels to accomodate an easy connection of all 8 outputs to an external mixer.

[tmoney]

Thank you very much. So thats mono or stereo to xlr?

[fishmonkey]

oh, and here is one of the best docs on sound system interconnects:

http://www.rane.com/note110.html

[fishmonkey]

When using the direct outs, whats the best cables to use? Trs, mono, stereo, 1/4 to xlr, 1/4 to 1/4, balanced or unbalanced?  Ive been using mono trs (not sure balanced or unbalanced) 1/4 to 1/4 and it works but the sound is a little dull to my ears, doesnt sound as crisp as the headphone out.

to help clear up your confusion, it's not the cable itself that is 'balanced' or 'unbalanced'. standard audio cables either have 2 or 3 conductors (there is also fancy star-quad cable, but let's ignore that here).

a 2 conductor cable can be used for an unbalanced, mono signal. one signal, one ground.

a 3 conductor cable can be used in two main ways: for an unbalanced stereo signal (with left + right signals and one ground); or for a balanced mono signal (one signal + the same signal inverted + ground).

to achieve a balanced connection, both the sending and receiving device must have special circuitry. the sending device sends an out-of-phase copy of the mono signal down a second wire. at the receiving end, the out-of-phase copy is flipped back in phase and added to the signal in the first wire. this has two effects: interference picked up along the cable run cancels out, and the signal is twice as hot.

now, to complicate matters further, there are different circuits for implementing balanced connections, and some are better than others. in fact, sometimes using a balanced connection can degrade the signal. a good balanced connection depends on the quality of the circuitry at both ends.

the Rane technical document i linked to above covers the different ways that you can connect combinations of balanced and unbalanced sources.

this is another good reference:

http://www.presonus.com/news/articles/balanced-unbalanced

[Coda]

Good info, but to answer his question: The module does not support balanced connections. If you don't use a mono jack then the ring in the stereo jack is connected to ground, in effect becoming a mono jack.
Therefore, I would only bother with jack-xlr cables if you already have them and your mixer handles them better than plain mono jack cables (although I don't remember seeing a mixer without both XLR and Jack connectors on each channel).
Also, make sure that you are not attenuating the signal at the desk (some jack inputs have a -10db switch on them because there are 2 different (at least) Line level standards).
Disclaimer: I've owned a 2box module about 3 days now, and I still haven't finished building my drums, so I have no experience of recording from this thing yet.

[fishmonkey]

Good info, but to answer his question: The module does not support balanced connections

it doesn't have balanced outputs, but it is wired so that standard cables used for balanced connections will work.

because TRS jacks have several different uses, rather than referring to them as mono or stereo jacks, IMO it is less confusing to call them either TS (tip-sleeve), or TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) jacks.

a TRS jack might be used for an unbalanced stereo connection, a balanced mono connection, or a mono unbalanced effects insert...

[tmoney]

Really good read, it cleared up alot of questions i had. I thought i had it figured out until the last two comments, prior to that i was under the impression that either will work the same even though the old manual called for balanced or trs to xlrs. Any good suggestions for some decent cables or cable snakes for this that wont break the bank?