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Started by docadiddle2, February 03, 2020, 07:33:29 PM

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docadiddle2

Hi all, just popped out for about 6 years, can see a few old names still kicking around here, the place doesn’t look to have changed much! I was docadiddle previously but the forum has forgotten me hence the new name.

I’ll try and keep this short guys. I did used to own the old 2 Box kit but moved it on for an Alesis DM10 (I know, what a shocker, funds release activity, not sure what came over me!) but which has now left in shame. I’ve been gigging with my acoustic kit but have decided that I want to change to an e-kit. I was seriously considering a TD 50 but have not heard one single example of a decent Roland snare sound so I’m of the mind to make my own pads from acoustic shells with either a 2 Box or a Pearl Mimic pro module. I did my own A2E conversion when I had the 2 Box and it triggered perfectly by copying the 2 Box pads- side triggers with the brass touching the underside of the mesh. I plan to do this again. The idea is to probably use Roland cymbals as I’ve tried them and they trigger really well on their native modules. I didn’t like the 2Box cymbals. Would consider other makes of cymbals, whatever works best.

That’s the plan. I now discover that there are TWO modules to choose from and am just looking for a bit of advice to see which one I should be looking at. I think it boils down to the cymbals. If I’ve read it correctly, the Drumit 3 seems to be ready to accept any make of cymbals out of the box. Is this correct and which cymbals work best? I’d like a 3 zone ride and a good hihat so again, what works best. To some extent I’m prepared to pay what I need as I’ll be saving by making my own pads.

Really appreciate your time in reading my question and any advice offered.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Cheers all.

Tim

UC

Welcome back Tim,
I've managed to reattribute your old posts to your new account. I could tell you how but then I'd have to disappear you for another 6 years.
Alas I've been out of the edrum loop too long to know much about the new brain but I bet one of the regulars will be able to help!

welshsteve

#2
Hi and welcome back D2!

Okay, good plan with the A2E conversion! I assume you're going to be making the triggers yourself? I would defo workout some protection for the piezo contact area, hitting that bad boy with a stick mid gig will probably cause it to fail!

As for module, well, a choice between the drumit3 and the drumit5 mk2 will come down to what you're willing to spend, both will cost a lot less than a mimic or a td50! You could get one of each and still not spend the same amount.


The main differences are output options, channel buttons and the SD card slot. I have the drumit3 as a home kt (and a mimic pro for live) and I miss all but the output options in everyday use. That's only because I am fine with a stereo out. With some tweaking it is possible to get 6 stereos from the drumit3, there's a work around by assigning channels to outputs 1,2,3 and 4 and using the headphone out as a sorta 5 and 6 but turning down what you don't want coming from these channels in the mixer page.

As for the SD card slot, the 32gb modification still can be done on the DI3. So that really leaves the channel buttons.

Unless some other improvements are implemented form the Namm show module that was displayed last year, that's it.

So in short, either module will do you very well! Since your last outing with the dit5 module, they've implemented some nice upgrades to the OS for it too!

As for cymbals, you won't go wrong with Roland! But others have used it with success with the ATV cymbals which are sort of regarded as the best on the market. But I would say out of the box, Roland work great. You have to do the usual daily in for gain and threshold of course.

Have you considered converting real cymbals, Jman can hook you up with everything you need. Nothing but excellent reports about his work, he's the man... or Jman!

Hihat calibration can be a bit of a headache, but there's a great video on youtube made by Anders who shows the correct way to set up hihat. I think there's another one on the 2box website too.

I got a mishmash of a pintech 14" crash cymbal and a goedrum controller. It works fine! I mean, not exactly-like-a-real-hihat fine, but nothing is. If you get me? Before that I had a jobeky brass 14" hihat cymbal. But that has a major hotspot over the logo. The Pintech has much more even triggering but I am less keen on the neoprene playing surface, could do with something harder.

But I tried a mate's VH11, MUCH preferred that to either of what I have. So, I would go for a VH11 personally.

Hope this helps.

My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

docadiddle2

Thanks Steve that’s exactly the sort of information I was asking for. I think the 5 Mk2 seems like the more capable option. From what you’re saying it sounds like generally the Roland cymbals trigger well on these modules?

Also, am I right in thinking that the extra 64Gb SD card option will allow that many more sounds to be used and they can be played directly from the card?

And one more question, it looks like the module can play loops (I can look up the details of this) but what I was wondering is this, if you make a loop in a certain way can its tempo be adjusted once it’s loaded in? If you know what I mean. Like the built in songs can be sped up or slowed down as I seem to remember.

Really grateful for your help.

docadiddle2

By the way Steve, just to answer your question about the triggers I made, I just copied the 2 box pads but without the cover. Where they were positioned I never hit ‘em! I’ll see if I can dig out some pics.

welshsteve

Quick reply on loops. The loop function on 2box modules is excellent, I used them extensively with a show I worked on for several years. And it was a great way to beef up the rhythms I was playing. I also fired samples and effects. But I am not sure if tempo can be adjusted to be honest, you might be able to tune it up or down down and that will effect the speed but of course pitch also. I honestly cannot remember. I always got the tempo sorted before I made the loop.

And yes, 64gb will give you enough space for A LOT of sounds, way more than any pro drummer would need. But  the beauty of it is that if you run out of space, you can have as many cards as you'd like. It reminds me of back on the ddrum3 days when they'd have PCMCIA cards. The tech these days though is way better than back then.
My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

docadiddle2

Looks like it’s a theoretical question at the moment as the 5 mk2 does not appear to be available anywhere yet. I could have sworn I’d seen them on sale but seems not

welshsteve

Yes, as far as I know it's not in production yet, but will be soon (something that has been said for a while) All depends on how long you're willing to wait. But if you decide to go with the dit3 and that the differences are not that great or applicable to you, it'll perform just as well. If you go for the SD card reader, I think 32gb will be the limit. I am not 100% on this though. It was certainly that for the longest time so I don't know what has changed for 64gb to be the limit on the newer module, could be something to do with the design of the new module.
My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

docadiddle2

Thanks again Steve, you’ve been so helpful, it’s appreciated. I’m tempted to wait for the 5 TBH. When I had the original 5 mk1 I read about and almost did the card mod. It seemed frustrating that the 4Gb card was almost full but I was hesitant to actually void my warranty. As a result I never really got into the whole world of new sounds and loops etc. This time I feel much more likely to do this but with the 3 it sounds like I’ll have the dilemma again. Just wondering how full the internal card is when it’s factory fresh.

Once again, thank you.

welshsteve

You're welcome. Ask any power user and they'll tell you, once you get into adding your own sounds ripped from VSTs or other sample libraries, you'll see how better the module can sound. For example.

All the 2box library sounds, as nice as most are, are solo samples. By which I mean, they're only of that sound (mostly) If you take a rip of one of the main VSTs (Steven Slate, EZ drummer, Addictive drums etc) all these will have the snare bleed and whatever amount of room ambience applied. So put that across the entire kit, toms, snare, kicks and then assign them all to the one kit, the realism really comes out at you. All my sounds on my home kits are all ripped/samples from VSTs. I used the odd crash or ride from the 2box library but I really don't bother with them as I much prefer the custom ones I have.

Lustar has some really nifty software that does all this for you in one click.

There are some new ones coming from the 2box library though, there was post on the facebook page of the sampling process. So you'll get new sounds on the new module too. But these sounds are also able to be loaded on the original Di5 and Di3 too.

My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

docadiddle2

#10
Thanks again Steve. Can you remember how much of the 4 Gb is left on the DI3 module as new?

As mentioned earlier, here are some pics of my previous A2E project. As you can see it was pretty crude but worked brilliantly. I just set the piezos on some soft but high density foam and made sure that they were 1-2mm above the bearing edge so they were slightly compressed by the mesh head. On the snare and toms I also stuck another piezo inside on the mounting bracket which I wired up for edge triggering. The snare needed a ring of foam around the edge (same as 2-Box) to prevent multiple triggering but that was it. The bass drum also needed the foam underneath the contact point again to get rid of multiple triggers.

When I do the new one I'll make it much neater and better finished, this was really just an experiment. I put the mini jack plug and socket in just to make it easy to convert it between electric and acoustic if needed.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0w55Z2WMsCce5b 


And here's a demonstration of the triggering which as far as I could tell was pretty much perfect and identical to the 2-Box pads, excuse the drumming......

https://youtu.be/oeOXGIbLED8 

Jman

Quote from: docadiddle2 on February 06, 2020, 07:32:22 PM
Thanks again Steve. Can you remember how much of the 4 Gb is left on the DI3 module as new?
3.67GB of space is used or the 3.83GB usable space. That is 158MB of extra space. So you basically need to take files off of the original card if you are going to add much to it.
I could tell you where to stick that piezo! :D ;)
http://stealthdrums.com/

docadiddle2

Thanks Jman. Sounds pretty much the same as the older DI 5.