Author Topic: DM10x kick drum issues  (Read 2155 times)

DM10x kick drum issues
« on: July 10, 2016, 11:30:37 PM »
Hey all,

Just got a kit from a friend of mine over the weekend and I've been toying with it for awhile. It's practically new but I've run into some issues with the kick pad and I'm not sure what to do from here (short of launching it across my basement).

So I read a lot of threads here and on the alesis website forums with different techniques and options to try. Basically the long and short of it is that the kick pad isn't very responsive unless I set the curve to constant, and crank the sensitivity.

I had a loose set up when I first got it running; the pedals weren't really secured to the pad and the carpet was terrible so everything slid all over, however it played seemingly well. Today I threw a sticky rubber mat down and modified the kick pad stand so that the feet are taller, thus allowing me to securely clamp my pedal to the stand without wobling all over the place and it feels solid.

This is when it started acting up; the first thing I noticed was that hits were extremely soft unless I set things to "constant" and at least 50 Sensitivity. Now I'm not the fastest player out there by any means but my main gig is death metal so I'm usually playing around the 180-210 bpm range - that said there were missed notes galore. Quick triplet bursts were hit and miss on triggering a sample, and constant 32nds were missing notes - however beaters were definitely connecting to head.

I tried it on both my axis pedals and a set of iron cobras and both had the same issue.

Things I've tried:
- resetting ext trig settings
- resetting the module using exit and store method
- tightening the bass pad head
- checking the actual vibration trigger to make sure it's not damaged inside the pad
- messing with every single setting imaginable in the module itself

So, on my acoustic kit at my practice space, I trigger my bass drums with a dm5 no problemo. I know alesis can keep up because drummers WAY faster than me use them without issue.. on an acoustic kit.

So am I missing something? Do I have a bad pad? Does the dm10x just suck for extreme music? Is the kick pad designed for a double kick pedal?

I am very very close to reselling this thing and saying screw it, but I really want it to work. Any help would be great.

Offline Rmiller

Re: DM10x kick drum issues
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2016, 11:15:51 AM »
Had the exact same problem about 4 months ago. At first I thought it was the piezo, then I read somewhere to first try to restore the module to the factory settings and that did the trick. After the reset I had to go back and adjust all the triggers sensitivity and crosstalk settings to my liking.

Re: DM10x kick drum issues
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2016, 12:42:08 PM »
Yeah I tried both types of resets and neither worked. From what I've read with a few threads here it seems like the kick pads are just garbage. I'm going to try taping a pintech trigger to it for now.. triggering a trigger, heh.

Offline AlanK

Re: DM10x kick drum issues
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2016, 07:04:12 PM »
Take the cable out from the Kick input and plug it in a Tom input and tap/beat it and see if you get a good response, and/or try one of your tom cables in the kick input and bang on it and see if you get a response.. that way you'll be able to eliminate the pad/piezo and cable from the possible problems. When I had a similar situation it was one of the wires on the kick trigger that came loose and needed resoldering
DM10X with Addictive Drums 2, Pro X hi-hat, 4 crashes, foam cone conversion w Roland mesh heads, Laurin Drums snare and kick, Mapex P710W double kick pedal, Mapex 2 legged hi-hat, Behringer 8 channel USB mixer, Tascam 144MK AI, Samson Expedition Escape powered speakers

Re: DM10x kick drum issues
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2017, 09:20:02 PM »
Yeah I tried both types of resets and neither worked. From what I've read with a few threads here it seems like the kick pads are just garbage. I'm going to try taping a pintech trigger to it for now.. triggering a trigger, heh.

i'm having same issue, have you figured anything out?
DM10X kit, DW-3K double pedal, DW-3K tractor throne, 5AN VF sticks, Simmons DA200S, PS4 Gold headset.
Mods:
Remo silentstroke mesh conversion with 1/4" charcoal layer added on top of plates.
Sounds:
Bluejay in Module & EZdrummer 2 on laptop