I just received this from Alesis:
EMPLOYEE
Bill R. (Employee) 1 hour ago
Hi Steve,
There are laws and regulations that allow us to sell different products overseas. My guess is that the reason why the physical knob was omitted from the non-US mesh pads was due to Roland's trademarks and patents on their mesh kits. I apologize for the confusion presented on our non-US websites, and I have made my web team aware of this issue for correction. Nonetheless, the physical sensitivity knob present on the US kits is strictly for fine-tuning. For the best performance out of your mesh heads, it's recommended your sensitivity adjustments are performed on the module, itself.
To adjust this setting, follow these steps:
From the main screen, press the EXT TRIG button.
Use the CURSOR buttons to highlight the Input field.Once the Input field is highlighted, use the VALUE/TEMPO dial to choose the trigger you want to adjust.(ie. If you would like to adjust the main head area of the snare drum, choose SnrHd. If you want to adjust the snare drum rim area, choose SnrRim, etc.)
Use the CURSOR buttons to highlight the Sensitivty field.
Use the VALUE/TEMPO dial to increase or decrease the sensitivity of the affected trigger.
Press the DRUM KIT button to return to the main screen.
I hope this clarifies things for you. If you have any additional questions, please let me know.
I am not happy, but at least they have admitted there was a clarity issue with their advertising. I have decided to buy a "Crimson" snare, which has the adjustment, and replace my "Studio" snare with it (I will use my Studio snare as an additional trigger).