Kick-trigger issue

[Ultrafop]

Hey all, first post!

I've been lurking here for awhile and just purchased a DM10 Studio. Everything on the kit work really well besides my kick-pad. When I first received the unit I couldn't get the thing to work on anything besides the clav kit and others without a "real" sounding kick drum. I fiddled around and boosted the sensitivity but that doesn't seem to work very well. I'm coming down on this thing really hard to get a loud kick sound and the readout isn't displaying much from me when I hit at my normal volume.
I've been playing for 17 years and I'm a pretty heavy hitting guy so I'm super surprised (plus I've played my friend's edrums and never had this issue). What can I do?

P.S Should my Kick2 be registering anything, because it's effectively dead.

Thank for the help in advance!

[FreddieVegas]

I think i have the same problem, i get sound from my Kick with fks "019: RockerJam" the sound of a guitar...
I have no clue!

Help us! 

[Trondster]

Press the Ext Trigger button and choose the Kick. Check how the volume meter moves when you hit the kick. Does it max out easily?

Try another beater, and try positioning the beater a bit differently on the pad.


That said - try opening the pad - it might be a broken wire...

[FreddieVegas]

The volume meter moves, max out!
3 different beaters.. will try to move the beater.

Did just open the front(head) of the kick pad... but it looked ok.. will open the backside!

[Trondster]

If the volume meter easily maxes out it is probably your sound system or headphones. (Cheap audio systems don't work very well with proper audio gear like an e-drum set.)

[FreddieVegas]

must be.. i just try with a dm6 kick pad, and it was the same..


it was the head phones... ill go hide now! 

[Trondster]

What kind of audio system are you using? Try a proper set of headphones, connected to the headphone jack of the module.

[FreddieVegas]

What kind of audio system are you using? Try a proper set of headphones, connected to the headphone jack of the module.

I have Beyerdynamic Custom One, but after your post i did try a AKG set and it worked!
This was so embarrassing... i have worked several hours to fix this.. i have opened the kickpad, updated the module... and now i smell like a cow!

Thanks for your input!

[Ultrafop]

I opened my pad up and everything appears alright. I 've been fiddling with the ext. trig setting for days now and there's no help for me there. I noticed that the input was pretty minimal when I would strike the pad. After investigating some more I found that I could alter dynamic velocity and when I turned that down from 90 to - let's say - thirty, my kick came through fine. I thought all was well in the world for a few hours. Now, without altering my kick settings the thing is triggering when I hit *nothing* on the set. I adjust the ext. trig settings and nothing helps aside from turning sensitivity completely off, rendering the kit useless. I've already e-mailed and called Alesis. Anyone know how their customer service/warranty support is?

I'm pretty sure there has to be a problem with the head, since I tried plugging a different one into the port and it works fine when I strike it.

I'm pretty let down right now. I just got back from Guitar Center and got a rocking fix in on a Roland kit.

All this being said, if anyone knows how to approach and fix this problem, your help would be SO appreciated! Thanks to everyone who's already replied!!

Also, I'm using Vic Firth isolator/speaker phones. I've found that iphone 5 headphones also work just fine with the kit to get the bass drum as well. I'm using a Pearl Eliminator dual kick pedal.

[Trondster]

What are your trigger settings for your kick?

You might have a too low threshold.

The kick pad may be defective too - if so it may be a loose wire on the piezo. New piezos are cheap on eBay.

[Ultrafop]

I've tried moving the threshold around all over so I don't really have a set setting right now. Suffice it to say that I have boosted it up WAY more than it used to be and WAY more than anything else on the kit (which is funny considering that it isn't even attached to the rack) and it makes little difference. If I stop it from triggering on it's own it triggers a bunch when I hit it and then more again when it isn't being struck. I tried adjusting threshold and retrig in tandem but that didn't help.

If it's defective, which is sort of what I think at this point, how is Alesis' warranty support? I'm not bothering fixing the pad myself - I'd rather return or exchange the unit if Alesis won't help me.

[Trondster]

I have Beyerdynamic Custom One, but after your post i did try a AKG set and it worked!
This was so embarrassing... i have worked several hours to fix this.. i have opened the kickpad, updated the module... and now i smell like a cow!

But now you get the deep, powerful "smell" you were looking for, right?


"Smell" - means "loud bang" in Norwegian.

[Trondster]

Ultrafop - please give us the trigger settings for your kick.


But - if you get different performance from your pad when plugging in another pad instead of your kick then something is wrong.
What happens if you plug in the kick as your snare and hit it with drum sticks?

[FreddieVegas]

I have Beyerdynamic Custom One, but after your post i did try a AKG set and it worked!
This was so embarrassing... i have worked several hours to fix this.. i have opened the kickpad, updated the module... and now i smell like a cow!

But now you get the deep, powerful "smell" you were looking for, right?


"Smell" - means "loud bang" in Norwegian.

Yes.. Smell is Loud bang Kartoffel is Potato, kneppe isnt.. XD

[Ultrafop]

Ultrafop - please give us the trigger settings for your kick.


But - if you get different performance from your pad when plugging in another pad instead of your kick then something is wrong.
What happens if you plug in the kick as your snare and hit it with drum sticks?

Sorry guys; I returned the kit. I tried e-mailing twice and calling once since the 9th and they only ever got back to me last Wednesday. I don't want to keep a product from a company with such poor support for it. I'm just going to keep saving and get something that works better out of the box and is supported better.

To answer your question though, the thing doesn't trigger when hit with sticks on a different port - same issues happened.

[Trondster]

It was probably a bad piezo or a broken wire, then.

[Ultrafop]

It was probably a bad piezo or a broken wire, then.

:/ That's what I'm thinking was happening. Thank you very much for continuing to follow up!