Author Topic: DM10 pads: Cones back to foam  (Read 2502 times)

Offline Dobly

DM10 pads: Cones back to foam
« on: July 31, 2016, 08:11:29 PM »
After I made my shells deeper as seen in My DM Strike post

http://www.alesisdrummer.com/index.php?topic=6685.0

I tried out a cone method.



This worked ok but there were two problems.

The first was they were super bouncy. That might be good for some drummers but I am a pretty solid player. They are horrible to play and the sensitivity on them was down between 10 and 15.

The next problem was the hot spot. If i hit right on top of the little foam cones. Nuff said they had to go.

Here is one last shot of the setup. Kids, don't try this at home ;) It does not work on these pads.



The foam I got was they same type as the one Gerdy used in his post. That dark porous stuff they use in air con units or on speaker boxes.



The foam I got was 25mm (.98 inch). Gerdy used 2 x 5mm (10mm) on top. Mine is over twice as thick. We'll see how it goes..

The shells (especially on the 10" pad) was so deep I needed to stack up some foam under the plates.



Ideally I would have a single piece for form exactly right height. Here on the 12" pads I needed 4 circles of foam at 6mm (.2 inch) to raise the plate up.  The 10 pads got 5 circles of form under the plate.

Once I had this foam in, I put the shell back over the dropped in the black form on top.



All done they look like this.



The pads feel great to play. All the bounciness is gone they feel solid and ready to rock and roll.

Sensitivity on the other hand has gone from extreme to poor.

On every pad the sensitivity is 90+. It works like that, no dead spots. Not hot spots. Responsive. Perfect.

I would just rather not have the sensitivity wound up to over 90.

To fix this I have two options.

1. I could remove the resistor from the output jack.

2. I could buy thinner foam for the top and just prop up the plate with more disks for foam underneath.

Of these option 1 seems the most likely.

Thoughts? 

 




Re: DM10 pads: Cones back to foam
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2016, 08:38:15 PM »
What does the resistor look like?

Offline Dobly

Re: DM10 pads: Cones back to foam
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2016, 09:09:33 PM »
They are down behind the output jack on the pads. You can see then here in this image borrowed from member Trondster.



They reduce the output of the piezos in the pad.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2016, 10:29:38 PM by Dobly »

Offline Dobly

Re: DM10 pads: Cones back to foam
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2016, 09:11:46 PM »
These were required on the original DM10 pad design because the metal plate was so close to the drum head.

Now that my plate is down under an inch of foam I have to wind the sensitivity up to over 90. Not ideal.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2016, 10:30:22 PM by Dobly »

Offline Hellfire

Re: DM10 pads: Cones back to foam
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2016, 08:26:00 PM »
These were required on the original DM10 pad design because the metal plate was so close to the drum head.

Now that my plate is down under an inch of foam I have to wind the sensitivity up to over 90. Not ideal.

You are correct. That is the reason the resistors are removed once you do a mesh head conversion.

I thought is was interesting that you still tried a cone set-up. This is a big mistake IMHO when it comes to Alesis drum modules. I've said it once I've said it a hundred time, don't use the cone method on the DM10/8. It wasn't designed for it. Unfortunately everyone sees them on Roland drums and think that must be the way to go. Yes, if you have a Roland module, because Roland has their modules designed to handle the cone.

BTW, your kit looks great!

Offline Dobly

Re: DM10 pads: Cones back to foam
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2016, 10:19:34 PM »
Yeah, I had read it would not work.. But I had just raised the shell height and thought it simple enough exercise as I needed new foam anyway. I guess my post just reiterates that fact.

I'll whip the soldering iron out on the weekend.

Re: DM10 pads: Cones back to foam
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2016, 03:59:16 AM »
Can't wait to see/ hear how much your adjustments help... This is awesome info. Thank you for the image btw. Trodster is awesome too. You're  testing is helping me to know what I eventually may do. I hope I can inspire/ do what your doing for me, for somebody else. I know I really appreciate it!! Keep posting friends🙃

Offline Dobly

Re: DM10 pads: Cones back to foam
« Reply #7 on: August 08, 2016, 08:03:13 PM »
On the weekend I whipped out the soldering iron with the aim to remove the resistors.

(I wonder if my pads are still under warranty)   ;D
 

Removing the metal plate I could take out the jack plug thing.



There was no slack in there to work. Too tight for me. I am no ninja of the soldering iron but I get by.

Only one option. .

This was one of those "no turning back" moments.



Next had to remove the little circuit board. This took a little time. Patients is the key. Heat one up and lift it a little, then go to the other side and again, heat a little and lift. Work your way around.



I found that it was the base piezo that had the short lead. So extended those leads with some spare cable.

Finally, i soldered the wires straight on.



I cannot stress enough how handy that soldering arm thing is. I could not have done this without it.

The first drum took me about an hour. The next 4 got quicker and I got it down to about 30 minutes.

After I packed it all up I remembered something. My bass drum. D'oh!

I've only done a quick test  so far, but the sensitivity on the pad has gone from 90+ down to around 50.

Better. But is that enough? I'll have a go with setting them up like this. If I have problems I'll get thinner foam for the top.