www.megadrum.info

Hi to All .
Been reading more and more of this forum and it's really concerning that since 2009 so very few people have shared their settings on MD ... Now the question is if they have all given up and flogged the MD or is it even possible to get this
unit to work and operate properly?
Most comments I see are very similar to mine. Days and days and weeks and months of tweaking and thinking but not much success at all....
So does the unit work as it is intended for a drummer or is it just DIY project for kids ?
Can someone please tell us all here if it's possible at all to program the MD to act like a branded trigger equipment?
I can understand that MD is more wallet friendly and cheaper than say Roland or Yamaha but if it isn't working good enough so it can be used for actual recording or session then I guess there is no point in buying the MD at all ...
Or am I wrong ?
Any of you brains out there use this live ? Or for recording? Or is it just good enough for bedroom and practice?
Please share your thoughts guys.
Regards

Metal

I want to love the MD ..... But MD hates me.....

I think the reason that few people have shared their settings is because they're not really that useful for others. The parameters cover such a wide range of trigger behaviours that specific settings that work for me will probably not work for you.

Metalal5150 wrote:So does the unit work as it is intended for a drummer or is it just DIY project for kids ?
Can someone please tell us all here if it's possible at all to program the MD to act like a branded trigger equipment?

Yes, it's perfectly possible. Admittedly, it's quite a bit more work to get it triggering nicely than with a branded module, but as with any product, the people who can't get it to work for them are more likely to write posts complaining about it than those satisfied with it.

I've been using it since 2007 with DIY pads and have had my struggles from time to time (mostly related to the DIY nature of the pads), but in terms of triggering, it works great.

Thank you brother.
I shall not give up I shall slay the beast !

Still working hard and brain hurts like fuck but i can see some light at the end of the tunnel .... ( hope its not a fucking train....... )

Thank you !

Regards

Metalal


I want to love MD.... But MD hates me .....

I am a sound engineer, and it took me a full week to have every single pad in my drumkit to play as intended.

My suggestions for you to better dial down on your triggers is as follows:

Focus on the gain, high level and retrigger mask. Usually people have a tendency to have high level too high and triggering isn't optimal, leading to very low signal outputs.

Once you have those out of the way, you can try and balance them out with threshold and curve. Perhaps even Level Shift if the signal is still too low.

Regarding MIDI maps, my advice is to either stick to a default map (like Superior Drummer, I shared a MIDI map for my settings on the forum), or use one from a famous drum module (Like Roland TD30) as a reference to set the notes, in case you jump around several VSTi's.

And one thing to keep in mind: Work each pad individually. Once you have that pad working as intended, jump to the next. It gets easier as time goes by because you then have solid bases and references to work on the module.

One thing that helps is you doing your tweaks while your VSTi is running, so that you can ear the diferences. Also, working on the module for minor tweaks can really help you. Navigation on the module is... cumbersome, but it is worth it if you want to be seated on the kit and dial down your pads on the go.

My experiance with MD is 100% positive
I moved to MD since I needed to expand my old set with toms and cymbal
Here is my "beast" with MD: 6 crash (Thoman), ride (Yamaha), kik & HH (still Thomann), DIY snare, 8 tom (6 Thoman 2 Alesis)
[img][/img]

All kit pass through AD2 Vst, all slots are full.

I started to work slowly on the configuration "offline" while still using my old Thoman kit: it was may-june past year, then I moved 100% to MD on December, when all the kit works properly: it was a long and "hard" work, no excuses...
Since December my experiance is completely positive without any problem with MD. I'm 80-90% satisfied with the configuration of my kit: I still have to improve some cymbal playability, and the snare sensibility, just for the rolls.

Still no live experiance: we're rehearsaling so to be ready for a gig within the end of the year, but MD will be my gear.

So my experiance is... yes it works! No, it works wery well! Better: I do not see the point to consider famous branded trigger equipment while you can have MD.
The point with MD is that his major advantage is also his limitation: you can plug in MD any gear: you'll find the way to play it in the best way, in some cases this is an hard road but, no other branded equipment can offer this possibility.

Sharing the all configuration is a nonsense, as each kit is different and even the same cymbal or tom model, can have different performance, so you'll need to adjust the configuration.

Stay strong with Mega Drum!

Hi guys and thanks for the reply.

Yes I can see where you're coming from. Different pads and cymbals and kick drum and pedals.
All different will obviously need a different settings and we're talking a fine tuning here for each item.
I have been struggling with this unit I have to be honest but I am back at work now and don't have so much time
For it anymore but some help allowed me to actually understand and play with this unit a little.
It's a long learning process I must say but I think that once you have the basic understanding of how this unit works it can indeed be a rather powerful module.yes not as flashy some other things out there but if you want many ins and outs you can't go wrong with this module.
And by the way! Fantastic kit you got there !!! Love it !!