alesis I/O

[419express]

Hello fellows,
I am brand new to the AtoE scene. I am currently debating weather to build my own megadrum kit, or to have one premade. till then to get started with set uo with triggers etc I am looking at a alesis I/O midi trigger unit. it is about 160.00 and I already have cakewalk with session drummer and access to just about any software. is this unit worth checking out to get started? Any direction is much appreciated. blessings

[Bean]

I bought a Alesis I/O midi trigger unit when it was a "new to the market product" and found that it performed rather will, well enough that I have kept it for future use on my daughters drums set: for that day when she allows me to make it into a edrum set.

I will give you forewarning, over time I found the versatility for what I desired to do was not to be found in the in any of the midi-trigger retail market equipment. I got a MegaDrum 56 kit from here as soon as the “kit’s” became available for the 56 input version and assure you that I would recommend it above all other products on the market. If you find what you desire to do with your edrum setup grows over time the MegaDrum had the versatility to grow with your needs.

If your willing to build your own edrum setup then I suspect you will be like most of us here and wish to avoid as many limitations in your arrangement as possible.

- Bean

[talrusher]

the trigger io is good. had it for a half year. now i have the megadrum32 and it is much better. the cost for it is only 200€ and dimitri will send it rdy to use for u.

[Chrisk23]

the trigger io is good. had it for a half year. now i have the megadrum32 and it is much better. the cost for it is only 200€ and dimitri will send it rdy to use for u.

Yep, same thing here (for me it was the 56 Input MegaDrum, built by Dimitri). I started with a cheap Millenium MPS-400 (also known as Medeli or fame) and upgraded it step by step, converted the rubber pads into DIY Meshheads etc. The Millenium Module was very limited and not quite up to the task, so i bought the Alesis Trigger I/O, which was much better with the mesh heads and it added additional ports for further expansion.
The Trigger I/O is indeed a good module, but it has it's limitations. For example it has only one port for dual zone cymbals but even with this port the (switch) edge trigger isn't touch sensitive (it's only on/off). The other ports do provide choke functionality for dual zone pads, but i never figured out how to configure this with the Trigger I/O and Superior Drummer - with the MegaDrum it just worked out of the box.
Today the MegaDrum module arrived and i just completed my first configuration session - my Roland Snare is too hot and needs a voltage divider, i think, but the rest works just great, and even after this short time of fine tuning my set has been catapulted in a completely different league compared to the Trigger I/O solution. Every single pad triggers much more accurate and the dynamic improved significantly. Thanks dimitri, MD is indeed some great piece of hardware and combined with professional drum sampling software like Superior Drummer or Addictive Drums it provides a perfect solution i won't even trade for a 1200€ Roland module