Roland KD-120 Kick Sensitivity Problem

[mdefiore]

Hi everyone,

My Roland KD-120 is giving me big problems.

I can't get the pad sensitive enough without getting false triggering (without even touching the pad).

Threshold =11...anything below it, and the false triggering happens.
Gain =0
HighLevel=68 (set using AutoHiLevel procedure).
Latency=tried everything from 10 to 40
Minscan=tried everything from 20 to 70 (70 worked best)
Dynscan=2
Dynlevel=4
Retrigger=1
Tried setting all gains low....did not work.

I have a TD-30 module I'm comparing the Kick to, and I can't get the MD to even come close to the sensitivity of the TD-30.

Any ideas? Is it "wishful thinking" expecting the MD to have the same level of pad performance as the TD-30?

Many thanks,
Mike

[dmitri]

1. As far as I can see, you did something wrong connecting the pad. HighLevel using AutoHiLevel procedure surely must be considerably higher.
2. Why did you set Gain to 0 and at the same time lowered Threshold to 11?
3. What do you mean by 'false triggering'?
4. Why did you lower DynTime and DynLevel?

[airflamesred]

Is it "wishful thinking" expecting the MD to have the same level of pad performance as the TD-30?
Many thanks,
Mike

No, Mike, it is not wishful thinking.

As Dmitri sais, there is an issue with that high level. I would try setting that again (from MD not MDM)

[mdefiore]

Thanks Dmitri....see below for answers:

1. As far as I can see, you did something wrong connecting the pad. HighLevel using AutoHiLevel procedure surely must be considerably higher.

The KD-120 peizo is located about 4 inches away from the beater, which I thought was causing the low Highlevel setting. If I really slam the pedal when setting AutoHighLevel, much, much harder than I play normally (standing up and hitting it with all my weight on the pedal), then I get a 274 high level. If I hit it as hard as I normally do when I play (when setting (AutoHighLevel), then I get a HighLevel below 70. With a HighLevel of 274, I can't get midi velocity note of 127 when playing normally.

2. What do you mean by 'false triggering'?

The pad will generate notes by itself without my touching the pad.

3. Why did you set Gain to 0 and at the same time lowered Threshold to 11?

I noticed a relationship between Threshold and Gain. Higher gain settings would require me to set higher Threshold levels to avoid false triggering. Setting Gain=4 caused false triggering to happen at Threshold 16. With Gain=0, I could lower Threshold to 11.

4. Why did you lower DynTime and DynLevel?

Part of my pad setup procedure is lowering DynTime and DynLevel as low as possible until I get multiple midi notes from a single hit, then raising both until 1 pad hit = 1 midi note generated.

[dmitri]

1. Set Gain to 4 (default) and Threshold to 30 (default). Repeat AutoHiLevel procedure. What HighLevel do you get?
2. Set HiLvlAuto to No and HighLevel to the value you got with AutoHiLevel procedure.
3. What is the problem with sensitivity/triggering now?

[mdefiore]

airflamesred, thanks for the suggestion. I went back and changed the HighLevel directly in MD. Higher levels made no difference to the lack sensitivity, but it did make it much harder to get 127 midi note velocities.

This KD-120 pad is based pd-120 snare, which I did set up on MD successfully. The pd-120 had Highlevel 856, Gain 4, Threshold 4. If I use those settings for the KD-120, then it is impossible to get midi velocities more than 25.

[dmitri]

Btw, if your MegaDrum is with the Positional sensing addon then settings on the inputs 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 will differ noticeably from all other inputs even with the same pad. In particular, you cannot set Threshold as low on regular inputs as on the inputs with the Positional sensing addon.

[airflamesred]

Well the only thing I can say is that there is a problem with the Piezo it's self. With a high level of 70 I can see no other answer.

[mdefiore]

Dmitri, thanks heads up on the positional sensing: noted.

1. Set Gain to 4 (default) and Threshold to 30 (default). Repeat AutoHiLevel procedure. What HighLevel do you get?

New HighLevel = 65

2. Set HiLvlAuto to No and HighLevel to the value you got with AutoHiLevel procedure.

After AutoHighLevel procedure, I pressed "Get" from MDM, unchecked "HighLevelAuto", and clicked "Send".

3. What is the problem with sensitivity/triggering now?

Much worse these settings (this is why i reduced Threshold so low...it was the only way I could get workable sensitivity out of the pad).

[mdefiore]

Well the only thing I can say is that there is a problem with the Piezo it's self. With a high level of 70 I can see no other answer.

I have another KD-120....I'll try that one. I'm thinking since this problem KD-120 works find with the TD-30, its' not the peizo, but I'll give it a shot!

Just tried it: same problem with the other KD-120.