Pads way too hot?

[samwer]

Attaching two screenshots, in the first I let the stick fall and bounce from maybe 10-15 cm above the pad. It seems like it works as it should to me, I guess the velocities would have been slightly lower if the dynamic range had been higher.

In the second screenshot, I hit the snare three times lightly (tapping it basically), the next three are regular hits like I'd play in the verse of a song, and the last three are all-out murder hits. For the first three hits I mostly agree with the velocity generated for them, somewhere around 10-20 seems right for those hits. The next three should have been maybe 70-80 velocity if measured properly. The last three should be 127. One interesting thing is that all but one of the last six hits landed on 126 instead of 127, it seems like there are small fluctuations in the signals from the pad since the medium hits that registered 126 and the hard hits that did the same were miles apart in force, and there was no real difference in force between the last three hits. I guess that's all proof that the high level was set like it should, though, and that there was no clipping from an incorrect high level.

Also, can you make a cable with a 10k-30k resistor inline on the tip wire?

No, I have no idea how to do that. I have a soldering iron but no resistors laying around and I'd probably just damage something if I tried it, honestly.

[dmitri]

Ok, I see. Set the settings again the same as from the last screenshot but set Curve to Exp1Custom6. After that please take screenshots of MIDI Log/Visual MIDI after:
1. a few very light hits.
2. a few medium hits.
3. a few strong hits.
4. a few free bouncing stick

[samwer]

It's exactly the same except for slightly lower values for the hits below 126 velocity.

[dmitri]

Ok, that means that either HighLevel is set too low or your Exp1Custom6 Curve is not the default Exp1Custom6 from the module.
Take the screenshot of settings showing both pads settings and the Exp1Custom6 Curve in the 'Pads Extra Settings'.

[samwer]

Ok, that means that either HighLevel is set too low or your Exp1Custom6 Curve is not the default Exp1Custom6 from the module.

It really doesn't, though. I haven't touched any of the default curves (as you can see I even closed that panel as I'm not touching any of that stuff until the pads stop clipping) and if I set the high level to for example 500, all that changes is that the velocity range is wrong and maxes out at 63 instead of 127.

It seems to me that the only thing that can cause this is that when the initial signals from the pad reach the MegaDrum, they clip because the inputs are too sensitive, so when the module interprets the input it receives and converts it to velocity, most of the dynamic range of the sound source has already been removed which means that the values can't represent the actual input like they should. Unless there's some gain setting (apart from the obvious one) or other special button that I've missed, it seems like this won't work unless I solder resistors into the module which is something I hoped to avoid by buying the module ready-built.

Take the screenshot of settings showing both pads settings and the Exp1Custom6 Curve in the 'Pads Extra Settings'.

I can take a screenshot when I get home, but it's pointless since I've already tested all of this in my own troubleshooting to no avail, so I already know that the result is as described in the beginning of this post.

[dmitri]

Take the screenshot of settings showing both pads settings and the Exp1Custom6 Curve in the 'Pads Extra Settings'.

I can take a screenshot when I get home, but it's pointless since I've already tested all of this in my own troubleshooting to no avail, so I already know that the result is as described in the beginning of this post.

I'm a bit confused, if you know the results already, I'm not really sure what to suggest.
Also, please disable 'Alt Sampling Alg' if you still think I may suggest anything useful.

[samwer]

I'm a bit confused, if you know the results already, I'm not really sure what to suggest.

Sorry if I was rude but I was hoping that as you are the one who's built both the software and hardware, you'd be able to suggest something more than adjusting the gain and high level, since I've been saying since the very first post that I've already tried things like increasing the high level and reducing the gain. You have vastly more knowledge about the MegaDrum than I do and that's why I was hoping for more advanced troubleshooting and advice than that. Advice that would be helpful would for example be:

• Do you have any input on my theory about the incoming signals being clipped?
• Is adding resistors going to reduce the amplitude of the incoming signal, if that is indeed the problem?
• If I am to solder on a resistor, could you point me to the relevant schematic and maybe provide any more newbie-friendly insight into where the resistor goes (like pictures)? I'm not sure which schematic I should be looking at or what part does what.
• Have you seen this problem before, perhaps specifically with Roland pads?
• Have you seen Roland mesh pads working well with MegaDrum before?
• Are there any other possible sources of errors, are certain kinds of cables not recommended for example?

I appreciate how people have been taking the time to suggest solutions for my issues, but so far all the suggestions have been things that I tried within 10 minutes of first receiving the module and reading the documentation on my own.

Also, please disable 'Alt Sampling Alg' if you still think I may suggest anything useful.

Having it enabled helps to reduce false triggering and has enabled me to lower the threshold, but it has had no noticeable effect on the gain or maximum dynamics.

I am attaching a screenshot of nine hits (three light, three regular, three hard) with the exponential curve and a doubled high level. As you can see it doesn't make any difference other than moving the velocity limit down to the wrong level.

[dmitri]

I'm trying to figure out what the cause of the problem to be able to make proper suggestions and I'm doing it the best way I know of. I'm sorry if it's not good enough. I'm also very sorry that I don't have a magic setting/button 'fix everything'.
I've done testing with Roland PD-125X (and several others mesh type brands) and don't remember seeing 'clipping' problem.
Can I ask you to test the pad on any input without the Positional sensing addon, i.e. on any input except 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12?
Also, for the rest of the tests, can you please disable 'Alt Sampling Alg' (it is still seems to be enabled in the last screenshot although I'm not sure since labels in blue means settings may not be in sync between MDMFX and MegaDrum)?

[samwer]

I'm trying to figure out what the cause of the problem to be able to make proper suggestions and I'm doing it the best way I know of. I'm sorry if it's not good enough. I'm also very sorry that I don't have a magic setting/button 'fix everything'.

I'm not critiquing your will to help out, I'm just saying that the troubleshooting steps we've gone through were already addressed in the first post and the few replies from other users after that. It is frustrating when I ask questions and provide examples that show that I have been investigating the issue thoroughly (like comparing the pad's signal via my sound card vs. MegaDrum) and ask questions and pose theories about the lower level workings of the module only to get something like "have you tried increasing the high level?" as an answer despite already having said that I'd tried that, while having other questions and theories left unanswered as if they weren't noted. As I said, I appreciate the help, but when no progress is made and the same questions are posed again and again it starts to feel like an uphill battle.

Can I ask you to test the pad on any input without the Positional sensing addon, i.e. on any input except 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12?

I'm attaching a screenshot of this, it made the problem much worse, you can see the high level is much higher at gain 0 and I had trouble getting hits to register below 50 velocity even when playing lightly.

Also, for the rest of the tests, can you please disable 'Alt Sampling Alg' (it is still seems to be enabled in the last screenshot although I'm not sure since labels in blue means settings may not be in sync between MDMFX and MegaDrum)?

I have disabled it now but it makes no difference in regards to the issue I'm experiencing. All disabling it does is to make it much harder to eliminate false triggers. The Alt Sampling Alg just seems to make the whole module work better.

[dmitri]

Please plug it back into the Snare jack (input 4) and:
1. Enable HighLevelAuto. Set Gain to 4, Threshold to 30, MinScan to 60.
2. Set HighLevel to 64. Hit the pad lightly a dozen times. What HighLevel do you get after that?
3. Set HighLevel back to 64. Hit the pad with medium strength a dozen times. What HighLevel do you get after that?
4. Set HighLevel back to 64. Hit the pad with max strength a dozen times. What HighLevel do you get after that?