It’s great to be here and have just picked up my Evans kit (with the cymbals) to use on my Sonor Vintage series (12, 14, 14, 20). I’m using single ply Remo silent stroke heads for now. I am having some issues that I think are faulty equipment related and the other(s) probably setting/mapping/learning the drums. The cymbals are flawless so far and very pleased. I am not new to e-drums as I’ve been playing a Roland VAD-503 for 5 years and also trigger on my acoustic kit to supplement live (ex. a Roland trigger on the bass and snare + a couple of the bar-type trigger around the kit). I’ve never had issues with these.
Here are the issues with the Evans/Sensory, any advice would be helpful.
One drum sensor, that I have on my 12” rack tom is clearly faulty. It only senses the rim zones at normal gain, to get it recognize anything from the center of the drum, I have to max out the gain (and then the rim clicks are incredibly loud). I swapped the sensor for the one on the floor tom and it was fine, so I know the “dot” sensor element is fine. I then tried swapping the cable just to make sure there wasn’t an issue there, nope. The drum sensor is faulty and needs to be replaced. This is the easy one, but a pain.
I think the portal interface has a grounding issue. Anytime I touch any of the cables within about 3-4 inches or closer to the interface, it triggers that sensor and sometimes the ones next to them….it’s like I am becoming the ground for the interface.
Training the snare has proven to be a pain in the….I spent about 2 hours on this one drum alone, over and over. For the life of me, I can’t get a smooth transition from the edge of the snare head to the center. Example, a buzz roll moving from outside to the inside/center, there is an abrupt change in the zones and it is unpredictable depending on which lug I am near. Then the cross sticks are also just mis-firing all the time. I have also tried different snare drum samples and every one of then seems to sound like a machine-gun when trying to do a buzz roll….it is unnerving. Any advice?
I would need to change the Evans dB one bass drum head or a 2-3 ply as the silent stroke is so bouncy no matter what I try, I just get double triggers with burying the beater. This is more a head issue as I can hear it acoustically as well. I have jammed it with pillows and foam against the head and it has helped a bit. This is not a Sensory issue, but advice would be appreciated.
I love the concept and really want this to work, but right now, with the clearly faulty drum sensor, a likely grounding issue on the interface, I am just about ready to pull the trigger on a return and call it a day. Any help to keep from going down this road would be great as I love the cymbal triggers and that has been the main reason I want to move here from Roland…I hate rubber cymbal pads. However, I need this to be utterly reliable and predictable if I am to keep this setup.
I can totally relate to point 2 (Interface sensitivity) and point 4.
The interface sensitivity is constant. Until I got a little tray for the portal to sit on, I changed most of my cables to some metal tipped TRS to see if I could get them to be less overreacting all the time. I damaged the included cable almost immediately and then ordered a bunch of spares so I could keep working. I am not presently experiencing the problem any more, but I am also not needing to adjust my cables. Seems like they can make loud triggers if you stare at them too long!
I just remembered I also had a bad sensor from Amazon that I had to switch out like you described. Tested it the same method and just had to exchange it out.
For point 4 (bass drum)
I agree with loading it with every pillow blanket and foam padding I could cram in there. I was using Evans db0 and had to change it out to db1 with the extra foam around the batter head. Seemed like a waste, but it helped. I use the Evans double kick circles, but they are getting worn, I am entering my 3rd year or so with sensory percussion. Adjusted tension to medium tuning, even tried turning my beaters around. I think I get the most bounce when I get too relaxed and treat it more like an acoustic head. I just try to keep in mind to play it like it is its own instrument. But you are correct, I am not sure what else I can do to stop it from bouncing like it does.
You may have a ground loop that is creating electromagnetic interference. If you have interconnected pieces of equipment that are using different electrical receptacles on the same (or different)circuits, then you can inadvertently turn your entire setup into an antenna that is really sensitive to EM interference. Try getting your full setup on a single receptacle. You can also try the following:
-install ferrite collars
-purchase a Furman power cleaner, and plug your SP interface to it (but keep it separate from any devices that could create EM interference, such as a monitor.
-check if any other equipment in your house or apartment is creating the issue. FOr example, when my washing machine is on the spin cycle, the motor generates enough EM interference that I get false hits on some cymbals. Annoying, but now that I know the source, I can manage it.
For your #3, there are setting in the software that allow you create blends between zones. The software is by default set to 0%, but you can add the zone blending to get the smoother transition you are looking for.
One final piece of advice, that I haven’t seen anywhere else, but that I discovered the hard way: don’t leave your interface turned on all the time, while not in use. I’m not sure why, but I get better playability and software performance when I turn it on only for a session. Maybe it gets overloaded or overheated or something, but I have found this to make a big difference.
I also had faulty sensor, and Sunhouse replaced it quickly.
It’s an amazing system, but I agree it takes some learning because it is so complex and sensitive.
Oh, and for the bass drum, I don’t use a sensor. I just use a microphone at close range, and I trained it as a single-zone sensor. It works perfectly now that I have gotten the gain levels right, and it allows me to use the SP system effectively as an 8-input interface. I added some of the woven Evans sticky pads to my dbOne bass head, and I don’t have any issues with bounciness.
On the snare issue, are you using a metal snare by chance? Not sure if true but I heard someone mention triggering on those is difficult and once they swapped it out for a wooden snare it was all resolved.