DTX-502 vs Megadrum

[ludwigite]

I'm doing an A2E conversion, DIY'ing my triggers. Planning on the golf ball / crossbar for my drums and triggered real cymbals muted with pintechs underneath.

I've always been into DIY, but the DTX-502 makes this a hard sell for me. I'm running Linux, I've heard AD works under Wine, but I'd still rather not NEED a PC to make noise. That alone is a pretty big selling point, but what about the hats and snare? I l think I really want a CC hat, I'm a beginner, and quite frankly e-hats have a thing about sounding good even if your playing sucks. I don't want to spend a bunch of time building non-transferrable skills. Also, I read something about the 502 only supporting single zone snare, but the docs indicate it's a 3-zone.

Anyone want to try to talk me out of the 502? Is it class compliant? (IE, will it work in Linux as a MIDI controller?)

[perceval]

502 and megaDrum, different beast! Like you mentioned, 502 has on board sounds, Mega is VST only, but offers loads more inputs.

Search to forum a bit, you will see that since the snare input is piezo-switch-switch, most plug the snare into a tom input, which is a piezo-piezo input.
You could make a piezo-switch snare, I have one and it works well. Both options giving you head and rim/crossticks.

HH pedal, I have a FSR controller that works very well. Easy enough for simple DIY skills. You'll need a few resistors and diodes.

[Kabonfaiba]

Difficult choice...

and different directions to achieve sound!

I would add 2box and Roland TD-15 as options, If your budget allows.

You would prefer not to use a PC but you wish to have CC Hihat? - what about a Roland TD-15?

No PC required (for playing) but no CC Hihat input? 2box would be a much better sounding module than the DTX-502

Megadrum works on Linux (Java app) and supports all wiring types, has more features and inputs, but requires a PC.

DTX-502 is MIDI 1.0 standard compliance. Midi over USB, likewise for Megadrum.

[ThePod]

I was not able to get AD to successfully install under linux using wine in KX studio(ubuntu linux). In older versions of AD this was possible, but with the new online installer I was unsuccessful in doing so and did not find anyone online who had much success. There are no commercial VSTs that I am aware of that run natively under linux. DrumGizmo has some potential but is early in its implementation and requires at least 4 megs due to the size of its drum sounds, although you could make a lighter kit for it as it is open source!
For ease of use and good sounds out of the box and price point you can't go wrong with the 502. If you want flexibility and expandability go with Megadrum but you'll struggle to have it make sounds due to lack of VSTs for linux

[ludwigite]

Thanks. Those are interesting but several times more expensive. I guess Megadrum is looking more appealing. I can probably piece together an SSD based vst host for incidental parts. Right now its unused in a 4u rack. The Yamaha was really interesting with that feature set and price point. Still is. Especially if I'm going to be fighting my PC for sounds.

[Intruder]

I hear you have to plan on spending 80% of your time programming and 20% drumming when first starting out with the mega drum interface. YMMV.

[jpsquared482]

DTX502 or a Roland TD11 is a good choice to trigger VSTs at low cost and easy setup as long as input # isn't a big issue.