New VDrum owner questions

[JohnW]

Hi folks, I'm the happy new owner of a vdrum system and have a couple of questions.

I started with the td-8 studio system, and then added the CR ride cymbal (though I can't get the 3 zones with the td-8) and a pd120 for a snare. I'm about to pick up a pm-3 as a monitor today.

A few quick questions:
1. Most of the time I have the headphones cranked on high and I still wish they were louder. They're high quality headphones. Is there any easy way to up the output further to headphones? (I already have tinkered with upping the levels on MIXER and the high and low gain settings.

2. I've been pondering trading up to a td-10 with the expansion board (still have a lot of store credit from guitar stuff I traded in). What are the advantages of the td-10 aside from having more outputs and supporting the 3 zone ride?

I'm mostly playing jazz and swing/big band stuff, so any suggestions on settings, etc. to get as "accoustic-like" sound as possible are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
John

[ufotofu]

Most of your concerns have been discussed before -- try using the search function. Off the top of my head, I'd say keep your TD-8 (more bang for the buck), don't buy the PM-3 (get a Mackie SRM450 or JBL EON G2 instead), and I have no clue about the headphone volume (halfway is plenty for me). All IMO, of course.

[barrybonzo]

Some headphones (esp. the good ones used in studios, etc...) have a higher sensitivity level just like some great speakers, meaning that it takes more signal strenth to make them do what they do. I have read on this board about the AKG's (don't know model) that need more power since they are not as sensitive as other phones (but they are great headphones, just that if you use them with the module directly you will not get a loud enough result.

[Schmunk]

Yeah, the TD-8 headphone output is REALLY low output. I've now bought a little Behringer mixer (not just for this purpose) and I use the output socket from that. It's much, much louder.

Schmunk

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TD-8, Pintech pads, Pearl rack, PM-3, Behringer 802 mixer and DSP1400 UltraMizer

[Drummersdad]

Originally posted by JohnW:
Most of the time I have the headphones cranked on high and I still wish they were louder

John-
Two options I can think of.
1)If you are looking for an amp, find one like the KC500 where you can plug your TD8 into input 4 and route the output through the headphones alone - you get more gain that way, but a little more bkgnd noise when I tested it. Works fine and twice the gain of my TD-10 headphone jack when I tried it.
2)Better idea. Build a simple headphone amp like the one at the site noted below - probably $15 in parts: http://www.minidisc.org/headbanger.html
Use 1/4 inch plugs/jacks rather than the 1/8 inch specified. Also, no need to use a nicad battery and charger unless ,you also want to use it for a portable stereo too. A 9 volt DC wall wart from Radio Shack would probably do fine. You would NOT want the 330 ohm resistor but the 2 caps would still be a good idea to filter the DC as it reaches the circuit board. I believe that the 470uf cap is electrolytic with the (-) lead to ground, although that was left off the schematic (in error, I believe, but I'm not an engineer!). Good luck.