TD-17 Discussion Topic

[dragonfly66]

Thanks!

[dragonfly66]

So, I ordered a female drumsplitter.com cable and some more Roland cables and will end up splitting Tom1 and use that split for Tom1 and Tom2. I'll take the open Tom2 input and use it for an extra PDX-8 I have on hand. I'll use the AUX to have a fully functional cymbal - CY-8 already have on hand. I could split one more tom and add one more full working cymbal, but I'm not sure I have room on the rack for that. I really like this kit. I know there is no midi in/percussion set but I'm good with it since I'm a beginner drummer and relatively new to eDrums. The expandability with just the kit itself is enough for me.

[JmanWord]

So, I ordered a female drumsplitter.com cable and some more Roland cables and will end up splitting Tom1 and use that split for Tom1 and Tom2. I'll take the open Tom2 input and use it for an extra PDX-8 I have on hand. I'll use the AUX to have a fully functional cymbal - CY-8 already have on hand. I could split one more tom and add one more full working cymbal, but I'm not sure I have room on the rack for that. I really like this kit. I know there is no midi in/percussion set but I'm good with it since I'm a beginner drummer and relatively new to eDrums. The expandability with just the kit itself is enough for me.

Just be aware there are limitations to how the splitters perform. Personally I would usually avoid splitting an input and put 2 toms on it. I would put a tom on head, cowbell, splash, china, cowbell, etc. as the rim. You can read about the limitations in the thread. https://www.vdrums.com/forum/advance...x-tom-splitter

[dragonfly66]

So my little dreams are crushed with this revelation. Here is the info from the thread, see the lines in red.

How I adjust the settings... Start with PD-125 for the pad type. For TD-50 use PDX-8 as the pad type: I haven't tried the splitter with the TD-30, but with the TD-50 you must use PDX-8 as the pad type. Work on the pad of the splitter which is triggering the Head of the input first... Always set your head settings first on Dual Piezo pads... because the rim gain is affected by the basic sensitivity set on your head.

BASICS
Starting with the pad connected to the Head side of the splitter.

Sensitivity: Set the Sensitivity so that your hardest hits (or I like to make it my Almost Hardest Hits) Peak the velocity meter...If you peak your velocity meter on every average hit... lower the sensitivity... that is where your dynamics come in.

Threshold: Then check your Threshold... very lightly play the head... set the threshold up a little at a time until your lightest hits(like you would hit a light drum roll) No Longer are sensed... Now Lower the threshold just enough so that your lightest hits are sensed... That helps to keep your drum sensitive... but less subject to false triggering or crosstalk. On a snare that is not attached to the rack, I usually set the threshold to 0 or 2... higher on toms.

ADVANCED Trigger settings
Now...Rimshot Adjust and Rim Gain are your key adjustments for the pad connected to the Rim side of the splitter

Rimshot Adjust: If you set Rimshot, adjust to 0 you will find that you get no rim sound... if you hit the rim pad it will trigger the head sound... Raise the rimshot, adjust all the way up and you will get an inconsistent response on the Head pad... Somewhere between 1.5 and 4 will give you the right response on most pads... The most important thing is to get Only head sounds whenever you hit the head pad and only rim sounds when striking the rim pad... Find the best result for your rim by raising rimshot, adjust from 0 until your rim pad response is sufficient without triggering head sounds.

Head/Rim Adjust
On Newer Modules Like the TD-30 and TD-50 the setting for adjusting the Rimshot vs Head is called Head/Rim Adjust. This is the setting you would be adjusting to get the proper response for the two pads connected to the splitter. It is different than explained for Rimshot Adjust .... basically Opposite: The Higher the Value the lower the sensitivity of the pad connected to the Rim Side. So you will need to adjust this so you get the correct response from both pads. If you are getting intermittent Rim pad sounds when striking the Head pad raise the value. If you are getting Head sounds when playing the Rim pad lower the value.

Rim Gain: This is similar to the Sensitivity setting. On the Rim pad... Adjust the Rim Gain so that the pad's velocity works similar to the head pad. Your hardest or harder hits should just peak the velocity meter.

OK now ... if necessary ... fine tuning the head pad response...

Scan time ... this should be raised from factory default if the head pad response is inconsistent on equal velocity hits ... If you hit it at the same velocity several times and the velocity meter is all over the place ... loud one hit, soft the next.... raise the scan time.

Retrig Cancel and Mask time... raise these if a single strike produces double triggering. Mask Time is most useful for Kick triggers. Not only can you control errant double triggering this way.... mask time can be used on the kick drum to correct extra unintentional beater bounce.

Now that we have the settings down... a little comment...

The rim pad is not going to respond as well as the head pad... just the nature of the beast .. The splitter is very useful for obtaining your objective... Adding that one extra sound when your inputs are full!!! Certain things are just a better use... for example Splash cymbals, Chinas, Crashes, Cowbells... Things that you will normally be hitting and not doing intricate Rolls on... I have my 4 Lectrobans split this way... but the rim pads are not quite as perfect on buzz rolls... I know it... don't expect it... and don't use em that way...

So it sounds like I'll be using Aux to add Tom3. Splitting Tom1 and using the Rim as another crash/china/splash/cowbell. Maybe splitting Tom2 (if the first split works out) to get one other crash/china/splash/cowbell. The rack is done after that. That's two extra hit sounds and an extra tom. I'm ok with that.

[holdnon72]

I finally got to try a TD-17 out at guitar center. Did factory reset before I got started. My 1st impression was... I did not like the lay out of the module controls. The buttons also felt very flimsy and did not seem built nearly as well as my old td-9. Im definitely worried about the longevity of the 17 module, It just feels like its controls could wear out or break easily.
As far as the sounds I should have brought my own headphones. It was very hard to hear the kit withvthe cheap non isolated headphones that the store had. Im really pushing towards the td-15 now. I wasnt super impressed with the sounds in the 17 but I may have to go back again with my own headphones before making my mind up. Am I crazy here? Does anybody else think the 17 module controls feel poorly made? Am I nuts to spend $400 on a used td15 over a brand new td17 for $529? Thanks for any help

[gubu]

No, you are not crazy, the TD-15 is worth 400$

[Chris K]

The snare on Td15 are not that good, most of them are lower tuned. I still have it and td17 have more potential, the wav imported and layering internal sound, there is much more potential than td15 for expanding the sound.

Concerning cheap made, I don't think they will release something that will broke and get stuck with tons of return and supports cost, at this price and rate of sales, it's likely not.

I would take td17 over td15.

[mc_deli]

Thanks for the quick answer, but that link is to the DIY of the same thing that drumsplitter.com makes, which they said doesn't work on the TD-17. Has anyone confirmed the drumsplitter cable works with the TD-17?

Drumsplitter haven't tested the TD17
But there are other posts on this forum saying it works
I just ordered

[mc_deli]

So my little dreams are crushed with this revelation. Here is the info from the thread, see the lines in red.

So it sounds like I'll be using Aux to add Tom3. Splitting Tom1 and using the Rim as another crash/china/splash/cowbell. Maybe splitting Tom2 (if the first split works out) to get one other crash/china/splash/cowbell. The rack is done after that. That's two extra hit sounds and an extra tom. I'm ok with that.

I am in a similar boat... I have the KVX and want the 4th tom... so buying a PDX-8 would be obvious... and I could get another crash/china.

I am also thinking about getting the PDX-12 for a floor tom... as it's only 20 bucks more... but to end up with 2 PDX-12s as floor toms, question, is there an upgrade path with the snare, I don't see a TD17 compatible option?

Any other thoughts on rounding out the KVX with 2 splitters and 300 bucks?

[dragonfly66]

I ended up selling my old TD-4SX for parts and got a good chunk of change that allowed me to get the CY-15/R and a PDX-12 to be Tom 3 (selling the extra PDX-8 instead of having a 4th Tom). I am also splitting Tom 1 and Tom 2 and adding a Dual Cowpaddy to have a cowbell and some other percussion instrument available. So my current setup is below. The only weird thing that is happening is that the CY-15 Ride edge gets triggers sometimes when I hit the rim Tom 3 (PDX-12).

• Crash 1 = 1 CY-12/C
• Crash 2 = 2 CY-12/C
• Ride = CY-15/R
• Aux/Crash 3 = CY-13/R
• Hi-Hat = VH-10
• Snare = PDX-12
• Tom 1 = split with female drumsplitter cable
  • HEAD: PDX-8/High Tom
  • RIM: Cowpaddy/cowbell
• Tom 2 = split with female drumsplitter cable
  • HEAD: PDX-8/MidTom
  • RIM: Cowpaddy/woodblock or other
• Tom 3 = PDX-12/Floor Tom

I used mounts and clamps from the MDS-4 rack (came with the TD-4SX) to add the extra cymbal and cowpaddy. If I end up keeping the PDX-8 so I could have 4 toms, the PDX-12 would move to the 4th Tom using the AUX input, then split it with the CY-13/R. The rack would be super tight though. I might have to take the snare pole from the MDS-4 rack and use it for the floor Tom so that everything fits. I just figured I don't need a 4th Tom and now I don't have to figure it out. Simple is better for me anyway since I'm a beginner.

I noticed that the MDS-4V rack that comes with the TD-17 doesn't have the rings that keep the leg clamps from moving so I'm going to use those rings off of the TD-4SX MDS-4 rack. I got the TD-17 in a trade so maybe the rings were in the kit and they didn't install them. Well this means now I have to take this rack apart to get those rings on, uugh! I'm thinking I should have just transferred everything to the MDS-4 rack. I wonder why Roland did the welded bar across the middle on the MDS-4V rack instead of the round tube that is on the MDS-4 rack. At least the round tube was useful.

Though I keep entertaining adding the 4th Tom, I'm happy with my setup. Now I just need drum lessons

[Chris K]

For your ride it's crosstalk, check your ride setting.

[dragonfly66]

I'll have to get into the settings and check it out. For now I moved the ride clamp slightly and that behavior went away.

Just was thinking since I have two racks that maybe I can create a MDS-9 rack by using the MDS-4 middle legs and connect them using the MDS-4 side arms. Then use the side pieces of the MDS-4V rack to complete the rack. It's going to be a fun week-end.

mds_9_front_main.jpg

[dragonfly66]

So here is my TD-17 with the added CY-15R, PDX-12, and Dual Cowpaddy on the newly formed rack.

I thought the CY-15R is nice, but as many others have side it takes some umph to get the bell sound. When playing at lower volumes you really need to have headphones on because the noise from hitting the triggers is about as loud as the sound coming out of the speakers.

Having the PDX-12 makes the space a little cramped if trying to have a smaller foot print by not spreading the sides of the rack out too far. I'm still figuring out where everything should go for me to be comfortable playing all of the triggers. I had intended to go with a 3 tom setup but kept the PDX-8 just to see what it would be like. It was interesting trying to mount both the PDX-8 and the PDX-12 on the right side. I ended up using a clamp on the outside right leg for the PDX-12. I did this to push it further to the right and to be able to get it as low as the snare. I'm short. I'm still not certain I'll keep the 4 tom setup. I'm just learning and I think the more simple the kit is, at least for toms the better. I apparently do not have this same feeling about cymbals.

The Dual Cowpaddy is split with Tom's 1 & 2 using female Drumsplitter cables with the pads using the head sides and the Cowpaddy using the rim sides. With the pads set to PDX-8 there wasn't much volume from the Cowpaddy, even with the level turned all the way up. Then I read the Drumsplitter instructions, which said the pads should be set to PD125. After I made this switch in the module settings, the levels on the Cowpaddy were usable.

The Dual Cowpaddy smelled like chemicals when it arrived. I let it air out on my screened patio overnight. There is a hard rubber layer attached to one side of the triggers which is the side that can be hit with sticks. The other side without this hard rubber layer can be hit with your hands. I'm assuming the smell was from the glue used to assemble the Cowpaddy. I did see that one of the hard rubber layers started to separate a little from underlying foam after I'd let it air out. I taped it down with some masking tape for a few hours and it seems to be holding now. The Dual Cowpaddy comes with a stereo to mono-mono Y cable but that won't work on the TD-17. Even if the cable that came with the Cowpaddy was like the Drumsplitter cable the pancake ends on it are too big to fit on the PDX-8 input.

Overall very please with my purchases and my rack project. Nice having a cowbell and wood block at the ready. Pretty cool to have the PDX-12 size as the floor tom. And certainly you can't have too many cymbal options. I'm loving it.

[Chris K]

So here is my TD-17 with the added CY-15R, PDX-12, and Dual Cowpaddy on the newly formed rack.

The Dual Cowpaddy smelled like chemicals when it arrived. I let it air out on my screened patio overnight. There is hard rubber attached to the side that can be hit with sticks. I'm assuming the smell was from the glue. One of hard rubber tops started to separate a little from underlying foam. I put some masking tape on for a few hours and it is seems to be holding now. The Dual Cowpaddy is split with Tom's 1 & 2. With the inputs set to PDX8 there wasn't much volume from the Cowpaddy using the Rim side of the split, even with the level turned all the way up. I had to use the PD125 pad according to the drumsplitter instructions, which solves the level issue. The Dual Cowpaddy comes with a stereo to mono-mono Y cable but that wont work on the TD-17.

I had intended to go with 3 Toms but kept the PDX8. Still not certain I'll keep the 4 tom setup.

Nice setup and no hotspot with your trigger.

[Animalglx]

Nice pic, clean setup, enjoy!!!!