Alesis SR16 (Version 1.04) - HELP!

[downonthestreet]

Just bought this drum machine secondhand through Ebay - it was made in 1990, but from appearances this one is in good condition. However...

When I first tried it out, tapping the pads produced sounds at the same volume as the preset patterns. Smartarse decided to wipe the previous user's patterns and songs to restore the memory to 100% and make a fresh start with my stuff. Since then, the pad sounds are way down in volume so that unamped through earphones with the big vol dial up full I can hardly hear them. Yet the preset patterns are still nice and loud, as they were before. I have been through the manual and set drum sounds to 99 vol, but this has made no difference. Any ideas from experienced users of this machine as to what I need to do to get the sounds and vol back?

Another query: I had an HR16 many years ago and was able to get dual channel sound using unamped earphones connected directly to the L and R outputs of the machine via a 2:1 plug converter (ie: one female socket connected to the earphone plug, which converts into 2 plugs that are connected to the female L and R Outputs of the machine). With the SR16, I can only get sound coming from the left earphone, regardless of whether I use the 2:1 converter plug or plug the earphones directly into either the R or L Output of the machine.

Would be grateful for any help/advice.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

The pads respond to pressure dynamics (ie - the volume varies with the force of the tap)... if I recall correctly you can set them to 8 different response levels....

 

[downonthestreet]

Thanks, Bruce.

Yes, you're right, but listening through only earphones unamped and going straight into the machine, if the velocity response is set so that the volume of the sounds corresponds to how hard you tap the pads, the drum sounds are very low. I have now set them at maximum fixed levels, which don't vary according to the force with which the pads are tapped, and the audibility is as good as it gets (on a par with the demo and set patterns).

I suppose if I am to use the tap-responsive modes, I will just have to go through an amp to get the sounds up to easily audible volume. Is this others' experience, also, I wonder?

Cheers

Ross

 

[MadAudio]

The outputs on the SR-16 are line out only. They're barely powerful enough to run headphones. To be able to set the pad dynamics to where you like them, you'll need to at least use some kind of amplifier for your cans. Ideally you'd run the SR16 into a mixer, but you may not have one.

You might also want to run through each pad's setting to see how the panning is set for each one. Also check to see if they're all set for main out and not aux.

 

[downonthestreet]

Main thing I wanted to establish is that my machiune is behaving as it should. It evidently is. Thanks, MadAudio.

Cheers