2Box continuation of the legacy?

[hellfire]

Knowing that the guys who are 2box were a big part of the ddrum electronic drums legacy I thought it would be interesting to see what the ddrum fans thought about 2box.

[drumsonly2002]

I personally would love to have a kit, but not $funded$. I would guess they are fantastic sounding and triggering. I hope they do very well.
Just got home from a gig using Yamaha tom pads, Roland mesh kick pad, acoustic cymbals and DDrum SE-4. Could never done the gig with acoustics due to volume constraints (corporate gig).

[sam(otacon28)]

Great topic Phil ,


I think it's great that the knowledge and technology behind the ddrum design is moving forward , even if it's not under the ddrum name and in a smaller form . Being that designers originally from the ddrum electronic series are involved in the 2Box design and technology that's being used I'm really looking forward to seeing this company grow . Electronic drummers never got the chance to see what the ddrum5 could have been like , so the 2Box kit may not be to far off from areas that the technology would have gone with the ddrum5 had it ever have seen the light of day .


I have heard mixed emotions about the 2Box system . If you think about it though , to start the launch of a newer company with a product that has the technology level to where it's allready at on the kit , it does really makes you think to what levels electronic might be able to go in the near future with 2Box . I think one of things that stands out about ddrum electronic gear is that when you explore the module especially you can see that it wasn't just about dollars and cents when it came to the design of it . The features are easy to access and there's really not a whole lot in the module that really any drummer out there isn't going to use . The thought of the module is definately a major strong point of the design , and still to date puts ddrum gear up on the top shelf when it comes to electronic gear .


I've always been sold on the sound quality and trigger performance of the ddrum modules . One of the main drawbacks is the sample tool used to load new sounds into the modules . On board card storage would be a huge plus on a ddrum module too , but the pro's definately weigh out the con's .


With the technology that is out there today as opposed to what was physically possible ( both financially and resources wise ) back in the time when the ddrum modules were newer products , One can only imagine to what levels these design ideas can be expanded upon . Some of the technology that ddrum came up with back in the 80's and early 90's still hasn't been matched by most other electronic drum companies out there , and is still in most cases viewed as cutting edge stuff .




sam(otacon28)

[drumkat49]

Let me chime in here....
I've owned ddrum3's since 1995. With sampling, positional sensing on all channels and the ability to link pads effortlessly puts this module at the top of the heap even though it's 15 year old technology.
Now...... I own a Drumit 5 kit. I originally bought it just for the module, but had to buy the entire kit because individual parts where and still are a no go.
The boxes were unpacked and immediately I knew that the pads would never get used, so back in the box they went. I'm not a mesh guy at all.
So my sole focus became the module. And the more I poked around with what the module had to offer, the more I longed for the power and simplicity of the ddrum 3. No positional sensing and very limited
sound manipulation were a disappointment. So my Drumit 5 sits in a box, and will be up for sale shortly........

[hellfire]

Oct 29, 2010 17:03:17 GMT -5 drumkat49 said:

Let me chime in here....
I've owned ddrum3's since 1995. With sampling, positional sensing on all channels and the ability to link pads effortlessly puts this module at the top of the heap even though it's 15 year old technology.
Now...... I own a Drumit 5 kit. I originally bought it just for the module, but had to buy the entire kit because individual parts where and still are a no go.
The boxes were unpacked and immediately I knew that the pads would never get used, so back in the box they went. I'm not a mesh guy at all.
So my sole focus became the module. And the more I poked around with what the module had to offer, the more I longed for the power and simplicity of the ddrum 3. No positional sensing and very limited
sound manipulation were a disappointment. So my Drumit 5 sits in a box, and will be up for sale shortly........

Very interesting...Admittedly, I don't know much about Ddrum products (other than, back in the day I wanted a Ddrum 2 set-up), but after reading your post I'm now going to be downloading the manual for the Ddrum 3. I would agree that your Ddrum 3 looks to do more than current TMI's. I'm wounding why the ball was dropped? Looks like I've got some homework to do. Thanks guys for a peek in to the world of what was Ddrum.

[lite]

I've played the 2box for two days. The entire hardware was a joke to me. It wobbles around like jelly. No way comparable to the rock solid ddrum pads and hardware.

Sound-wise I definitely like the tom sounds and its dedicated rim sound feature. Kick and snare didn't impress me that much.

It's up to date with gigabytes of memory, long decay on cymbal sounds, multisamples consisting of much more single samples than the ddrums. The editor looks fine for building your own complex multisamples. So it's a great multisample player. But as drumkat wrote that's it. No features to influence sounds in a creative way like the ddrum3 does. I was also disappointed they didn't implement position sensing, pressure sensing, etc.

I just didn't enjoy playing the 2box as I do playing the ddrum3/4 combination. I had difficulties getting the right sound articulations out of the ride cymbal (bell/bow/edge) and the hihat (although my ddrum4 ride pad started to choke on its own recently – but it seems to be a fault, not a design error ;-) ). I agree with drumkat I would miss all that sound manipulation stuff the ddrum3 offers.

I would have dreamed of an up-to-date version of the ddrum3. With all the things from nowadays (big memory, USB, etc.). The 2box doesn't make this dream come true. It doesn't offer what the ddrum3 is capable of. The ddrum3 is still unique (Only the Simmons SDX offered similar possibilities but with huge flaws )

But I am watching how the 2box company will develop their 2box. Maybe they will come up with an hardware overhaul (or solid pro version) and further developed module firmware …

What I would like to see:
- decent hardware/pads and precise triggering on the ride cymbal
-playing two kits simultaneously. One via pads and one via MIDI. (ddrum3)
- stacking sound channels (ddrum3)
- module software compatible with pads allowing position and pressure sensing (ddrum3/4 pads or other pads with centered piezo underneath.)
- sound manipulation (filters, EQ, drum related algorithms, sound switching, fading, etc.) driven by position, pressure, velocity, etc.
- 8 outputs would be nice (ddrum3)
- make it red or whatever but not orange ;D

just my 2 (euro)cents.

[sam(otacon28)]

I have heard some similar feelings toward the pads and hardware from other drummers online . In looking at the updated version of the 2Box they seemed to have went with a stronger , and more sturdy rack system so maybe that is one of the particulars on the kit that has allready seen some much needed attention .

I haven't had a chance to try anything out 2Box wise so any intel I have is purely of a speculatory nature , but it would be interesting to see where they go with design phase of things over the next few years . I think it would be interesting to see what design ideas that might be out there that were never implemented on the ddrum modules from the designers . I have heard there are some positive aspects of the 2Box drum module , so hopefully this is an area that they will expand upon and maybe implement some more options as you guys have described even .

I agree after using a ddrum3 module for a few years now as the primary sound on my kit , it's really hard to sit down to newer drum modules that don't have some of the capabilities that the dd3 especially has . I've tried a few other modules and it almost felt a bit to me like taking steps back instead of forward in the sound quality and advanced features area's



sam(otacon28)

[drumkat49]

Basically Lite nailed it.......

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2010 19:38:49 GMT -5 lite said:

my ddrum4 ride pad started to choke on its own recently

I've had that happening and it was the soldering in the XLR-plug of the cable breaking off due to vibrations. The pad was ok.

[lite]

Hi krillo,

thanks for the info. I've tried another pad and another cable. Still the same problem. I will check the cables. So it wasn't the socket in the pad? It was just the cable in your case?

[Deleted]

Nov 20, 2010 6:38:02 GMT -5 lite said:

Hi krillo,

thanks for the info. I've tried another pad and another cable. Still the same problem. I will check the cables. So it wasn't the socket in the pad? It was just the cable in your case?

The socket was fine. I'm using Aquarian cymbal springs so the pads wobble quite a bit. A bit too much actually. I guess that made the solderings break off. If you (or anyone) buys these pads second hand, it's a good thing to shake the pad and listen if it rattles... The ones I bought the piezos hade come loose inside, so initially choking didn't work, but after taking them apart and glueing everything back in place they're fine.

[lite]

Thanks krillo. I will check my pads and cables.

[trommeltheo]

2Box-Pads a triggeriing well, but try a Middle-Stero-Trigger pad like this: www.drum-tec.de/index.php?language=en
thats FANTASTIC! I ´ve tried it last year in November, just put out the cable of teh 2Box-Pad and put it into the Diabolo without changing preferences. Bengt said, that the Brain can positional sensing with middle-Trigger but not with 2Box-Pads.
Theo

[lite]

My understanding is the 2box module could provide positional sensing if you use pads with centered trigger and the module's software would support it. AFAIK there hasn't been any 2box software support for positional sensing at all? Or did I miss something new?

[jman]

Oct 30, 2010 19:38:49 GMT -5 lite said:

I've played the 2box for two days. The entire hardware was a joke to me. It wobbles around like jelly. No way comparable to the rock solid ddrum pads and hardware.

Sound-wise I definitely like the tom sounds and its dedicated rim sound feature. Kick and snare didn't impress me that much.

It's up to date with gigabytes of memory, long decay on cymbal sounds, multisamples consisting of much more single samples than the ddrums. The editor looks fine for building your own complex multisamples. So it's a great multisample player. But as drumkat wrote that's it. No features to influence sounds in a creative way like the ddrum3 does. I was also disappointed they didn't implement position sensing, pressure sensing, etc.

I just didn't enjoy playing the 2box as I do playing the ddrum3/4 combination. I had difficulties getting the right sound articulations out of the ride cymbal (bell/bow/edge) and the hihat (although my ddrum4 ride pad started to choke on its own recently – but it seems to be a fault, not a design error ;-) ). I agree with drumkat I would miss all that sound manipulation stuff the ddrum3 offers.

I would have dreamed of an up-to-date version of the ddrum3. With all the things from nowadays (big memory, USB, etc.). The 2box doesn't make this dream come true. It doesn't offer what the ddrum3 is capable of. The ddrum3 is still unique (Only the Simmons SDX offered similar possibilities but with huge flaws )

But I am watching how the 2box company will develop their 2box. Maybe they will come up with an hardware overhaul (or solid pro version) and further developed module firmware …

What I would like to see:
- decent hardware/pads and precise triggering on the ride cymbal
-playing two kits simultaneously. One via pads and one via MIDI. (ddrum3)
- stacking sound channels (ddrum3)
- module software compatible with pads allowing position and pressure sensing (ddrum3/4 pads or other pads with centered piezo underneath.)
- sound manipulation (filters, EQ, drum related algorithms, sound switching, fading, etc.) driven by position, pressure, velocity, etc.
- 8 outputs would be nice (ddrum3)
- make it red or whatever but not orange ;D

just my 2 (euro)cents.

1st post over here. I've never owned Ddrum, but have played the 2Box kit at Winter NAMM both times Bengt was there. I felt it wasn't ready for prime time the 1st show.... or really even at the 2nd show.... there were a variety of hardware/software glitches. This year 2Box wasn't at Winter NAMM, but the kit has been out in the field for a while now and more recently the MKII version with some improvements.

My thought from day one was I would never even consider using the stock drum pads.... sorry, but Halloween is just a once a year event for me! ;D

I was never "Blown Away" playing the 2Box kit, but I did feel the sounds are "Very Good". Had no real interest in the module at first as I thought the cymbals (since they are single TRS output, and 3 zones) would be very similar to Yamaha 3 zone cymbals..... and frankly Yamaha is the least user friendly module for DIY pad building.
Recently discovering that the cymbals are simply single piezo/switch pads with velocity sensing between bell and bow .... well that means the Drumit 5 will be quite compatible for me.

I found and purchased a used Drumit 5 kit .... being in the US that is not an easy task. I found a kit in the UK... less than an hour drive away from another edrum forum friend (wonders or the worldwide web!). He picked the kit up for me and will be shipping me the module, plus one of each: tom, kick, cymbal, snare, and Hi Hat.

I plan to tweak my own drum and cymbal conversions to work for the Drumit 5 module. My intention is to have drums and cymbals that work at least as well, hopefully better, than the stock drums and cymbals .... and a kit that is not ORANGE in appearance. Hi Hat being the biggest challenge, as this is the one thing that is very different than most other edrum types (evidently most similar to DDrum HH, but not compatible from what I read)

At any rate knowing the developers of 2Box had their roots in DDrum I had been reading the Internet, getting a little background. Your post was very informative... Honestly I figured 2Box Drummit 5 would be the next generation DDrum setup with all the best features included plus some new features, and of course Expanded memory for the ability to really take advantage of sampled sounds.

Nice that 4GB of memory is on-board (Nicer still that a simple DIY mod can be made by inserting an SDHC extension cable/adapter to put an SD slot outside the module and upgrade to 32GB ..... the first thing I will do when I get the module). But I was surprised to see many of the important features like you list have not been included. It seems like Drumit 5 is a very "stripped down" module in comparison (feature wise). I am hoping that many of the features you list will be included in future OS updates. The headphone output can now be used as a pair of Direct Outs ... so 8 Direct Outs are now available.... hoping those updates keep on coming. Jerry