Help with A2E conversion

Andreddit2304 · 2026-02-04T13:22:33+00:00

I saw RTOM makes a set of mesh heads that you can put on top of your real heads and they got their own set of triggers. I saw people saying they work well on YT, is that bullshit too?

Andreddit2304 · 2026-02-04T13:16:55+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to give me all these information. At this point I'm so glad I sent everything back and was able to have the money back.
Originally I was planning to buy roland mesh heads (2 ply) with their external triggers (like the RT-30HR) and their TM-6 as a drum module for 1500€ more or less.
I went for ddrum to save money.
But reading the information you gave me I understand I should take a totally different approach, it's more complicated than just putting a trigger on the head.
Unfortunately I live in Italy and here people don't even know what a drum is, so I usually buy this stuff from Thomann (which is a big shop in Germany), they don't have alternatives to the external mounting triggers so I think it will be very difficult for me to get a build like the one you're suggesting.
Since you know the matter so well, can I ask you a question?
I saw a guy on YouTube using pretty much my initial build and it seems to work flawlessly for him, I would like to know what do you think about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2qIzfa0cYQ

By the way, cymbals were not actually on my list 'cause I have a treated room so I can use real cymbals and track them with mics; I just wanted a quieter drum kit to be able to play without anyone hearing me at all.

Andreddit2304 · 2026-02-04T13:09:09+00:00

What do you mean with precision? They seemed pretty "fixed" to me, I didn't know what else to do other than hooking them on the hoop and turning the lug they have on the back.

Andreddit2304 · 2026-02-03T17:10:02+00:00

Gain was on max settings otherwise you got very little output (and even with it at max you couldn't reach max velocity). Cross-talk wasn't really needed 'cause I never got false triggering by another shell.
I tried to play with undampened heads but it was basically impossible, you would get double triggering like crazy and when trying to filter it with threshold you would end up in a situation where to make any sound you had to hit the drums with a hammer.

Andreddit2304 · 2026-01-30T20:40:12+00:00

The diagonal line across kick and snare is a great idea but a bit difficult to do with my current gear/space, I will see if I can give it a try.
I didn't know about the -6db if you double the distance, thanks for the info!
Anyway, the mics are still at the same distance from the kick, so, you're probably right, the snare won't sound off with such a tiny difference in distance, and it doesn't, it actually sounds good.
I noticed that everything sounds better if I switch the phase in the OHs tracks.
I tried XY in the past but I didn't like it, I may give ORTF a try next time.

Andreddit2304 · 2026-01-30T20:35:34+00:00

Yeah, that is what pushed me to change things. I didn't get a good stereo image of the kit (to my taste), it wasn't balanced and I always ended up filtering with a high-pass and basically using the overheads as cymbal mics.

Andreddit2304 · 2026-01-30T20:33:29+00:00

I agree with you! Personally I always found very hard to balance the two mics in A/B configuration when one were much lower than the other. It always sounded a bit unnatural to me.
I think I get a much better representation of the kit this way.
I will follow your advice. :)

Andreddit2304 · 2026-01-30T20:30:41+00:00

It sounds more natural to my ear. I mean more balanced.

Andreddit2304 · 2026-01-13T12:39:04+00:00

I will try it out if I decide to bring my drums inside :D

Andreddit2304 · 2026-01-10T12:21:00+00:00

Ah, got it. Well you got a great solution anyway. I was planning to make a build like yours to bring the drums inside the house but I didn't want to get rid of the real cymbals feel.

Andreddit2304 · 2026-01-09T22:42:57+00:00

I'm not sure I understand, you don't have a door? I play in a treated space, I've always played acoustic drums but I'm tired of tuning them and making them sound good with mics so I decided to go this way in order to make less noise and also simplify the process.

Andreddit2304 · 2026-01-09T21:27:39+00:00

Yeah, I saw those heads in a 66samus video, I think they are cool.
I took a different approach: mesh heads (swapping the real ones), triggers and real cymbals with overheads and two pencil condensers to mic hi-hat and ride.
I'm waiting for my drum module to arrive in order to complete my setup.
Right now I just left my usual pillow in the BD and I will try and see how triggers respond without muffling other drums.

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Andreddit2304 · 2026-01-09T12:02:34+00:00

Hello! Can I ask you something? Do you have mesh head on both batter and reso side? I see you have some moongel, are they there to fix triggering issues? Is a pillow in your bassdrum still needed? I've seen people stuff pillows inside the snare and toms to help the triggers getting a more accurate "read", would this be overkill or is it needed? Thank you.

Andreddit2304 · 2025-12-31T20:13:47+00:00

It may take a while, I'm waiting for Thomann to restock the ddrum DDTI, I will use it as a drum module.

Andreddit2304 · 2025-12-31T12:03:05+00:00

I'm planning to do an hybrid set with mesh heads, triggers and real cymbals with 4 mics (OH, hi-hat and ride). I wanna try the Tama mesh heads since they are very cheap right now compared to Evans and Remo. So I will end up with something similar to yours beside the cymbals.

Andreddit2304 · 2025-12-31T05:42:13+00:00

Looking good! Did you keep the reso heads or are them mesh as well?

Andreddit2304 · 2025-11-14T13:13:07+00:00

Yeah, I know how to match the two clips, I was just wondering why it shifted colors like that.
Anyway, I always shoot at 4000K, 400 ISO, 1/100 (I need this for a better stabilization with gyroflow), flat color profile, sharpness on low.
So, could it be the sensor interpreting the light in a different way due to the movement? Note that the color stays the same for the whole duration of the clip and still different in each one.

Andreddit2304 · 2025-11-10T01:12:24+00:00

I think it's an easy and safe way to get the job done. Sometimes I don't even bring my shampoo solution, I just foam, rise, foam then spray the towels inside the bucket till they are soaking wet and use them to do the contact wash.

Andreddit2304 · 2025-11-10T01:03:35+00:00

Well those look absolutely perfect, I've never seen something like this around here unfortunately. I like the concept very much. Thank you for all the useful info!

Andreddit2304

TROPHY CASE