Inconsistent snare velocity with Metalheads EZX

[Nick Hutchinson]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out how to get a more consistent snare velocity with the Metalheads EZX, specifically the 6.5×14″ Pearl Reference snare. At the max velocity (127) it’s really consistent, but lower than that it varies a lot, which for fills isn’t too much of an issue but for things like blast beats it is. For instance, I just tested it out in one session and with the velocity set to 111 it could range anywhere from -9 to -15 db with the louder hits being very noticeable. I’ve tried the humanization settings for EZD2 and neither of them make much difference while turning it off gets the machine gun effect that you’d expect. I know the velocity will vary with humanization but this is way too much compared to other drums/cymbals and compression just on the snares doesn’t help much either. Is there a good fix for this, or should I be looking into a new EZX/snare down the road?

EZdrummer version: 2.1.8
Operating system: Windows 10

Topic

[Erik]

Hi GuerillaGorilla,

Thanks for your feedback! I’ve added a task for the next update, but I can’t tell you when it’ll be out.

If you play live, you can turn down (or off entirely) the Snare Trig channel in the mixer and compensate the loss in volume with the other two.

Honestly, at least with the Library of the Extreme MIDI, I didn’t have any problems with the default presets, so if you’re not playing live, you could either adjust the velocity in your DAW, or drag the MIDI you have problems with into EZdrummer and use the “Edit Playstyle” functionality there to adjust the snare velocity.

Hope this helps!

Erik Berglund — Toontrack

[Nick Hutchinson]

Thanks for your response, unfortunately your suggestions didn’t solve the issue. I should clarify that it’s more the output volume that’s the issue, and your reply did help me pinpoint that the snare trigger is the issue. Even when using the edit playstyle feature of EZD2 and MIDI files from Toontrack the same issue arises where there are a lot of velocities where the snare trigger keeps bouncing between samples of very large volume differences. Here’s a clip that shows what I’m talking about with the velocity set to 111 for all notes:

Unless there’s a solution to this I guess I’ll have to move to a different snare as without the snare trigger this snare sounds very brittle and thin. If it comes to that do you have any suggestions on snares that sound similar to the 6.5×14″ Pearl Reference?

EZdrummer version: 2.1.8
Operating system: Windows 10

[Jason Norris]

Same issue here.  Ever

figured it out?

[Nick Hutchinson]

No, the closest thing to a fix I figured out was if I wanted to use the snare around 111 velocity was making a new track of EZDrummer 2, turning off humanization and using it only for the snare. It sounds more artificial but can work for blast beats. I figure the issue is with the snare trigger itself. At this point I’ve given up and am trying other snares like the Post-Rock EZX, though that’s causing its own issues with how it sounds in the Post-Rock kit vs. Metalheads overhead/ambient channels. Pretty disappointed with this experience all in all.

[Author]

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