I have just bought an Alesis SR-16 and when I tap the pads or play the demo, the sound is extremely low and so distorted that I can hardly identify the different voices.
Whether I connect the output to my amplifier or into my PC line in, I get the same problem. I have tried different cables, tried turning the volume down as well as up on both the drum machine and the speakers / amplifier, but none of it helps at all.
Please help!
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Alesis SR-16: Serious Problems with Sound: Suggestions. I have
Alesis SR-16: Serious Problems with Sound: Suggestions.
I have an SR-16, unless your bothered about having the drums panned via the internal panning settings on each drumset you should just plug the Main Left output into your audio interface and have the volume wheel on your SR-16 set at about 3 quarters, then set the gain on the relevant preamp channel on your audio interface so that your audio signal peaks at 0db (or about -15 to -12db in RMS mode) or just under. If you dont have a VU meter to monitor the audio signal level just use your ears to set the level, if you are getting any slight distortion just slowly turn down the gain control on the channel your drum machine is plugged into.
You didnt say what your audio interface was i.e. have you got some kind of Firewire/USB Maudio or equivalant interface with preamps? Or are you literally trying to just plug the main output of your SR-16 into the line in of the sound card on your PC? If so latency maybe a problem here and the fact you arent plugging into a preamp, also what recording software are you using? If you are plugging direct into your sound cards line in (I have never tried this with a drum machine by the way!) It maybe that the line in level on your software mixer in windows needs turning up, check in the bottom right hand corner of windows to see if you have a mixer icon, if you have double click it and adjust the appropriate line level or if not go to the control panel: Click Startbar>Settings>Control Panel>Sounds and speech devices>Sounds and audio devices (this is in Windows XP but is probably similar to navigate to in any previous version of windows exept pre windows 95!) and set the line level in the mixer.
Also I find that when getting the pads to sound on my SR-16 when tapping in rhythms you really have to hit the pads hard to get the volume you require but this should not apply to just being able to listen to already pre-programmed patterns.
Good luck, hope this is of some help to you.
It sounds like you might have a bad unit, but check which output
It sounds like you might have a bad unit, but check which outputs you are plugged into. Make sure that it's the main outs.