Preparation buying the MegaDrum, and other questions

[ignotus]

I'd say it's pretty standard, in the sense that head piezo goes to tip/sleeve and rim piezo goes to ring/sleeve. Are you sure you know what tip, ring and sleeve are?

[stefan1982]

I'm not sure yet...

These are the Neutrik stereo jacks I bought for my 4 rack-toms (8/10/12"), 2 floors (14/16"), 2 snares (14x5.5/6.5) and a bass (18"):


Google doesn't give me a 100% assurance which one of the connections is ring/tip/sleeve..

[ignotus]

The big long one is most definitely sleeve. For the other two, I'd say the short one is tip and the other ring - just plug a male cable into it and check continuity with a tester.

[airflamesred]

Get yourself a multimeter, they always come in useful.

[stefan1982]

After *a lot* more investigation, it seems that there is a difference between the wiring of the piezo's to the jackleg, when you look at Yamaha/Alesis or Roland.

Roland seems to do the wiring according to this:
- Rim piezo:
Ceramic => Ring
Brass => Sleeve
- Head piezo:
Ceramic => Sleeve
Brass => Tip

While Yamaha/Alesis seems to wire accordingly to this:
- Rim piezo:
Ceramic => Ring
Brass => Sleeve
- Head piezo:
Ceramic => Tip
Brass => Sleeve

Anyone could enlighten me, which one is the preferred way when using a 56 input MegaDrum, with positional sensing built-in (top option)?

[stefan1982]

The big long one is most definitely sleeve. For the other two, I'd say the short one is tip and the other ring - just plug a male cable into it and check continuity with a tester.

You are so right about this! Thank you!

[ignotus]

You can wire them either way, as long as head goes to tip/sleeve and rim goes to ring/sleeve. Different piezos can have different polarities. Commercial brands probably check it before assembling their pads because it is relevant for their modules, but with MD it doesn't matter - it would if you didn't have the PS board and wanted to use the PS function, but you do have it so you need not worry.