[David Mackey]

Once you factor in the cost to own, you may reach a different conclusion. I bought Roland back in 2005 and have been very happy with my purchases. They are more expensive, but they also are built to last and have a consistent upgrade path as new technology changes. They also offer advanced features not found on cheaper kits. My new TD50 module has the cy8 cymbal from my first kit. I think it’s a mistake to recommend to other new drummers to stay away from the flagship company because of a lack of perceived value. If you owned a Roland product and then switched to Alesis, then you’d have a stronger argument. Let’s see how you feel in three years.

[David Mackey]

@Derek Schaaf said:

Hi Reiner,

Thanks for your response. Yes I did download and install the Roland driver from their support site. For whatever reason my MacBook still does not see it as the input output audio device… Which is kind of strange.

Thanks,
Derek  

Wow bad news. I suggest trying another usb cable. Also confirm in your td25 setup that usb mode is turned on. This stuff “just works” so it may be a hardware issue of some sort. Good luck Derek!

[David Mackey]

@Derek Schaaf said:

Hi, does this work with the TD 25 as well… Do you know? I have tried every possible combination that I can think of and I cannot get the sound to be routed through the TD 25 module when connected via USB to my MacBook Pro. The sound for only come out the MacBook Pro and not through the audio output of the TD25 itself. I saw in an earlier post it suggested to monitor SD3 through the drum module unit, in that case the TD 30.

Maybe the TD 25 is not capable of this but I just wanted to make sure.

Thanks,
Derek  

Hi Derek. Sorry I don’t have a td25 so I don’t know if it works. If td25 supports usb audio then it should. Have you confirmed that you have td25 configured for midi output ? On your MacBook Pro go to System preferences / sounds / output / select td25. Do the same for the input

[David Mackey]

@Derek Schaaf said:

Thanks for the info! What about on a MacBook Pro? Is there an ASIO driver option in the Mac OS… I was under the understanding that there wasn’t.

Thanks,
D  

You don’t need a special Asio driver on a Mac book pro. Or on any Mac. On your Mac search for the midi setup app. This will allow you to configure connected midi input and output devices

[David Mackey]

Guys it sounds like you are routing sd3 to TD50 over usb audio.. is that right? I did it this way and all kits were way too low until I boosted the usb audio gain in setup l midi page l usb tab. I mapped it to the song pot and can now easily boost the sd3 output on my headphones. Have you tried that?

[David Mackey]

@MarcL_1 said:

Hi Peertwelve,
Are you playing this live? Hows the latency?
Also, say in your practice, do you play the track song from your Mac? Reason im asking is i noticed some popping when im playing with a song, but drums alone the sound is all fine.  

Yes I’m playing ‘live’ n my practice studio. I haven’t noticed any latency issues or popping sounds. I play along to drum less tracks through iTunes on the Mac and it just works. I’m using a 21” iMac from 2014. All sounds from the Mac, sd3 and iTunes, are routed to TD50 using usb audio

[David Mackey]

Hi Gary. I have a TD50 and SD3 on a Mac. There are a number of ways to cable these systems in studio and at a gig. Here is what i’ve done in our home studio. seems quite solid, glitch-free, and stable..

1. On the Mac OS, configure the TD50 as Input and Output. System Preferences | Sound | Input = Roland TD50, Output Roland TD50.
2. In SD 3, do the same. SD 3 | Properties | Midi | input = Roland TD50, Output Roland TD50.
3. On the TD50 module, enable ‘USB Audio’ and balance the output of SD3 through your TD50 using Input Gain. (something like Setup | USB Audio | xx)
4. Route the TD50 outputs to a mixer or amp as needed.

There is no need to connect your macbook to the mixer because the TD50 can bridge the output of SD3. I assigned the Song volume fader to adjust the tD50 Input Gain so it’s easier to acheive the right balance between TD50 and amplifiers / headphones.

I’m super happy with the TD50 and SD3. they go great together!

[David Mackey]

Hi Henrik, thank you for the response. That Rescan button doesn’t fix my situation. But i was able to find a solution, posting it here for posterity.

Original issue:
1. SD3 is running, my Roland TD50 is connected. All is well.
2. Turn off the Roland TD50 module, leave SD3 running. As expected, SD3 is disconnected from module.
3. Turn TD50 back on. Switch back to running instance of SD3. Module is still disconnected.
4. From SD3 menu | Settings | Audio Midi Setup | Rescan devices. After this, module is still disconnected.
5. The original solution was to turn off / turn back on SD3. The connection between SD3 and TD50 would be re-established.

I found a simpler solution:
I was routing audio from my Mac back into the TD50, so that i could use the headphone jacks on the roland module. When the module is power cycled (off, back on), the connection *can* be re-established by resetting the Audio Device (Settings | Audio Midi Setup | Audio Device) back to TD50. TO do this select TD50 and hit apply. Not sure if this is a software glitch, but it’s much less painful than restarting SD3 each time.

I still have a gripe about the ‘Save Project’ dialog that pops up constantly. Seems that it should be smart enough to know to not prompt if the file has not been modified. For example, if you configure everything and then use SD3 | File | Save as Default. Start and restart SD3. It immediately asks if you want to save the project before loading the defaults. Super strange!

[Author]

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