PA system for Electronic drums

OCD Adam

Junior Member
Hey everyone!

I'm trying to use superior drummer live, but am having some issues with my rig. I was hoping I could get some feedback or find out if other people are experiencing the same issue.

I'm the drummer in a metal band, and I'm planning on playing small bars (probably around 100 people) Most of these places don't have a house system, so I bought 4 alto TS115A 15" powered PA speakers to amplify my drums.

Here's the problem:
When I play an .mp3 through these speakers, they are brutally loud! When I run superior drummer... not so much. The speakers indicate it's clipping. They are both playing from my computer. I have superior drummer running in my DAW. I have a multi-band compressor and limiter running.

Any suggestions on why it's clipping at a low volume?
 
Thanks for the reply!

For my current set up, the powered speakers have their own inputs and line/mic level controls.

I used to have a mixer that was 800 watts per channel RMS that pushed 2 JBL JRX125s, and experienced the same issue.

The drums are coming from my computer. I'm really confused because if I play an mp3 from my computer, it blows me outta the room with no clipping or distortion. The drums are the only thing that clip at lower volumes. I used the same preset for CD recording and had no issue.

Is there something unique about the superior drummer output that makes it clip at low volumes? Do i need to use some different settings when using superior drummer in a live application versus home recording?

I'm really new to live sound, so your help is greatly appreciated!
 
not sure about the clipping issue.....but I used to use a Roland KC500 keyboard amp with my e-kit and it was definitely loud enough for small gigs
 
Hey longgun! For your gigs, can you give me an estimated room size or capacity? Also, was there a house system you plugged into? What style of music / drum sounds were you going for?

This will help me get an idea of what I have, and hopefully let me manage my expectations. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of my gear, or need to tweak my drum sounds to make them 'fuller' so the perceived volume is louder...
 
Hey longgun! For your gigs, can you give me an estimated room size or capacity? Also, was there a house system you plugged into? What style of music / drum sounds were you going for?

This will help me get an idea of what I have, and hopefully let me manage my expectations. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of my gear, or need to tweak my drum sounds to make them 'fuller' so the perceived volume is louder...

OCD, only gigged a handful of times with my e-kit around four years ago...........We were playing classic rock with no house system for around 50-70 people.......just the amps and a small PA for vocals............basically the same as playing un-miced, but I could control the sound levels with the amp vs. changing how I was playing. It worked well and we received a lot of compliments............could have been alcohol-induced, but who knows.

long story short, I got sick of the e-kit and went back to acoustic.
 
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