Alesis Nitro hi hat half-open sensitivity

phototravel

New Member
Hi there. I just received my Alesis Nitro Mesh kit and the hi-hat is driving me crazy. On my real kit, barely lifting pressure off of the pedal results in the half-open swish sound, but with the Nitro pedal, it seems I have to almost fully lift up the pedal, practically taking my foot off of it in order to get the non-closed , half open sound. I know there are adjustments to stick tap sensitivity and threshold, etc for the actual hi hat cymbal surface, as well as a way to adjust the hi-hat "splash" effect when you hit the pedal (when you tap your foot on the pedal but lift it up immediately instead of leaving your foot down), but what about the "pedal lift" sensitivity. Can't I get it to be more sensitive?
 
Hi, perhaps some more handy guy can give you a hardware tip (e.g. a washer here or there to change the stroke at which the sensor detects the half open), but unfortunately software-wise there is no setting option for it.

Thinking about it, putting something below the pedal, just to shorten the overall stroke? So the change will occur at the same location, but much closer to the new end stroke!
 
Thanks. That might actually work. That way the “fully closed” pedal position won’t be as far down which means it will be close to the half-open position and when I release a bit of pressure, it will be more likely to give the half-open sound. Now I just gotta figure out how to I stalk something in there the is the perfect height and sturdy.
 
I had that Nitro Mesh kit and that hi-hat was certainly its weakest feature, followed closely by the kick pedal. I tip I can offer: nylon tipped sticks increase the life of the mesh head.
 
Thanks. Yeah, I bought a new DW 3000 double pedal to come close to mimicking the feel of my DW9000 acoustic kit pedal...didn’t even open the Alesis pedal box. And yeah, using nylon tipped sticks. Thanks.
 
There is a drum key thing at the toe front of the pedal where you can adjust the vertical movement a bit, but it won’t help, most other brands have the same issue, it’s just bad. You can get used to it to some extent. But for the Nitro there is also the option to get the Goedrum GHC-AN controller and use a real hihat stand.
 
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, mine does not have the drum key adjustment option you mention.
Sorry, the other Alesis kits with the dmhat pedal have it, but you're not missing out on anything. It's about where these 2 screws/nails?/ are and lets you move that part 5mm or so with no effect. Can you adjust them? I think the main problem is the range where the module detects a half-open is so tiny, it doesn't really matter where it is. That triangle thing is pushing on a rubber tongue that touches a sensor at a few points in the bottom. Adding something in between would probably achieve the opposite effect... You seem to need it to lift up sooner.. so maybe it should bend up more less. I would try to get a replacement from the store to see if it's any better, or get rid of it.
 
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I have the identical problem on a Donner DED-200 Pro kit. Rest of the kit is quite excellent, but the open sensitivity is terrible - and spoiling my enjoyment. I know it's low end stuff, but you'd think there would be a way to adjust that sensitivity.
 
Sadly this problem doesn't get better as you move up the Alesis line up, I upgraded from the Nitro to the Crimson II and find the Hi-hat Control even worse than it was on my Nitro...
 
Sadly this problem doesn't get better as you move up the Alesis line up, I upgraded from the Nitro to the Crimson II and find the Hi-hat Control even worse than it was on my Nitro...
I'm happy with my Strike - Goedrum combo.
 
I've never been able to get a straight answer on weather or not I can run that same set up on the Crimson II. I've certainly thought about it though.
Do you mean the controller or the module? With the module you'd need a new ride probably, since the single-cable one is special.
As for the Goedrum, they made a version for Crimson, which might worth trying. They were nice on ebay back when I bought mine. What the module can do though is baked in, so replacing the controller won't upgrade that, but may feel better to use a hi-hat stand. Afaik the Crimson is only open/closed, so a variable controller (Realhat pedal, Goedrum, VH11 etc.) won't make more sounds, while the Strike has 3 semi-open layers that can also have multiple round-robin samples. There's an old post (below) that claims the Crimson module would send the variable semi-open info over if used with a VST, that's worth a try. A lot depends on the module/VST, even my horrible old Surge pedal is now usable with the Strike, becuase it lets you change settings like pedal curves (linear, expo, logaritmic etc.) and other things that help interpreting the signals.
 
Do you mean the controller or the module? With the module you'd need a new ride probably, since the single-cable one is special.
As for the Goedrum, they made a version for Crimson, which might worth trying. They were nice on ebay back when I bought mine. What the module can do though is baked in, so replacing the controller won't upgrade that, but may feel better to use a hi-hat stand. Afaik the Crimson is only open/closed, so a variable controller (Realhat pedal, Goedrum, VH11 etc.) won't make more sounds, while the Strike has 3 semi-open layers that can also have multiple round-robin samples. There's an old post (below) that claims the Crimson module would send the variable semi-open info over if used with a VST, that's worth a try. A lot depends on the module/VST, even my horrible old Surge pedal is now usable with the Strike, becuase it lets you change settings like pedal curves (linear, expo, logaritmic etc.) and other things that help interpreting the signals.
Thank you! I'll be investigating this.
 
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