Erwing220
04-18-2008, 08:36 PM
Be warned, this is only a "first impressions" review, I haven't had this pedal for very long, but after playing it for a while, these are my feelings.
Also, just for those of you out there who didn't see Cena's review, here's a link (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39421&highlight=omega+pedal). I consider his review to be top-notch, but I'd like to throw my two cents out there as a second opinion.
That said:
I got my Omega Pedal in today and played with it for a while. So far, I absolutely love it. No more pushing down on a spring causing leg pains and fatigue, and an overall more natural feel to the bass pedal.
However, I have had a couple of problems that I attribute to my own inexperience. First problem, in the middle of a song for no noticeable reason, the beater came loose. My guess is that I just didn't tighten it enough, so I fixed that and we'll see if that problem persists.
Second problem, I also can't explain, but for some reason, I was failing out when I was playing "Next To You". I don't know if it was the bass pedal's fault or mine for not being used to it. My guess, if it wasn't my own inexperience on this one, is that either the beater was bouncing and double-hitting and causing me to break combo constantly, or the beater wasn't activating at all. If it was the latter, it was probably because I was going too fast and I wasn't letting it raise enough to activate the sensor, which would go back to my own inexperience and, hopefully, a problem that can be easily adjusted for on the pedal.
The pedal itself is definitely a pro pedal. The only adjustments I know about are adjusting the beater angle, and out of the box that's set, considering where the beater is supposed to impact. You can also adjust the tension of the spring, which I haven't messed with yet and I assume could mitigate any double-hit problems if they arise. You can also adjust the PowerShifter plate on the pedal to high, medium, or low positions. According to the instructions, point A (the highest point), is supposed to make it feel stronger, while moving it back to B or C gives it a lighter feel. I haven't played these settings enough to really know how much of a difference they make.
And while we're on the subject of the pedal's operations, I think this is a good place to explain how the sensor on this pedal works versus the stock pedal sensor. The stock pedal, as most of us know, uses a magnet on the underside of the pedal and a sensor in the base of the pedal. The Omega pedal has a switch (taped?) to one of the rods on the side of the pedal. There is a small circular thing that rotates as the pedal is pressed down, and this little circular piece presses the button on the switch. It looks like it's perfectly spaced so that it doesn't cause damage, hopefully, but close enough to activate the switch every time the pedal is pressed down enough. Looking at the beater as you press the pedal down, the beater does have a small amount of space between it and the point of impact (the bracket that attaches to the bars of the drum set) when the switch triggers. I'm sure this was designed to mitigate accidental double-taps, but I'm looking into ways to adjust this point and move it just a bit closer to the point of impact, just so I'll know how if I ever decide to experiment with it.
And also, as most have heard by now, there are foam pieces attached to the beater that are placed in order to quiet the beater's impacts on the bracket. In the instructions, it clearly states to ensure that the beater impacts squarely on the bracket in order to make sure damage to this foam piece is minimized. People who are tearing them up quickly obviously don't make sure it's impacting correctly, because I gave this a good workout and the foam piece still looks good as new. I'm sure every few weeks or month or so it will need to be replaced, which is why the Omega Pedal site is offering replacement foam pieces at a very fair price. (10 foam pieces for $5 right now, and you get 3 replacement pieces right out of the box.)
Overall, after playing for a little while on my first day with this pedal, my first impression of it is great. This pedal is a lot more natural to operate than the stock pedal and it's built very well. The problems I've seen so far are most likely me still getting used to playing a real pedal instead of the plastic stock pedal with this game, and I'll make sure to address these issues in follow-up reviews if the need arises.
Cena's review goes into more detail about how to actually put the pedal together, because it does come out of the box with "some assembly required."
Also, just for those of you out there who didn't see Cena's review, here's a link (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39421&highlight=omega+pedal). I consider his review to be top-notch, but I'd like to throw my two cents out there as a second opinion.
That said:
I got my Omega Pedal in today and played with it for a while. So far, I absolutely love it. No more pushing down on a spring causing leg pains and fatigue, and an overall more natural feel to the bass pedal.
However, I have had a couple of problems that I attribute to my own inexperience. First problem, in the middle of a song for no noticeable reason, the beater came loose. My guess is that I just didn't tighten it enough, so I fixed that and we'll see if that problem persists.
Second problem, I also can't explain, but for some reason, I was failing out when I was playing "Next To You". I don't know if it was the bass pedal's fault or mine for not being used to it. My guess, if it wasn't my own inexperience on this one, is that either the beater was bouncing and double-hitting and causing me to break combo constantly, or the beater wasn't activating at all. If it was the latter, it was probably because I was going too fast and I wasn't letting it raise enough to activate the sensor, which would go back to my own inexperience and, hopefully, a problem that can be easily adjusted for on the pedal.
The pedal itself is definitely a pro pedal. The only adjustments I know about are adjusting the beater angle, and out of the box that's set, considering where the beater is supposed to impact. You can also adjust the tension of the spring, which I haven't messed with yet and I assume could mitigate any double-hit problems if they arise. You can also adjust the PowerShifter plate on the pedal to high, medium, or low positions. According to the instructions, point A (the highest point), is supposed to make it feel stronger, while moving it back to B or C gives it a lighter feel. I haven't played these settings enough to really know how much of a difference they make.
And while we're on the subject of the pedal's operations, I think this is a good place to explain how the sensor on this pedal works versus the stock pedal sensor. The stock pedal, as most of us know, uses a magnet on the underside of the pedal and a sensor in the base of the pedal. The Omega pedal has a switch (taped?) to one of the rods on the side of the pedal. There is a small circular thing that rotates as the pedal is pressed down, and this little circular piece presses the button on the switch. It looks like it's perfectly spaced so that it doesn't cause damage, hopefully, but close enough to activate the switch every time the pedal is pressed down enough. Looking at the beater as you press the pedal down, the beater does have a small amount of space between it and the point of impact (the bracket that attaches to the bars of the drum set) when the switch triggers. I'm sure this was designed to mitigate accidental double-taps, but I'm looking into ways to adjust this point and move it just a bit closer to the point of impact, just so I'll know how if I ever decide to experiment with it.
And also, as most have heard by now, there are foam pieces attached to the beater that are placed in order to quiet the beater's impacts on the bracket. In the instructions, it clearly states to ensure that the beater impacts squarely on the bracket in order to make sure damage to this foam piece is minimized. People who are tearing them up quickly obviously don't make sure it's impacting correctly, because I gave this a good workout and the foam piece still looks good as new. I'm sure every few weeks or month or so it will need to be replaced, which is why the Omega Pedal site is offering replacement foam pieces at a very fair price. (10 foam pieces for $5 right now, and you get 3 replacement pieces right out of the box.)
Overall, after playing for a little while on my first day with this pedal, my first impression of it is great. This pedal is a lot more natural to operate than the stock pedal and it's built very well. The problems I've seen so far are most likely me still getting used to playing a real pedal instead of the plastic stock pedal with this game, and I'll make sure to address these issues in follow-up reviews if the need arises.
Cena's review goes into more detail about how to actually put the pedal together, because it does come out of the box with "some assembly required."
