RB2 Drums are AWFUL!

[Plink]

Let me start by asking... WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE WIRELESS!?!?!?!

Good greif!! As a software engineer that has developed software for use with bluetooth, IT IS NOT a method that should be used to control a game in which EVERY SINGLE data packet matters!!

--Edit-- (my bad... I didnt realize RB2 used RF instead of bluetooth, which isn't quite so bad)

What was wrong with everything being wired?? At least then the data made it to the console and there wasn't missed notes all over the freaking place! I was soo pissed off I simply went back to my old kit from the original.

If there is a way to replace the old heads on the old drum set with the new heads, I'd like to know. (get rid of all these useless wireless devices. Who wants to buy/recharge batteries all the time.)

If you are going to make something wireless AT THE VERY LEAST provide an option for going wired, like a simple usb port at the back of the controller!

/rant

I'm guessing I'm not the only one pissed off about this.

[amcculley]

Nope. I had no idea everything was wireless. What sucks more is that wireless actually costs more money (since MS charges an arm and a leg for it).

I hate wireless for anything gaming related (headphones, mouse, controllers, etc).

By the way, my RB2 SE drums don't work at all.

[awest505]

I'm with you 100%. I love playing the new drums, but the wireless aspect kills me. It just doesn't make sense. Not to mention they have problems with dropping connection. If there was a USB alternative it would be no big deal.

[wahlburg]

My RB2 drums suck as well. They FEEL great, but dropped notes are abundant. They notes that I'm supposedly missing are when there are two notes played at the same time (ex. bass pedal and yellow), and I know I'm not just missing the notes because I can use my RB1 drums and my performance skyrockets.

[Shelbo]

Thank you! Finally someone that agrees that wireless is complete crap. Yeah its convinient, but look at all the problems we are all having! It's ridiculous!
HMX, It's okay to be wired!!!

Why can't there be an option? It's so expensive to keep buying batteries.

Maybe that second black port under the kick pedal port could be a possible USB hookup to the system.
That's only in my dreams though.

Would that even be possible?
hm.

[webmaster2089]

Wireless controllers may have to be recharged, and they may be less reliable, but there is one major thing that makes them more desirable: wires SUCK. They get in the way, they get caught on things, they're extra weight, they can unplug or knock over your stuff if someone trips on them, they just completely suck.

Besides, the problems with the drums are in no way related to wireless data not reaching the receiver. It's a problem with faulty drums, and there have been similar problems since rock band one where the drums were wired. Bluetooth is actually very reliable with sending and receiving information.

[Zoglog]

wireless works well if it's done right.
My 360 controllers have worked flawlessly since day 1.

btw the rock band sets don't use bluetooth, they obviously use RF or else you wouldn't need that separate dongle.

[Zuroms]

I agree man, wireless should not be used until it's absolutely perfected! The main thing I hate about wireless peripherals is the introduction of having to use batteries...I HATE BATTERIES!

[stigmatica]

I'm not so sure it's the Rock Band 2 Drums, but rather Rock Band 2 software.

No matter how I do the calibration settings, it seems to miss notes randomly, making it all but impossible to get gold stars on even the simplest songs.

Here's what I've tried and what does/doesn't seem to work...

1. Tried several 200bpm beat trainers without issues (doesn't SEEM to miss notes on the beat trainer)
2. During songs, it seems to miss more often with double notes than with single notes.
3. Plugged in my Rock Band 1 drums and seem to have the same issue!

Later today, I plan on trying my Rock Band 2 drums on Rock Band 1 to see if they work fine on RB1... If so, I'd say either I'm the suckiest calibrator ever, or there's something wrong with RB2 software.

I don't think it's my calibration settings, because it's far too random... I can be playing the same rythym for 100 notes in a row, and then suddenly it drops 3 notes... Too inconsistant to be my calibration IMO.

Perhaps others could test these configurations as well?

OOPS: Forget to mention that this is on the PS3... Purchased the full set first thing yesterday morning.... My wife quickly started complaining at my all day obsession and ranting about dropped notes.

[davidshek]

My RB2 drums suck as well. They FEEL great, but dropped notes are abundant. They notes that I'm supposedly missing are when there are two notes played at the same time (ex. bass pedal and yellow), and I know I'm not just missing the notes because I can use my RB1 drums and my performance skyrockets.

That sounds to me like a calibration issue. Did you recalibrate with the new drums? We found during playtesting that the wireless adds around 10ms of extra lag as compared to the RB1 drums.


btw the rock band sets don't use bluetooth, they obviously use RF or else you wouldn't need that separate dongle.

The instruments on the Xbox 360 don't have dongles.


I don't think it's my calibration settings, because it's far too random... I can be playing the same rythym for 100 notes in a row, and then suddenly it drops 3 notes... Too inconsistant to be my calibration IMO.

I'm sorry, but that statement can not be true unless you are a human metronome. Unless you are playing EXACTLY on the beat, then you are the one being inconsistent, not the game. What you just wrote sounds exactly like a calibration issue.

[stigmatica]

I'd agree with you on the calibration ( Believe me, I WANTED to believe all day yesterday ), but I spent all day yesterday "playing" with the calibration settings.

I've setup my RB1 and calibrated it "manually" on several setups successfully in less than 30 minutes. I spent ALL DAY yesterday trying to do this ONCE with RB2.... Couldn't get it to stop skipping notes.

It's possible that I have faulty RB2 drums, and just happen to test my RB1 drums during a bad calibration setting... Testing the RB2 drums on RB1 later today should answer that question.

Edit:

ALSO... I've been able to adjust to bad calibration with my playing before, without missing a note.... I just mentally adjust to play ahead/behind the beat... Doesn't work here, as it seems inconsistant through the song.

[stigmatica]

Update:
OK: Test completed - IT HAS TO BE A RB2 Problem...

I just loaded up RB1 and played "Say it aint so" on expert using the RB2 Drums.

After playing for a few seconds, I could tell the calibration was slightly off... I went to the options, and raised the audio calibration from 0ms to 15ms. Played "Say it aint so" and got my Gold Stars, making only a couple of errors that were CLEARLY my fault.

Went over to RB2... Modified the video and audio calibration to exactly match my RB1 settings. Played "Say it aint so" - The calibration felt right, but about 6 or 7 times during the song, it dropped a note on me that was CLEARLY not my playing at fault... Add to that 2 or 3 of my own mistakes, and I didn't make my Gold Stars. Tried this twice with similar results.

So, in summary, the RB2 Drums work flawlessly on RB1 but RB2 seems to be randomly skipping notes even with the exact same calibration settings and drums used for RB1.

[amcculley]

I can 100% certifiably guarantee that my RB2 Drum problem has 0 to do with calibration.

Why? Because I can't even calibrate my drums unless I literally take the fat end of the drumstick and pound the drum to get it to register. Like... I have to hit it so hard that I'm afraid they'll break.

Almost everyone who had purchased the drums prior to the SE bundle coming out seem to have little to no issues. On the other hand, almost everyone who got their drums with the SE bundle are having some sort of problem.

To me, it sounds like a bad batch.

[bigsilvs]

It's not a calibration issue at all. I got the PS3 version yesterday and it's a Rock Band 2 issue. I am using my RB1 drums on Rock Band 2 and they don't work. I played songs that I downloaded, songs from RB1, and songs from RB2 and it doesn't matter.

At first I did think it was a calibration issue, but after messing around with every setting, playing numerous songs, and even going back to RB1, it's a Rock Band 2 issue. It's called random note registration...

Where's the official statement?

[Beha153]

If anything it'll be a service pack update that we'll see fairly soon. Something widespread like this or a bug in the software like this is something that they're going to make sure they fix ASAP.

I've never understood rushing buggy software but I guess if you're on a time table...

EDIT: I'm going to hook my drums up and play them today (I was just playing guitar last night) so I'll report back as to my findings.

[rxtype]

i think its the angle u hit the drums with the stick..
i noticed that if u hit it at like 20 degree, it strikes perfectly...
but if u hit it at ilke 50 degree or so, it misses even if its perfect...

at least for my drums =\

[Beha153]

Well that shouldn't be. You should be able to hit it at any angle and it work properly.

[Zoglog]

The instruments on the Xbox 360 don't have dongles.


I know that. we were talking about the ps3 ones obviously since he mentioned bluetooth. Xbox 360 does NOT have bluetooth.

[Phane7]

I used to defend EA and Harmonix on this issue before, but after going 2/8 on RB1 Strats, 1/7 on RB1 Drum Kits and now 0/2 on RB2 drum kits, I can't find myself defending them anymore. They are shipping out crap hardware...

My SL RB2 kit scored double notes on all 4 pads and had crosstalk from yellow to blue, even if I hit yellow dead center.

My EL RB2 kit has no cross-talk issues but scores double hits on yellow and blue so badly that the best I could do on Creep on Medium was a 192 note streek out of a total of 957... oh, and I still got 100% notes hit, so you know that wasn't my skill. That was it breaking my streak 30+ times throughout the song with double hits, particularly on parts that used the blue pad.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/phane7/creep_bunk_drums.jpg

[bigsilvs]

I used to defend EA and Harmonix on this issue before, but after going 2/8 on RB1 Strats, 1/7 on RB1 Drum Kits and now 0/2 on RB2 drum kits, I can't find myself defending them anymore. They are shipping out crap hardware...

Not only that but now they are shipping out defective software as well. My official Rock Band 1 drums don't work with Rock Band 2. Not one person from HMX have commented on the Drums issue since the ps3 release yesterday. At this point I DO want to hear there lame excuses like "your calibration settings are wrong" or "we are working hard and are looking into the matter." Give us something so we know that you guys at least acknowledge this huge problem!

[Richter]

ok... i can deal with a dropped note everyonce in a blue moon... but whats seriously pissing me off is the fact that since i picked the bundle up yesterday afternoon the drums have decided to randomly turn itself off upwards of 30 times while playing smack in the middle of a song...

ive changed the batteries 3 times (and yes, i hate wireless aswell...) with brand new batteries (energizers, experation date on them is 2014 for ****s sake...) and it still decides to randomly turn itself off... resulting in me having to fiddle with the stupid thing to make it go back to working. which is ANNOYING because im off beat when the song kicks back in which results in me missing 3-4 notes...

ITS PISSING ME OFF

and unfortunately i cant switch back to RB1 drums unless i buy another one... i broke the yellow pad in half and constantly broke the connection on the board for the yellow pad and eventualy broke the kick peddle at the hinge... so its in a dumpster due to subpar construction

ps. this is on the 360

[Quyrean]

I think wireless makes sense for the guitar where people are moving around, but for the drums where it is not moving at all, what is the point? Also, why does it not come with a rechargeable battery, or at the very least a power cord so we can plug in the power? I also heard the 360 version cant even use the microsoft rechargeable battery packs!

How can you tell if the drums are doing double hits? I have the rb2 drums from the bundle for ps3 and play lefty medium. There are parts I know I hit correctly, but the multiplier circle flashes red and breaks the streak. I see the lights for the notes light up (like yellow and green), but the streak is broken. Very annoying, I cant figure out what is triggering it.

[Plink]

I think wireless makes sense for the guitar where people are moving around, but for the drums where it is not moving at all, what is the point? Also, why does it not come with a rechargeable battery, or at the very least a power cord so we can plug in the power? I also heard the 360 version cant even use the microsoft rechargeable battery packs!



I completely agree. Drums DO NOT need to be wireless. (even that guitar should have an option for a usb cable) I've got 25 foot extension cables that work great for everything else. (ie. ps3 controllers)

I do not find cables hard to manage either. I have a nice cable rack that I hang the usb cables from when they aren't in use. Takes seconds to hook up and put away. Much easier than waiting 8 hrs for batteries to charge, or running to the store to buy more batteries. ugh!

[Richter]

I think wireless makes sense for the guitar where people are moving around, but for the drums where it is not moving at all, what is the point? Also, why does it not come with a rechargeable battery, or at the very least a power cord so we can plug in the power? I also heard the 360 version cant even use the microsoft rechargeable battery packs!
correct, we are forced to use 3 AA batteries... mad annoying. especialy seeings how i have 2 extra rechargeable battery packs from controlers that have gotten destroyed...

there is absolutely no point in the drums being wireless... they dont move. if you are done playing for the evening you just unplug them and move them into a corner. im usualy sitting with the drums less than 3 feet from the xbox/tv anyway, wtf does it matter if it has a wire? people who walk between me and the tv get whacked with a drum stick, so no one is walking across my cords anyway...

[Zoglog]

I think wireless is fine if it is done right. There seems to be other huge hardware issues

[Scarlet Fever]

To comment similar to the other post, right out of the box my set seems to work fine, however I get annoying cross over note hits (hit yellow and blue and yellow register) which eliminate my note streak and multiplier.

If I play very very softly then it will not cross register, but that's not a lot of fun.

[lp1826]

I got my PS3 bundle yesterday and at first I loved the drums. No connection dropping, no double hits, no crosstalk. After playing for a bit though, I noticed the blue and green pads would randomly activate every once and awhile. Just RMA'd them :/

[Kabutomx]

Hello

Well i'm not having such a hard time on the drums or the game, but i did spent at leat 3 hrs messing with the calibration, i just went to my rb1 calibration, enter it manually on the rb2, and added a little bit on the video lag so this is my setup for LCD sony bravia 46'' 85/25

But it does look harder to gold starred an easy song, it drops notes constantly even when u have the perfect timing, lets say i think im paranoid, easy song right ? until drops notes on the yellow and bass pedal, believe me its not me, i love that song , i have gold starred million times before, and now it just dont seem to get it.

Im using RB1 drums btw, i didn't get the rb2 set cuz i hate the fact that the drums are wireless and also because i might get the ION set, lets hope for a patch or something cus the auto calibration sucks, drop notes sucks

[TomCook95]

I hate the wireless, I sort of would enjoy it more if they were NO DONGLES, and they were bluetooth, and even if it did cost more money, who cares, u dont have dongles, and there should be an option to have wired, so that ppl can be happy either way !!!