ASTRO AXE580DS User manual

1
Instruction Manual
Astro-AXS580DS

2
Congratulations!
We at Astro Drums would like to congratulate you on the purchase of the Astro AXE580DS Electronic
drum kit. The included module, the AXE800DM, is designed to allow you to easily configure and tune
your new Electronic Drum Kit the way you would your acoustic kit.
We strongly encourage you to read the entire manual before you proceed beyond the plug and play
stages. There are helpful hits and tips that can improve the over all performance and sound of the
AXE800DM. Good Luck and again thank you for choosing the AXE580DS.
Taking Care or Your Digital Drum Set
Your digital drum set will give you years of playing if you follow these basic steps below:
Location
Do not expose the unit to the following conditions
to avoid deformation, discoloration, or more seri-
ous damage.
ƔDirect sunlight.
ƔHigh temperature (near a heat source, or in a
car during the day time). Excessive humidity.
ƔExcessive dust.
ƔStrong vibration.
Power Supply
ƔTurn the power switch OFF when the
AXE580DS not in use.
ƔIf an AC adaptor is used, it should be un-
plugged from the AC outlet if the instrument is
not to be used for an extended period of time.
ƔUnplug the AC adaptor during electric storms.
ƔAvoid plugging the AC adaptor into the same
AC outlet as an appliance with high power con-
sumption, such as electric heaters or an oven.
Also avoid using multi-plug adaptors since these
can result in slower performance, operation er-
rors, and possibly damage.
Turn Power OFF When Mak-
ing Connections
ƔTo avoid damaging to the AXE800DM and
other devices that may be connected to it, turn
OFF power switches of all related devices prior to
connecting or disconnecting cables.
Handling and Transport
ƔNever apply excessive force to the controls,
connectors or other parts of the AXE800DM.
ƔAlways unplug cables by gripping the plug
firmly, but not pulling on the cable.
ƔDisconnect all cables before moving the as
AXE580DS.
ƔPhysical shocks caused by dropping, bumping,
or placing heavy objects on the AXE800DM can
result in scratches and more serious damage.
Cleaning
ƔClean the cabinet and panel with a dry soft
cloth. A slightly damp cloth may be used to re-
move stubborn grime and dirt. Never use clean-
ers such as alcohol or thinner. Avoid placing vinyl
objects on top of the unit (vinyl can stick to and
discolor the surface).
Electrical Interference
ƔThe AXE800DM contains digital circuitry and
may cause interference if placed too close to ra-
dio or television receivers. If this occurs, move
the AXE800DM further away from the affected
equipment.

3
Contents

4
1POWER SWITCH
2LCD DISPLAY
3DATA DIAL
4SONG
5VOICE
6UTILITY
7KITS
8PAD ASSIGN
9DRUM OFF
10 TEMPO/TAP
11 SRART/STOP
12 MAIN VOLUME
13 AUX VOLUME
14 ACCOMP +/-
15 PAGE +/-
16 SAVE/ENTER/
SELECT
17 CLICK
18 RECORD
19 DEMO
20 PHONES JACK
1MIDI IN/OUT JACK
2TRIGGER INPUT
3AUX IN JACK
4AUX OUT JACK
5MIDI IN/OUT JACK
2TRIGGER INPUT
Controls

5
Setting Up

6
Setting Up
ƔConnecting a MIDI Device
Data in the drum brain can be accessed by any midi devise for storage, recording, and playback. Below you will find the
instructions for the connection of your AXE800DM to an external midi device.
ƔTransmit MIDI Data
Use a MIDI cable to connect the MIDI OUT jack on the drum brain with the MIDI IN jack on the external MIDI device.
ƔReceive MIDI Data
Use a MIDI cable to connect the MIDI IN jack on the AXE800DM with the MIDI OUT jack on the external MIDI device.











ƔConnecting a CD Player, etc. (AUX IN jack)
The audio output from a CD player connected to the Aux IN jack on the rear panel can be mixed with the audio output of
the AXE800DM. This function is convenient when you want to play along with a favorite song. The volume of the exter-
nal signal is adjusted with the AUX VOLUME slider on the face of the AXE800DM.
ƔConnecting an Amplifier
An external amplifier can easily be connected the AXE800DM. Simply connect the AUX OUT jack on the back of the
AXE800DM to a keyboard amplifier using a standard guitar cable.
The volume is adjusted with the MASTER VOLUME slider on the face of the AXE800DM.

7
Setting Up
ƔUsing headphones
An optional set of stereo headphones can be connected to the PHONES jack located on the front of the unit.
ƔConnecting the Power Supply
Make sure the power switch is OFF and connect the
power adaptor to the DC IN jack on the rear panel.
Before switching the power ON:
x To Protec the speakers, amplifier and the AXE800DM from damage, slide the master volume slider to
the minimum volume level before switching the power ON.
x Make sure the power is switched OFF on all external devices connected to the AXE800DM. Adter the
AXE800DM power is switched ON, switch the other device’s power ON.

8
Start to play the drums
1 . Switch the power ON
After confirming that each of the devices, pads, external devices, etc. are all properly connected, press the POWER ON/
OFF button on the front panel to turn on the AXE800DM. The drum module is ready to operate when the display shown
below, for selecting the drum kit and song appears (Song Mode).
2. Hit a pad
While hitting a pad, slide the MAIN VOLUME switch little by little upward until a comfortable volume level is reached.
3. Play the DEMO song
Press the [DEMO] button to start the demo song. To stop the demo song, press the [DEMO] button again or press the
[START/STOP] button once.
4. TEMPO
You can adjust the tempo range of the songs from 30 to 280.
Press the [TEMPO/TAP] button, you can tap the pad to get the current TEMPO. Tap 4 times and the beat is just as the
interval of last two times you tap. After that the song will be playing at this tempo. You may also rotate the Data Dial to
adjust the tempo. When the song is playing, the tapping method will not take effect.

9
Start to play the drums
5 . Change the Drum Kit
Drum kit numbers 1-30 consist of 30 preset drum kits.
Press the [kits] button, the display below will be shown, with the kit # Flashing.
Turn the Data
Dial to select the Drum Kit Number.
6 . Click
Press the [CLICK] button to start the metronome. To turn off the metronome, press the [CLICK] button again. Please
read the Utility section in this manual for instructions on how to adjust the parameters for the metronome.

10
Play Song
1 . Select a Song
Press the [SONG] button, the song indicator will begin flashing on the display:
Then turn the Data Dial to select the selected song.
2. Listen to the Song
Press the [START/STOP] button to playback the song
The song will stop when it reaches the end,
or stop the song during play back by pressing the [START/STOP] button.
3. Adjust the Song Volume
Press the [ACCOMP-] or [ACCCOMP+] to display the current accompany volume level.
Using the same display, press the [ACCOMP-] or [ACCCOMP+] button to adjust the accompany volume.
4. Changing the Song’s Tempo
Press the [TEMPO/TAP] button to display the tempo setting,
Turn the Data Dial to set the tempo (30-280).
Press the [SONG] button to return the Song Mode display.
5. Mute a Drum Voice
Press the [DRUM OFF] button, a sign will appear on the bottom right of the Song Mode display, and the main drum
part song will be muted.
You can then play along with the song. Press the [DRUM OFF] button again and the drum part will restore.

11
Play Song
6 . Play along with the Click Voice
Press [CLICK] button to start the metronome. The click’s LED will flash.
To turn off the metronome, press the [CLICK] Button again.
7. Change the Drum Kit
Press the [KIT] button to select a different drum kit with the selected song.
Then turn the Data Dial to select the drum kit number (1-30).
(When a song is started, the kit number will shift to its default automatically.
If you want to use another kit, you can only change it when the song is playing.)

12
Song
1. Repeat Playback
1.1 In the song Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to reach the song repeat display:
1.2 Press the [SELECT] button to move the flashing cursor to the Repeat on/off
position, and then turn the Data Dial to set repeat play.
2. Merge Track
Before you can use the merge operation, it is necessary to select the User Song (Number 51-54). This function merges
the data in track 1 and track 2 of the user song to track 1.
2.1 In the Song Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the Merge Track Model setting display shown below:
2.2 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button and the confirmation display shown below will appear:
2.3 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button again to confirm.
“Complete!” will appear, then the display will return to Song mode.
(Press the [SONG] button to cancel the merge track operation, and return to Song Mode display. *If a preset
SONG (No. 1-50) is already selected, the following display will appear and the User Song Mode cannot be entered.
Press the [SONG] button to return to Song Mode display.

13
Song
1. Play Back Track
In the Song Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the Playback Track setting display shown below:
“TR:—” The tracks in the user song are empty.
“TR: 1” Track 1 already has recorded data.
“TR: 2” Track 2 already has recorded data.
“TR: 1&2” Both track (1 & 2) already has recorded data.
Turn the Data Dial to select tracks to be playback.
* If the User Song contains 2 tracks, you can only
Playback track 1 (Play Back: 1)
Or track 2 (Play Back: 2),
Or playback two tracks together (Play Back: 1 &2)
When in playback mode, the kit playing will be the recording kit.
4. Quantize Notes
4.1 In the Song Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the quantize setting display shown below:
Turn the Data Dial to select the quantize value:
1/4: quarter note 1/16: sixteenth note
1/8: eighth note 1/24: sixteenth note triplet
1/12: eighth note triplet
4.2 Press the [SELECT] button, When the track indicator flashes on display,
turn the Data Dial to assigns the track (1 or 2) to be quantized.
4.3 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button, and the confirmation display shown below will appear:
4.4 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button again to confirm.
“Complete!”will appear, then the display will return to Song mode.
(Press the [SONG] button to cancel the quantize operation, and return to the Song Mode display.)
The quantize operation is not available when a song is playing, and the display will return to Song Mode display.

14
Song
5. Clear Track
This function clears all data in the assigned track (1 or 2) in the user song.
5.1 In the Song Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the Clear Track setting display shown below:
Turn the Data Dial to assign the track you want to clear (track 1 or track 2).
5.2 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button, the confirmation shown below
5.3 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button again to confirm.
“Complete!” will appear, then the display will return to Song mode.
(Press the [SONG] button to cancel the Clear Track operation, and return to the Song Mode display.)
The Clear Track operation is not available when a song is playing, and the display will return to Song Mode display
6. Song Copy
This function copies the preset song to the user song
6.1 In the song mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the Song copy setting display shown below:
Turn the Data Dial to assign the preset song (No. 1-50).
6.2 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button, and the confirmation display shown below will appear:
6.3 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button again to confirm.
“Complete!” will appear, then the display will return to song mode.
The data in track 2 will be deleted thoroughly this after operation.
(Press the [SONG] button to cancel the song copy operation, and return to the song mode display.)
The song copy operation is not available when a song is playing, and the display will return to song mode.

15
Song
7. Delete Song
This function clears all data in the assigned track 1 or track 2 in the user song.
7.1 In the Song Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the Delete Song setting display shown below:
7.2 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button, and the confirmation display shown below will appear:
7.3 Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button again to confirm.
“Complete!” will appear, then the display will return to Song Mode.
(Press the [SONG] button to cancel the Delete Song operation, and return to the Song Mode.)
The Delete Song operation is not available when a song is playing, and the display will return to Song mode.

16
Voice
1.Selecting the Drum Voice
1.1 Selecting the Drum voice category
Press the [VOICE] button to enter the Voice Mode display, the voice category indicator flashes on the display:
Turn the Data Dial to select the drum voice category.
1.2 Selecting the Drum Voice
Press the [SELECT] button, the voice number indicator will flash on the display:
Turn Data Dial to select the drum voice category.
1.3 Selecting a Drum for the Input Source
Press the [SELECT] button, the voice input source indicator will flash on the display:
Turn the Data Dial to select the input source that is connected to the trigger input jack selected.
The value “V=1” indicates that the layer number is 1. two voices can be delivered with one input source.

17
Voice
2. Changing the Note value
Changing the note value of each pad’s MIDI out.
In the Voice Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the Note value setting display shown below:
Turn the Data Dial to define the note value.
Use the [SELECT] button to select the input source.
3. Changing the Drum Volume
3.1 Changing the PAD Volume
Changing the volume of the drum voice when the pad is hit.
In the Voice Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the volume setting display shown display:
Turn the Data Dial to set the volume level (0-127).
3.2 Changing the PAN Position
The pan setting can move the position of the currently selected drum voice within the stereo filed.
Use the same display; press the [SELECT] button, the Pan indicator flashes on the display:
Turn the Data Dial to set the Pan/Position (1-63 represents Left, 64 represents Center, 65-127 represents Right)

18
Voice
4. Changing the Pad Function
In the Voice Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the function setting display shown below:
Turn the Data Dial to assign other functions to the trigger attached to the input source.
“Normal”: The drum pad is used for normal pad operations.
“Click on off”: Turns the click sound on/off
“Start/Stop”: Assign the playback function to the current Song.
“Pad Song”: Assign the playback of the pad song to the pad
Caution: If there is more than one pad assigned to playback a pad song, The pad song playing will stop
immediately and the other pad song will start when another pad is struck.
Also when a pad song is playing, you may only change the parameters on current page. If you can change
pages, the song will stop immediately.
5. Selecting the Pad Song
The pad song function is assigned to the pad by selecting the song number to be played back when the current
pad is struck. In the Voice Mode, press the [PAGE +] button to select the song setting display shown below.
Turn the Data Dial to select the song number (1-54) that will be assigned as the pad song.
Using the same display, press the [SELECT] button, the repeat indicator will flash in the display, turn the Data Dial to
select repeat playback of the song or normal play.
6. Adjusting the Reverb
In the Voice Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the reverb settings shown below:
Turn the Data Dial to set the reverb value (0-127).
When the reverb value is set to 0, There will no longer be any reverb. As you increase the reverb value, the amount of
reverb applied to the voice will also increase.

19
Voice
7. Voice Copy
This function will copy the input source data to another pad.
In the Voice Mode, press the [PAGE+] button to select the copy setting display shown below:
Turn the Data Dial to set the destination pad (Pad 1-7/Pedal/Open/Closed).
7.1 When the destination pad is selected, press the [SAVE/ENTER] button,
and the confirmation display shown below will appear:
7.2Press the [SAVE/ENTER] button again to confirm.
(Press the [VOICE] button to cancel the copy operation, and return to the Voice Mode display.

20
Song Recording
Song recording lets you record data, produced as the drum kit is played to the sequencer in real-time (one track at a
time). All MIDI channels are recorded simultaneously.
1. Select the User Song
Press the [RECORD] button to enter the record mode:
Turn Data Dial to set the User Song number (no. 51-54) that you want to record to.
*Only user songs no.51-54 can be used for recording.
*User songs that have been previously recorded to, may not be selected for recording.
“TR—” The Tracks in the user song is empty.
“TR: 1 ” Track 1 already has recorded data.
“TR: 2 ” Track 2 already has recorded data.
“TR: 1 & 2“ Both track (1&2) already have recorded data.
2. Set the Track
Press the [PAGE+] button, the display shown below:
Then turn the Data Dial to select a track 1 or 2 for recording.
*User Songs contain 2 tracks that can be recorded to.
3. Getting ready to record
Press the [PAGE+] button to get ready to record: