Drum VST volume low in headphones. Any solutions?

[Tim]

I’m completely new to e-drums. I recently converted my acoustic kit to electric with Diamond Drum triggers and cymbals.

I’m running Addictive Drums 2 off an older MacBook OS X 10.9.5 through an eDrumIn 10.

My issue is that the sound in my headphones is really low and distorted when I use a crash cymbal, for instance.

Do I need an audio interface or can I get a something like a Behringer X Air XR16 16-channel Tablet-controlled Digital Mixer and use that for both “silent” band practice and for a headphone amplifier?

I appreciate any help or suggestions!

[perceval]

you mentioned everything, except which headphones you are using.
And how you are using AD2. Through a DAW or the standalone?

From what I can figure out, you are either using high Ohms headphones, and cranking the volume to max trying to get some volume, or the volume in one in the chain is too low, forcing you to compensate with the other.

Try different headphones, Make sure the volume from DAW or standalone is up, but not maxed out. Same for the volume of the MB.

[monospace]

Get a cheap headphone amp. $20 to $30 at Amazon, should be all you need.

Or get an audio interface. More expensive, but also more versatile. Which one to recommend depends entirely on your specific needs.

[perceval]

Gotta find why it's distorting first.

[lalo]

Older macs had a separate mic in, so make sure you’re connecting the headphones to the phones out and not into the mic…