Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "temp1111" <temp1111@w...> wrote:
> Here are some first impressions on the DTX2S from a 25 year veteran 
acoustic drummer.  I have never touched or even seen up close an E 
kit until my recent purchase of the DTX2S, so I have no other kit to 
compare to, I'm simply throwing out some impartial, first impressions.

Vic,

Your posts (along with those of drumsonly, cheakster, and OGD) are 
valuable insights into the DTXT2S. You've probably gone as deeply 
into the module as any consumer at this point. Although it's not 
possible to please everyone all of the time, even when you're trying, 
Yamaha at the outset did not commit to calling this module their 
fully "professional" unit. If I remember correctly, the idea was to 
test the waters with the DTXT2T and proceed with something more 
elaborate if it caught fire. I personally didn't think that this plan 
made much sense; nor do I know whether it's still operative. That 
said, however, taking what drum modules usually do and cost into 
consideration, this one seems to be a winner, despite your legitimate 
observations and without soft soap. Drum modules have notoriously 
lagged behind their synth brothers in computing power and 
versatility, largely because manufacturers are not convinced about 
their market. They just don't get the resources (meaning money and 
R&D) that other electronic equipment does. The DTXT2S, however, shows 
that the situation is improving, but it might take some familiarity 
with the past market to notice. Hell, the technology of my main 
module (ddrum) is 10 years old; computers have changed almost beyond 
recognition since then. Shameful. And even Yamaha, for all its 
advances at a price point, is anachronistic in many respects, 
possibly because it was in development for so long.
 
> - Love my vendor for being helpful and flexible with my order 
(Drumbalaya)
> - Hate Yamaha distribution for changing delivery dates 6 times 
ranging from very early Spring to what turned out to be late July.

Are you listening, Mr. Morin? Does everyone know how Ed (no relation) 
and Charlotte started Drumbalaya from a labor of love and turned it 
into edrummers' paradise, with nearly every possible e-drum product 
and accessory covered and tested? Customer service has never wavered. 
It's safe to say that without Drumabalaya, we wouldn't know about, 
let alone have, many of the components that make the rounds today. 
 
> - Love the fact that the rack is sized the same as my Gibralter 
hardware so it was easily integrated.
> - Hate the flimsy build of the hardware.  The tubes are extremely 
delicate and I have trouble envisioning them taking the beating on 
the road that my Gibralter/Pearl equipment does.  The clamps are 
cheap plastic and I have concerns about their longevity as well.  
Additionally, unlike the Gibralter clamps which have a clamshell 
design which allows them to be easily removed and replaced, the 
Yamaha clamps require complete disassembly of that portion of the kit 
to slide the clamp off or onto the bar.  Not so convenient.

Price point, price point, price point. To sell kits at $2500, $1500, 
or $1000, Yamaha needed to cut corners. Sometimes you shoot for the 
lowest common denominator and let the buyer pick up the slack when, 
or if, he needs to. 
 
> - Love the ball and socket adjustment for the tom holders, by far 
the easiest, fastest adjustment method I've ever seen.  Should become 
an industry standard for acoustic drums.
> - Hate that they didn't put a mounting port in the SD so I didn't 
have to have an extra stand in my way, also hate the height of the SD 
stand isnt high enough when legs are fully extended.

OGD made the same point about the snare. It will be a nuissance for 
DTXpress users, for example, to integrate one into their stock 
configurations without a rack mount.
 
> - Love the intuitive interface of the module.
> - Hate the fact that the manual is written from the perspective of 
someone who is already familiar with E-kits, there is no clear 'start 
here', 'do this next' context for the complete novice to E-kits.

Even those familiar with e-kits aren't convinced that the manual is 
well written. At one point, a core of us (with Stewart at the helm) 
were working on an alternate DTX-type manual (Stephen dubbed it "Drum 
and Drummer"), but it has proven difficult to complete. Now we can 
add information about the DTXT to the rest of the unfinished 
business. 
 
> - Love the quality and diversity of the voices
> - Hate that there are only 4 tom voices for each kit.  For a kit 
with 2000+ voices, they couldn't foresee that someone would add more 
E-toms or be triggering an acoustic kit with more than 4 toms?  I 
haven't gotten to deeply work with tuning the preset sizes, but 
without a shell diameter and depth setting, I don't see this as being 
a great way to go.  We really need additional tom sizes and this is 
one of my biggest gripes right now.

COSM. :-) 

> - Love the InsFX option
> - Hate that there aren't 4 instead of 2, and I really hate that we 
can only assign 1 of the InsFX channels to a voice.  In a situation 
where the user is trying to recreated a preset voice, but must send 
it to an IND channel, we depend on the InsFX channels, but if we need 
to combine both REV and CHO we are stuck choosing either/or.
> 
> - Love the fact that all necessary cables were included
> - wish they were a little heavier duty and not prelabled.

Price point and practicality. E-drum cables, unlike those that carry 
actual instrument voices or recorded sounds to amps and speakers, 
carry only an electrical impulses that get translated into voices 
stored elsewhere. From that perspective, hefty cables are 
unnecessary. Any comments? Some people love the labelling, having 
lobbied long and hard for it.
 
> Overall, I am pleased with the kit, but I think they took some 
shortcuts.  I'm really miffed about the lack of additional tom sizes 
and I'm hoping a download site will pop up.  I also am thankful that 
this forum exists, because it provides a great place to get and give 
ideas and feedback.

Calling them as you need them is the name of the game. No arguments 
about the shortcuts, but maybe an argument about the extent to which 
they detract from the kit. For many, price and manner of use mollify 
them considerably. Our initial information was that DTXperience would 
include sounds for downloading. 

Ed