Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Scott,

I can't argue with you there. Uniformly, the cymbal sounds within 
modules, as well as the physical triggers themselves, leave much to 
be desired. A lot of people who otherwise use e-percussion do not 
trust e-cymbals when they seriously record. I'm sure that I don't 
have to go into detail about what acoustics do that electronics 
cannot, at least at this relatively early stage of the game. That 
said, though the cymbal samples within modules cannot be altered to 
sound like your favorite acoustic line, usually you can find a 
couple of rides, layered or not, and crashes that are pretty good if 
properly set up. Finding the right decay and frequency cutoff are 
crucial--that is, after gain and min. velocity are settled. 

Though the gum rubber pads have definitely come a long way, their 
feel, and perhaps even electronic response, are still lacking. 
Stereo cymbals (triggering on edge via a rim switch and on bow via a 
piezo), which are the domain of gum rubber, are particularly 
finicky, often forcing a change in playing technique and always 
risking the occasional drop-out or unintended voice/choke. The 
Pintech Zenbal 14" round cymbals are probably the best of the lot, 
especially at the price, since they swing and trigger as expected 
most of the time. Once you get past the Roland CY-6, the rest of the 
Roland line is pretty reliable as well, although the price is 
difficult to justify. To my mind, though, gum rubber is tough to 
swallow as a hi hat cymbal if you spend a lot of time riding the hi 
hat (I do). 

In my opinion, the e-cymbals with the best feel--the ones that 
behave most (not completely) like acoustics--are the Harts and the 
Visu-lites. Unfortunately, the otherwise great Hart Ecymbal II 16" 
bronze ride (triggering via piezo on both bow and bell) doesn't 
appear to mate well with Yamaha modules; nor does the brass hat. The 
crashes (single-zone piezo), which are not bronze but coated, do, 
though over time the veneer starts to flake. The Visu-lite line of 
cymbals (dual piezo bow/bell or single piezo w/choke) is composed of 
durable acrylic. They love Yamaha, and their touch is as much 
like "real" cymbals as the Harts. I don't know whether the effect is 
partly paychological because of that extraordinary feel, but they 
also seem to make the Yamaha cymbal samples sound better (I'm not 
the only one who's said as much), maybe by transmitting a more 
robust signal across the bow and/or bell. The do have a more 
delicate way of mounting the triggers, leaving the heavy hardware 
off the cymbal proper. I've said enough about the Visu-lite hi hat 
assembly on this board. If you aren't aware of it, the cymbals work 
on an acoustic stand, opening and closing with full variability, 
just like the "real" thing. I left a file about it, w/pictures, in 
the Files section, but you could also check it out at Drumbalaya.com 
or Visu-lite.com.

Sorry about being so long-winded, and redundant. It's an important 
topic that can profit from as much input as we all give it. Although 
the e-cymbal situation is far from ideal, options exist to bring it 
closer to what many of us prefer to hear and feel.

Ed

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, sboehmer <SBoehmer@n...> wrote:
> I was wondering if any of you use Acoustic Cymbals, High-hats 
etc ...?
> 
> I went to a percussion workshop and started to miss the 
versatility of the
> acoustic kit that I learned on. There are some things that the 
DTXpress does
> not do well ... especially cymbal or high-hat sounds.
> 
> Any input would be greatly appreciated
> 
> Scott