Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Ed,

Thanks for the response .. I appreciate the thorough ins and outs of all the
models available on the market today. My one resignation with buying more
toys is I already have a full complement of acoustic hardware that I was
thinking about integrating with the Yamaha. I have had the DTXpress for
about 3 1/2 years and truly love the way that I can manipulate the voices
and sounds that I can get. But unless I am missing something in the way I
have the kits set up I get a crash when I hit crash and nothing less. I want
to get the lighter, chimey sounds that I can get with acoustic but have not
gotten even by adding dual zone pads.

I would like to be able to,as I hit the high-hat harder get the slushy
sounds or partially open sounds that you can't seem to get with the current
high-hat pedal/pad combination.

Of course there are many more positives on the Yammy kit than negatives. It
is truly one of the best low end kits I have played. I we all could afford
the V-Drums there would be no need for this list and Nirvana would be
reached :) 

At some point the Visu-lites may be an option ... trying to justify to the
lady of the house is always the first show stopper ... but maybe someday!

Sorry for the equally long response ... I was just flushing out my
frustrations a bit!

Scott


>On Fri, 06 Jun 2003 19:26:35 -0000 "liberatusvirus"
<liberatusvirus@...> wrote.
>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
>
>
>
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