Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "quarlofx" <quarlo@e...> wrote:
> I have one last (yeah, sure!) question regarding user opinions on
> playing with a monitor versus headphones only.  I realize this takes
> me into the Noise Inducement Zone (the avoidance of which has 
prompted
> me to look at electronic kits in the first place), but I'd just like
> to find out what real, live e-drummers prefer.  I also understand 
this
> is a wonderfully subjective matter, but I'd be very grateful for any
> and all opinions.  How limiting is it (if at all) playing with
> headphones only?
> 
> Thanks, again, for all of your excellent help.  

FX,

I love the question, and I hope it starts the elaborate thread that 
it deserves. IMO, on a level playing field, the obvious sincere hedge 
is that it depends on what your values are. For very close audition 
of sound, either to evaluate the quality of samples or simply to pay 
audiophile attention, nothing beats headphones--good headphones. 
Isolating the larger environment from the feed is the only way to 
evaluate sound quality. And if you're practicing along to sources 
like CDs, with a little effort you can get a recording-like mix, a 
genuine advantage of edrums. 

On the other hand, when you open yourself up to a room, you 
automatically start losing fidelity; the frequency response curve can 
go haywire with wall reflections and room nodes. Settings on a 
module, mixer, and/or effects unit that worked to perfection through 
cans can sound terrible when amped, particularly at the frequency 
extremes. When the quality of amp/speakers enters into the matter, 
the variables increase even further. Cymbal sizzles, snare cracks, 
and tom/kick thumps are heavily dependent on the parts, power, and 
design of the ancillary components, as well as the room. More than 
one person has been deceived about how good an e-kit can sound by 
poor amplification. You also have to turn these things up fairly loud 
to get what you want (at the risk of overdriving them, which makes 
them sound dreadful; amps with a lot of power and big power supplies 
sound better at lower levels), and we all know the can of worms that 
opens up. 

In short, phones will never be able to duplicate the roar of your kit 
when it's let out of its cage. But experiencing that kind of thrill 
from e-drums through amplification comes at a price on a number of 
fronts. I, for one, don't feel that I've lost anything through 
headphones. The sense of isolation works for me, in a way that it 
doesn't necessarily work for me even with recorded material (which 
has some of the necessary control, though not all, built into it). 
Amplified drums in a small space (or a large one) can be unruly 
beasts.

Ed