Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Hi folks,

well, I am sitting with a problem amd I am heavily chewing on it.

I have been a user and actually a supporter of Yamaha equipment since
long. I started with a DTXP I, upgraded to DTXtreme I and then to the
DTXPress III. Besides a welath of positives there also always were
some points that dissatisfied me with those models. To summarise:
- The snare trigger problem (hit with both sticks exactly at the same
time, especially on the TP65S snare pad, gives actually a lower
trigger signal or even a dropout - hard to play any Rockabilly, Rock
and Roll stuff with that effect. See also my earlier post related to
that problem)
- The standard rubber pads are too small and do not look that well
(which is mitigated to some extent by the DTXtreme II pads which feel
great to be honest)
- The machine gun effect when playing rolls and similar patterns

So today I went to a newly opened drum store in Germany close to
Hannover which actually only trades e-drums. These guys ("Drum-Tec")
offer 12 sets for rehearsal, all major module and pad brands (Yamaha,
Roland, Ddrum, Pintech, RET, Hart Dynamics, Evans, DDT). I had the
chance to really test all the kits just one after the other and to
share my views with one of the guys from Drum-Tech who showed
competence, experience and a professional attitude.

The final result was that I had to say that the Ddum 4 SE kit
impressed me by far the most. Great feel (rebound, sensitivity/dynamic
repsonse, pad size, look), great sounds (natural, sensitive to how
hard you hit), possibility to download further sounds from the
extensive Clavia library, robust and durable pads and rack - last not
least the price as it is now offered at 2,699 Euros, roughly 1,000
lower than the street price over the last years.

However there are some downsides I would like to hear your views on:
- the rack seemed to stiff to me. Lots off cross talking. Can that be
sorted by parameter settings?
- The cymbal pads appear too be too hard, too small, don´t swing - can
it be combined with cymbals from other manufacturers?
- The sales guy told me that the substantial rebate they grant is due
to the fact that it will be discontinued and they actually had bought
all of the remaining stock. He said that Clavia sold its drums
division to some US company currently working in the acoustic drums
sector. This seems to get announced at the summer NAMM. - Has anybody
heard something about it and would you probably recommend not to buy
as support would be ending soon?

Long story. I am at a loss here and would kindly ask for your support
again that was so valuable over the last two years. Thanks in advance.

Best regards     -Bongo-