Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "joethoden" <joethoden@y...> wrote:

I did play a 
> used Roland set several years ago & liked some of the features it 
> had.  Recently I checked out the new Roland (TD-20 I think) nice 
set 
> but the price is more than I thought it should be even considering 
a 
> deal I could get on the Internet.  

Two good cost-effective alternatives to the TD-20 are the TD-12 
(replaced the TD-8) and the Yamaha DTXtremeIIS. 

I have looked seriously at the 2 One thing I liked about the DTXpress 
II was the ability to 
> get 3 sounds from the tom pads without having to change settings 
(as 
> far as I understand).  Playing the Santana sound involves a regular 
> kit plus a lot of timbales sound mixed in with it.  Having one drum 
> do triple duty sounds good to me.  As far as what I am looking for 
> in users feedback – how sturdy are they – while not touring 
> constantly I want something that will hold up to considerable use & 
> abuse.  

I assume that when you wrote "DTXpressII," you meant the "XtremeIIS." 
It is a simple rule of thumb that more money gets you better 
everything (though there is a law of diminishing returns above a 
certain threshold and when Roland's inflated prices are taken into 
consideration). The IIS is more rugged, and being bigger all around, 
easier to negotiate with music that requires a lot of action from pad 
to pad. But I must say that many road warriors eventually replace the 
stock racks at every price level, whether Roland or Yamaha, for 
something sturdier. You might end up doing so as well, but it 
certainly wouldn't be urgent. The three-sound capability on the IIS 
is helpful, but if you want to incorporate percussion into your kit, 
the IIS' extra inputs allow you make these additions permanent and 
easy both to play and to change during a gig.  

Is it convenient to change from the sound of one kit to 
> another in-between songs or does it take to much time?  

Switching kits on the fly is a snap with the IIS; it can be a pain in 
the neck on the XpressIISP. If you'd rather not reach across in 
medias res to push a small button to get elsewhere, you can use one 
of your pads as a trigger to increment and decrement kit numbers--a 
nice touch but not always a welcome sacrifice on an already small kit.

How do the 
> pads hold up both electronically & physically?  While I am not 
> playing metal anymore sometimes things get physical.  

They largely hold up well. The kick pedal has had some longevity 
problems that you can research at dtxperience.com, or wherever 
DTXtremists congregate. But, in general, the rubber will not fail you.

With an 
> acoustic set you can get so many different sounds depending on 
where 
> you play I wonder if I will lose this ability.  With different 
> styles I use different techniques on the drums such as where & how 
> the head is struck to produce the different sound required.  I have 
> heard the Roland can track the sound like this & I thought someone 
> told me the Yamaha can pick up this also.  

You simply can't duplicate the sensitivity and feel of an acoustic 
kit. What you get instead is a range of sounds that you will never be 
able to exhaust. The Roland implements something called positional 
sensing, whereby a snare (mostly) will be capable of making sounds 
according to where you hit it, like an acoustic drum. The TD-20 seems 
to be fairly successful at it; the TD-8 apparently was not. The first 
Yamaha Xtreme employed positional sensing; the new one doesn't. But 
sound stacking (programming a component to respond to velocity), 
which the Yamaha has in abundance, is a big plus in this respect, as 
well as its electronic method to minimize the machine-gun effect. 
Both the Yamahas and the Rolands have adequate dynamic range, but not 
to the extent of acoustics.
 
I've seen discussions on 
> the H-Hats – getting them to sound natural, responding to the 
> different nuances of playing them – can they?  Many questions, many 
> thoughts, I am just wanting to get input from people who play them 
> on a regular basis, what their likes & dislikes are, problems they 
> may have encountered & how well the factory supports the product.  
> Once again thanks in advance for any comments.

The TD-20 probably takes the cake for hi hat nuance these days. Hi 
hats used to be a real thorn in the side for e-drums, not just the 
sonic realism but the physical setup. Now that many of them are on 
stands, the real-estate situation is much improved. Most of them 
still have a restricted range between open and closed, both in theory 
and in practice. But my favorite hats at this point are the Roland TD-
20 and the long-in-the-tooth ddrum, both of which are proprietary and 
cannot be inserted into other kits. I was impressed and pleasantly 
surprised by the Yamaha Xtreme's hi hat when I played it (as I was 
with the kit as a whole), but I'll let other people make comments, 
since I don't have enough experience with it. Yamaha's responsiveness 
to its consumers is exceptional. This group and its members have had 
an increasingly close relationship with the company, due largely to 
OGD's efforts. No other company comes close in customer relations. 
Yamaha even has its own site and forum for its e-drums--
dtxperience.com.

Ed