Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Hi Darren,

yes, yes, yes and yes.

Anyway, let me try to attack your questions.  First,
you should be able to do the bi-directional MIDI stuff
you mentioned.  Many users interface with other
devices (or with software like Cakewalk) to export the
drum hits, and also send MIDI info to the xpress for
it to produce the sounds.  

Gigging and studio use are also things members have
experience with.  For gigging you may find over time
that some of the hardware - especially the plastic
clamps may need upgrading (someone recently posted
that in real cold weather, it is easy for them to
crack if you don't let them warn up before tightening.
 They are of a standard size so Gibraltar clamps work
too.  These plastic clamps are common on all of the
lower priced kits, so you can't avoid them.  I even
met a drummer using a DTXpress on a recent cruise - so
they're even sea-worthy!

As far as being able to upgrade pads, this is do-able,
but many us have found compatibility issues with some
of the hardware that is out there.  Usually it can be
resolved with parameter tweaking - sometimes it takes
discussion with the manufacturer of the device.  I
have used Roland PD-80s, Pintech mesh head pads, Hart
Ecymbal IIs and a bunch of other stuff.  The Hart ride
and HH were among the 'problem children', but the
others worked good.

Walt
--- darren <darren.hussey@...> wrote:
> hello, i'm new here and about to buy a dtexpress II
> (i'm pretty sure
> anyway). Unfortunately there is nowhere within a
> hundred miles of where I
> live that stocks all the different edrum kits to
> play and compare, which
> sucks obviously. So I am going to get one sent, and
> as a result of a weeks
> worth of exhaustive research, I seem to have decided
> on the dtexpress II but
> wanted to check a few facts with you guys before i
> go for it:
> 
> Am I right in saying that there is no way of
> assigning drums to discrete
> outputs, so that (for example) you can let a live
> engineer balance your kik
> and snare the way he feels is right from front of
> house? does that mean it
> is literally stereo only output? Does this mean that
> during a soundcheck, if
> the engineer is moaning that he's not getting enough
> kik, I would have to
> start trawling through menus and punching buttons to
> turn it up?
> 
> There are two things that i would like to use midi
> for, can i just briefly
> mention them and see if its possible? here goes;
> firstly i would like the
> ability to play a drum track and transmit the midi
> data to a sequencer for
> firing better sounds from a sampler at mixdown. I'm
> sure it can do this but
> is there any limitation? does it transmit absolutely
> everything that it
> recieves such as high hat pedal changes etc?
> Secondly I would like to do the same in reverse,
> i.e. to allow an external
> sequencer to play the kit from a midi file of me
> playing the song at an
> earlier time. Is that facility good enough for live
> use? because sometimes
> i'm required on guitar, and short of growing limbs
> this seems a good
> solution.
> 
> One more thing, i've not managed to find out the
> extent of the
> cross-manufacturer compatibility and because i am
> new to this lark i'm not
> sure i fully understand what goes on. Could I
> replace those funny pie shaped
> cymbals with a v-cymbal at a later date? Likewise if
> I wanted to upgrade to
> a mesh head snare from a competitors range, is it
> compatible?
> 
> Lastly, I know this is a bit of a stupid question,
> but could I possibly get
> some opinions about whether this kit is generally
> good enough for live and
> studio use. I will be a bit dissapointed if i end up
> suffering from machine
> gun rolls and stolen notes etc etc. I guess I need
> to cut through all the
> marketing hype and biased reviews and ask some real
> people - is this an
> interesting and fun practice kit, or is this a
> seriously decent drumming
> tool? I really dont want to fork out for one of the
> kits that cost
> three/four times the price but in fact dont sound
> any better, plus i'm a bit
> of a yamaha fan!
> 
> many thanks in advance for any info
> 
> 


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