Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

yup, trying to stay awake through them too....
--- "liberatusvirus <liberatusvirus@...>"
<liberatusvirus@...> wrote:
> Good Morning, Vern,
> 
> You hit the nail on the head. What would seem to be
> a 
> straightforward use of the DTX midi function won't
> work with the 
> DTXII. My own experience with a midiKITI and Walt's
> with a PM-16, 
> however, confirm that earlier iterations of the
> Xpress module were 
> most cooperative. I gather that Walt seems to think,
> from your 
> experience and others', that the fault lies with the
> external 
> devices. But our troubleshooting would seem to
> indicate otherwise. A 
> Yamaha "apps specialist" apparently did the midi
> keyboard test for 
> Jade, and it came up unsuccessful, thereby prompting
> him to tell 
> Jade that using an external device with the DTXII
> was impossible. 
> Then he hit Jade with the party line, "DTXpress
> users shouldn't need 
> anything else." The comment was neither sympathetic,
> accurate, nor 
> satisfactory, given, at least, the capabilities of
> other DTXpress 
> modules et al. And why for the life of me would
> Yamaha personnel 
> have to run  essentially the same heuristic test on
> the module that 
> we've been running? Someone at that company designed
> it. You'd think 
> that they'd have a ready answer for so likely a
> question.
> 
> Unless there's something we've overlooked (like the
> proverbial 
> unplugged power cord or the like), this is a major
> flaw in the new 
> DTXII, which would seem to have designed out, by
> error or intention, 
> a selling point of the original DTXpress. Not to
> mention the time 
> and effort that people have invested in their
> exploration of this 
> problem, Jade and UNH have spent a good deal of
> money on something 
> that common sense and precedent would have said was
> well spent. 
> Maybe Jade and UNH will come up with something that
> will rescue us 
> from this puzzle. I hope so. But boy, it's been a
> frustrating ride. 
> Probably as we speak, Professor Walt is busy
> studying manuals and 
> constructing theories.
> 
> Ed
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Vernon Graner"
> <vern@t...> wrote:
> > So, the problem is that the MIDI-kiti cannot be
> set to send 
> specific note
> > numbers from a specific pad? Or are you trying to
> make the 
> DTXpressII
> > play a particular sound on a specific note number
> (i.e. Channel 
> 10, MIDI
> > note C3 makes the sound of a Ride Cymbal)? It
> would seem that you 
> would
> > set the MIDIkiti to channel 10, then assign a note
> number to a pad 
> that
> > matches with the sound map of the DTXpress unit.
> Is there 
> something I'm
> > missing in the setup? In the manual, on page 42
> section 1-6, 
> allows you
> > to assign a MIDI note number to a sound. Would
> this help in your
> > environment (by placing a sound at a note value
> the KITI can 
> transmit)?
> > Maybe I'm just dense here, but I still don't see
> where the failure 
> is. Is
> > it a lack of flexibility of the MIDI-Kiti or is it
> some perceived 
> failure
> > on the part of the DTXpress?
> > 
> > It seems pretty straight forward, set the MIDIkiti
> to the proper 
> midi
> > channel, then tell it what note to trigger and
> then place the MIDI 
> out
> > from the MIDI kiti to the MIDI in of the
> DTXpress... I guess thats 
> not
> > working for you tho. For diagnostics, do you have
> any other MIDI 
> gear
> > around you could use to verify function? Maybe
> hook the MIDI-kiti 
> to a
> > regular midi keyboard and hit the pads to see if
> it makes any 
> sound.
> > Maybe use a MIDI keyboard to drive the DTXpress to
> see if it is
> > accempting external MIDI stuff. I know that if you
> are using the 
> MIDI in
> > jack on the back of the DTXpress, you will have to
> set the Host-
> select
> > switch to MIDI rather than the PC1/PC2/MAC
> settings...  Hmm 
> probably not
> > very helpful here, but trying to be! :)
> > 
> > Vern
> > 
> > -- 
> > Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE     | "If the network is
> down, then you're
> > Senior Systems Engineer     | obviously
> incompetent so why are we
> > Texas Information Services  | paying you? Of
> course, if the network
> > vern@t... www.txis.com  | is up, then we obviously
> don't need
> > Cell 507-7851 Desk 328-8947 | you, so why are we
> paying you?" VLG
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > liberatusvirus said:
> > > Vern,
> > >
> > > Thanks for entering the fray with us. The Boss
> does basically 
> what
> > > Jade and UNH are trying to do with the midikiti
> and pm16,
> > > respectively. I have a midikiti that I use with
> an earlier dtx
> > > module. It works flawlessly. In my case, what I
> have to do is 
> enter
> > > the dtx utility menu to set a new note number
> for each voice I 
> want  to
> > > access from a particular input in the midikiti,
> which has the
> > > facility to store that number for that input. If
> I used the dtx's
> > > default numbers, my kiti voices would change
> every time I 
> changed a
> > > kit on the dtx. Jade's kiti, even reset to
> factory defaults, 
> will  not
> > > take a number from the dtxII and play the voice
> associated with  
> it.
> > > We've (Walt, Jade, UNH, and I) been through hell
> and back 
> trying  to
> > > get the DTXII to do what Walt's and my modules
> do with ease.
> > > Jade's and UNH's midi connections seem to be in
> order (we've been
> > > through this, but I hope the back of the module
> is set ti MIDI).
> > > Pitch is probably not a problem, at least so far
> as I can tell. 
> To
> > > complicate the problem, an apps specialist at
> Yamaha has 
> informed  Jade
> > > that what he wants to do is impossible on the
> DTXII, but we
> > > don't trust that information yet, since it can
> be done on earlier
> > > versions and other Yamaha modules. It's very
> puzzling. I don't 
> think
> > > that Jade or UNH have sequencers. That's the
> basic predicament.
> > >
> > > Ed
> > >
> > > --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Vernon Graner"
> <vern@t...> 
=== message truncated ===


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