Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

coachman6666 said:
> Hi guys, I just got my dtxpress I

Yay! Welcome! :)

>and it has some problems.

boo... :)

> 1.) When I picked up the brain something inside it was
> shaking, is this normal?

uh, no. My unit doesn't make any noise (other than cool drum sounds!) I
would imagine somthing got shaken loose in transit. IIRC, there were some
pictures posted recently showing the inside of the unit. You should have
a look at those to see if you could see whatmight have come loose. In the
meantime, I would be very careful about powering up the unit since
whatever is loose might short somthing inside amnd cause some real
damage. If the unit is under waranty, you might want to see if the seller
will take it back for a replacement.

>  2.) The hi hat has a really really low sound, whereas the other drums
> are nice.

A very common problem. Have a look at the tips/tricks section of this site:

http://www.dtxpressions.com

There's some info there on how to inplrove the sound of the hi-hat.
AFAIK, there is not easy fix for the hi-hat problem, only some parameters
you can tweak to make the hat sound better.

>3.) The entire kit sounded terrible and even at max volume
> wasnt that loud.  (I was using it without an amp, should I buy an amp,
> and if so what kind for about $100)

Not sure what you mean by sounded "terrible" most of us think the kit
sounds pretty darn good. This could be related to the "loose component"
that's rattling around inside your module? As for the unit being very
"quite" I've found the headphone output to be plenty loud for what I'm
doing. This is very subjective though. As for an AMP, it really depends
on what your intended purpose is. For the price range of "$100.00" you're
not going to see much of anything. UNlike a guitar amp, you will need a
pretty large code and a decent amount of power to drive it if you want to
have a reaistic amount of bass in the kick drum. Cheap amps will distort
and sound terrible. It also depends on what your intended audience is. If
the amp is for rehersal in a small room, a small 50 to 75w amp with a 10"
speaker may be plenty. If you intend to use it live, you may need
hundreds of watts and multiple cabinets. Also, thrash rock would have
different power requirements from light lazz/fusion. :) Most edrummers go
with a keyboard amp of some kind for practice and then a small mixer to
allow them to provide their own monitor level for their kit. Placing the
keyboard amp right behind the throne allows you to have a decent amount
of volume and gives the throne a kick during the live gig that can keep
your feel.

> 4.) The hi hat pedel doesnt go off everytime
> press it, its very annoying...

Hmm, maybe you mean the pad doesn't trigger every time you hit it? or
maybe the pedal isn't responding the way you expect? If the former, then
you will need to make adjustments to your module. Look for threads that
deal with "hi hat" and "specific Rejection". We haven't yet built an FAQ,
but it might close to a time to do so. :)

> Also what is the most volume you get when you play yours
> without an amp?

hmm without an amp, you'd get whatever the headphones can deliver. For my
ears, thats plenty. :) I'm not sure I understand what it is you are
looking for here....

>Please help me, is my brain messed up and should I send it back?

Well, lord knows my brain has been messed up on more than one occasion,
but I've never gotten my Mom to honor the warranty. :D I would have to
say that if it's making a "rattling" noise, there's a very good chance
thats somthing is broken in the unit and it should be returned. If it
turns out that a batter is loose or a nut came off a standoff, it might
be easy to repair. If it turns out to be a component that is used in the
headphone amp section, then it could be the source ofthe problems you
seem to be having with sound level.

On a side note, when anyone gets a new DTXPressII, the VERY FIRST THING
you should do is a FACTORY RESET. This cures amy strange MIDI problems
that have plagued other owners..

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@... 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

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