Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "fezzasus" 
<could_people_stop_being_funny_please@h...> wrote:
 
> to be honest i dont like the sounds from te DTX much, i am 
> looking for better snare and cymbal sounds - does the DM5 offer 
> these? - i have decided the best way to get around the mono only 
> thing is split the sterio cables into two mono ones so i can 
> assign them as completly different voices on the DM5 - i am sure 
> adaptors can be purchased to do that..

Tom,

Cymbals seem to be the failing, one extent or another, of every 
module. I'm not wild about everything I've heard on the TD10. Before 
I got the Visu-lites, I liked a few of the crashes and a couple of 
the rides on the Xpress module (I wish there were a good ping), but I 
couldn't get any oomph out of them. Plus, when unaccompanied by music 
to mask them a little, they sounded synthetic and artificial. As for 
the hats, I like a bright, snappy sound; the closest to it for me on 
the Xpress is a tweaked GM Jazz hat, which I like, though, again, I 
wish it had more body. That said, the Visu-lites made a great 
difference to the cymbals that I was already disposed to like. A 
couple of us brought the matter up on the board earlier this year. It 
may be something about the way energy is transmitted across the 
acylic or the design of the pickups, but the Yamaha samples seem to 
come across better on them. It's definitely a personal thing, but I'm 
curious to hear if other people have the same impression. Jade, for 
one, has said as much.

To my mind, the snares on the DTX's are a little harsh and limited in 
dynamic range. I'm waiting for the electronics to be able to 
reproduce lightest strokes with subtlety and to distinguish he mid to 
hard ones with a little more grace. 

I'm assuming that you're talking about the DTXv2.0, but for the 
purposes of the question, it doesn't matter. You can't get around the 
matter of feeding a mono module, like the DM5 stereo signals, by 
splitting the feeds or getting an adaptor. For all intents and 
purposes, the stereo pads made by Yamaha, Roland, and Pintech are 
glorified mono pads. Their single piezo pickup are simply able to 
accomodate a second (or third) voice due to an FSR (or two) on the 
rim, which functions basically as a toggle. Only modules built to 
accept this particular design can handle it. Alesis modules can't. A 
stereo pad played through one will get only the body sound, not the 
rim or edge. Dual-zones pads, like the Pintech ConcertCasts or the 
Visu-lite dual-zone rides, however, are constructed to be split into 
two mono inputs, or a single input like the 9/10 on the Xpress, via a 
TRS Y cable, and the equivalents on the DTXv2.0 and the Rolands. 
 
> so.. should i go for the DM5 or look at other ideas?

I've heard some people say that they like the DM5 cymbals better than 
Yamahas. Let's see if anyone wants to go out on a limb here. Can you 
listen to the module anywhere? You should listen to anything that you 
can afford, if you can. You could also go the sampler route, which 
will cost you some money.

Ed