Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Russell,
I can't help with the noise issue...Sorry.
But, regarding the HiHat  thing, the 'closed' voices are factory set 
with the decay time too short. They sound choked. I think they are set 
to about 40. If you change them to 36 or so, they come to life. Also, 
if you set the 'open' sound to decay FASTER, you get a much smoother 
transition between closed and open.. very natural. Also, I raise the 
pitch on the hats, just a little. you have to raise it the same on all 
the functions... closed, open, splash, etc.
The toms sound more natural to me un-layered. BUT, the reason I went 
to electronics, was the big, fat concert sound. You really have to 
layer to get this effect. The one thing that can do the most for your 
perception of the actual sound the kit is producing, is good 
headphones or a good amp. It makes a HUGE diffefence.A tom that sounds 
thin and unpleasing may come to life with a good amp. And fidelity is 
more important than volume.
Snares have to be layered.And cross-fading is a good thing with snare.
Cymbals sound good too with cross fading. On a real crash, a soft hit 
sounds different than a hard smash. not just volume, but sound. You 
can approximate this with cross-fading.A washy ride at low velocity, 
changing to a more pingy sound when played harder will make the rides 
sound more natural, too.
Scott


--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Russell" <rpb1966@n...> wrote:
> I recently bought a To-Host serial lead for my DTXExpress 2,I 
> installed the drivers for it from the Yamaha web site,the lead works 
> fine but Im a bit annoyed with the amount of digital noise it gives 
> off whilst monitoring the DTXpress through my mixer,as soon as I 
> unplug the lead from the back of my DTXpress,the noise has 
> gone,whilst recoring and playback in Cakewalk Sonar the digital 
> noise reduces to a very minimal amount,I just wanted to know has 
> anyone else had this problem?.
> 
> What is the best and safest way to dump kits to DTXchange I have 
> tried it but its not saving my kits properly.
> 
> Also has anyone managed to program some really good Hi-Hats for the 
> DTXpress,I must admit that the factory presets for the Hi Hats are a 
> bit sad to say the least,the decay times are far too high,I have 
> managed to program a few layered Hi-Hats and I must admit they are 
> the best ones I have heard yet,they do seem to be very life like,I 
> also think that when you have dual layered a complete kit,it does 
> change from being drab (lets face it the presets kits are not that 
> brilliant are they?)to very,very impressive and very 
> playable,everything seems to come to life.Very natural.NICE!!!!!.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Russell Butterfield