Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "moosetication" <moosetication@y...> 
wrote:
> the sound on the Crillan solo cranked up through the 5.1 
> system on the PC is stupendous. I'm very jealous, and 
> wondering about saving pennies for a used ddrum module. I suspect 
> the new Yamaha will be extortionately expensive for a while, and 
may 
> not be *that* superior to the ddrum.

I envy you the 5.1 on your PC. On the matter of superiority, the 
ddrum4 system has always appealed to me because of its simplicity, 
its analog triggering stage, its method of sampling, and its jaw-
dropping sounds. There is a downside, however, though it has nothing 
to do with the general quality, which is unbeatable. The flash memory 
is way too small for the size of the Clavia library, and downloading 
through MIDI is a tedious affair. Plus, you can't augment the module 
with an external trigger device because the ddrum is limited to ten 
sounds/ten inputs; you need a second module even for a fairly modest 
kit. But those sounds make up for any inconvenience. 

My money (well, not my money) is on the new Yamaha module to be a 
killer, with a range of capabilities that will far surpass ddrum's 
(even the much-rumored ddrum5), but I reckon it will cost in the area 
of $2000 for a long time. If you can do without some of the MIDI 
features, extra inputs, and possibly onboard sampling capacity, and 
are in the market for a module, I would wholeheartedly recommend the 
ddrum (c. $800 these days for the 1.50 OS used; c. $700 for 1.32-
1.40, which are just as good if you don't use triggered acoustics or 
Clavia's own meshes). No matter what Yamaha accomplishes, it won't 
have the benefits of Clavia's methodology. It simply becomes a matter 
of one man's meat. Personally, I'd love to have both options.
 
> Oh, and speaking of Mel Gaynor - small world department: saw 
> Matchbox20 at Wembley couple of weeks ago, and they did a 
remarkably 
> good cover of Don't You (Forget About Me).

My favorite era for Simple Minds (and Mel Gaynor), in fact my only 
era, was the early period of Up on the Catwalk, Waterfront, East at 
Easter, etc., in which the music had lots of room to breath, leaving 
space for the drums to resound. And Mel Gaynor could resound in those 
days, while doing some inventive timekeeping. He's probably even 
better now, but I haven't heard him since.

Ed