Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "gt090170" <gt090170@y...> wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> First post so be gentle with me!
> This may be a naive question. Was thinking of buying a minidisc or 
> Mp3 player. Can recordings made on the dtxpress be downloaded to 
> minidisc or Mp3 player? - if yes, what do you advise is the best 
> option?
> 
> I would also like to make crude recordings of band rehearsals using 
> live drums with minidisc just for analysis purposes. I know some 
> minidisc players have a mic input, how about Mp3 players? - has 
> anyone tried this? is this possible?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi GT,

I'll be up front with you. I don't have much direct experience with 
minidisc and mp3. But I can tell you that anything that can be played 
on the DTXpress module is capable of being recorded through its 
stereo, or mono, output on the back. I know that the higher-end 
minidisc, DAT, hard-drive, and cassette-tape field recorders would be 
able to take the feed from the module, or from live mics during 
practice. Hell, back in the Dark Ages, we used to record our 
practices on a little mono Aiwa tape deck with a built-in condenser 
mic and a limiter. It was a perfectly acceptable tool, not much low 
frequency in evidence, though all of the basic information was there. 
When we graduated to a Studiomaster 4-track recorder, the Aiwa was 
gone but not forgotten. The Studiomaster was so good that I've tried 
recently to get my hands on another one. But it was scarce in the 
first place (Tascam and Fostex owned that market), and Studiomaster 
doesn't make recorders anymore. 

Even a pro-quality, fairly elaborate field cassette recorder, like 
the Marantz PMD-222, would set you back $700 or so, and the minidisc 
recorders (like the PMD-650) go for about a grand. I'm afraid that I 
don't know the market well enough to say whether any cheaper options 
exist that allow live recording. But in this day and age, if money is 
short, you certainly don't have to retreat to the Aiwa-type situation 
of the good old days. 

Here's a couple of suggestions: If recording to a PC via recording 
software isn't an option, you could a four-track cassette recorder 
from Fostex or Tascam, record your live practices with it, and use 
the tapes for analyis. YOu could also do more ambitious studio-type 
recording, by laying down tracks individually, adding effects, and 
bouncing them as necessary. When finished, you could mix down to a 
two-track cassette deck or burn to a CD recorder, either  stand-alone 
or PC. The extant new ones wouldn't break the bank, but a used Tascam 
Portastudio or Fostex 280 etc. would set you back $100, or even less, 
on ebay. Another cost-effective option would be something like the 
Fostex MR-8 digital recorder, which does what the cassette recorders 
used to do, except more conveniently. Though it records only two 
tracks at a time, you could use a mixer to divide the band up. Then 
you could do overdubs for vocals, other instruments, etc. The MR-8 is 
currently selling at a very reasonable $270 at Musicians Friend; the 
version with the CD-burner already attached is relatively affordable, 
too.

Anyway, this is what occurs to me off the top of my head, based on 
your question.

Ed