Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Very helpful! Thank you Ed!

I will play around with the choke stuff. God I love MIDI. :) No, 
really I do.

I'll hold onto my II for now. Then just upgrade parts as I get the 
chance. Hopefully, we'll be able to buy the 'brain' by itself.

I'll probably go for another wedge for now then. I don't mind the 
look, and they work well, and the price is right. Maybe the Zenbals, 
that review was helpful too.

Bill

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "emf" <liberatusvirus@y...> wrote:
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "buggoutbill" <wnofi@e...> wrote:
> > Hey guys!
> > I've been skimming this group, which has already helped answer 
alot 
> > of questions. On in particular from 'emf' which answered my hi-
hat 
> > pedal sensativity question. Thanks!
> 
> You're welcome and welcome to the group.
>  
> > But, like any noobie, I still have a few more:
> > 1. I saw the link to drumbalaya.com (wow! great store!) for the 
> > DTXpressIII. How much better will the basic III be than my II? 
Will 
> > the sounds be worth the wait? I can still crate mine back up and 
> > bring it back to Guitar Center in about 25 more days. Unless 
we're 
> > talking more than 3 months for the release of the III.
> 
> We may be talking just over three months for the new kit. The 
> difference in the modules we simply have to take on faith, but I've 
> heard from a very reliable, and impartial, source in the industry 
> that Yamaha's new cymbal sounds represent a genuine improvement. 
The 
> STD version of the III is probably not enough of a departure to 
> warrant a trade-in. But the re-designed, round cymbals, including 
the 
> new hi hat on a tradtional stand, of the IIISP loom large, 
especially 
> the bell/bow/edge PCY 150. The collapsible curved rack for both 
kits 
> is also a nice touch. The good news is that the cymbals are largely 
> backward compatible for the II. OGD has made understanding the 
> innovations his mission. Check his recent posts in December for a 
> fantastic rundown of the various permutations and possibilities. 
You 
> should be able to determine from his detailed analysis whether an 
> immediate upgrade is right for you.
>  
> > 2. I've tried hooking up using MIDI to my EMU XL-7 to use the XL-
> 7's 
> > drum kits/sounds. After some fiddling, I figured out how to 
change 
> > MIDI note values on the DTX to correspond to the XL-7's kits. 
But, 
> > one thing it does not seem to transmit is the cymbal chokes. Is 
> there 
> > a setting on the DTX that I'm missing?
> 
> You deserve a cigar (make it chocolate one) just for figuring out 
how 
> to work with note numbers on the DTXpress on your own. To get the 
> chokes, make sure that the DTXpress is set to allow "note off" 
> or "key off." I can't remember the correct Yamaha terminology.
>  
> > 3. For an extra pad (cymbal), should I just stick with Yamahas? I 
> > want to keep it under $100. Also, is there another hi-hat pedal I 
> can 
> > use with it? Any brand pads I should not or could not use?
> 
> Ah, the thousand dollar question and the two cents answer. If you 
> stay with Yamaha rubber pads, you are at least assured of no 
> incompatability. Almost any other pad will make a noise through the 
> Yamaha module, but you might end up trading response, to one degree 
> or another, for feel. You may also have to do more tweaking to get 
> the settings just right. Many people have had great success with 
the 
> Pintech Zenbals; Stephen Brown, a long-time user of them, has a 
> review in our files section. The beautiful Hart Bronze ECII ride is 
> not recommended because of sensitivity issues, though the crashes 
> seem to work well. The Rolands are hit and miss. The CY-6 is a 
round 
> rubber model that is within your budget; personally, I don't love 
it 
> with Yamaha. The Visu-lites, which I have used with a number of 
> different modules, do very well through the DTXpress module. If you 
> stay with the DTXpress II, you could get yourself a cheap Yamaha 
> wedge cymbal through Drumbalaya's bargain basement or ebay (if 
> available) while waiting for the new cymbals to be released with 
the 
> III.  
> 
> Hope some of this helps.
> 
> Ed