Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Jay" <jayluv6@y...> wrote:
> ok, i may be missing something here, but how do you roll on a cymbal
> without it sounding like banging on a cheapa$$ keyboard? is there 
any
> way to make it sound natural? this is the first flaw i've seen with
> the DTX so far, and it's a pretty big one. along the same lines,
> choking the cymbal sounds completely fake as well. what's the deal? 
is
> there any way to make those crashes sound like a real cymbal?
> 
> and if you haven't checked it out yet, download my song
> (01_01-04-2004.mp3 in the MP3 folder). i'm dying for some 
feedback!!!

I agree. Cymbal rolling is a weakness of the DTXpress module. The 
module seems unable to compensate for the fact that each new strike 
of an e-cymbal, unlike that of an acoustic cymbal, is a completely 
new event, without the benefit of the natural vibration and decay of 
the one that preceded it. Experimenting with the decay setting in the 
voice menu might help a little bit, and certain cymbal sounds may be 
incrementally better than others, but the machine-gun effect 
generally remains in evidence. If it's any consolation, I've noticed 
that the brand of cymbal can make a difference as well (but don't ask 
me to explain how). The choking seems fake because it is . . . well, 
fake. I never thought that it was so bad, though, except for unwanted 
chokes, which is bad enough. But apparently the PCY65S is better in 
that respect than the 80S. The more expensive modules tend to handle 
these functions more gracefully. Once the bit and sampling rates 
improve, and samples begin either to carry more information or to 
link up with better effects, cymbal rolling at a modest price should 
become more realistic. Ddrum, for example, is much more convincing in 
that regard, despite having only an 18 bit engine.

Ed