Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Hello Everyone,

I am a newbie to drums despite my well-over-40 age mark. I just got 
an original DTXpress kit, second hand, with a pedal and stool thrown 
in the bargain. I use this kit in my garage for occasional band 
practice, and for my son's band as well. My daughter likes to bang on 
the kit too. (I play guitar in our band at work but sometimes all of 
us cannot make the practice so it is useful to have a 2nd choice to 
get together during the week.)

I started reading the messages from 1999 onwards, and it is 
illuminating reading on the initial difficulties people have had. 
They are very similar to what I am experiencing (apart from my dismal 
playing ability). Bass pedal setup and sensitivity, snare trigger 
sensitivity/rejection tweaks, stick choices, not having dual-trigger 
sensors, etc. From what I gather I could actually buy upgrades with 
rim triggers if I wanted and they would fit right in. Well, for now, 
I think I am quite happy with what I got for less than 50% of a cost 
of a new kit, although the DTXplorer without the pedal and seat was 
quite close. I got hooked right away learning the backbeat 8/8. A 
major success was experienced when I got able to lift my left foot 
for the hi-hat at the end of every second bar! But I got a severe 
cramp in my right thigh. My left arm is a bit sore too, and I can't 
seem to get the snare to trigger every time I hit it.

I think I need a practice pad for when I am traveling...

I have a couple of specific questions however: 

1) When have the different generations of the DTXpress appeared on 
the market, and are we due to get an "IV" any time soon?

2) Can the original orange brain be upgraded?

3) In the event that I had another version than the original, how 
would I be able to tell? (All the manuals and the brain box 
say "DTXpress" with no version designation as far as I can tell.)

I am glad that this group exists, and I can see the tone of postings 
is good all around. I am looking forward to your respective replies!

Jyrki
from Finland

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "rust_preacher" <rust_preacher@y...> 
wrote:
> I started reading the messages from 1999 onwards, and it is 
> illuminating reading on the initial difficulties people have had. 
> They are very similar to what I am experiencing (apart from my 
dismal 
> playing ability). Bass pedal setup and sensitivity, snare trigger 
> sensitivity/rejection tweaks, stick choices, not having dual-
trigger 
> sensors, etc. From what I gather I could actually buy upgrades with 
> rim triggers if I wanted and they would fit right in. I can't 
> seem to get the snare to trigger every time I hit it.
> I have a couple of specific questions however: 
> 
> 1) When have the different generations of the DTXpress appeared on 
> the market, and are we due to get an "IV" any time soon?
> 
> 2) Can the original orange brain be upgraded?
> 
> 3) In the event that I had another version than the original, how 
> would I be able to tell? (All the manuals and the brain box 
> say "DTXpress" with no version designation as far as I can tell.)
> 
> I am glad that this group exists, and I can see the tone of 
postings 
> is good all around. I am looking forward to your respective replies!

Hi Jyrki,

Welcome to the group. If you read all of our messages from 1999 to 
the present before posting, you must have aged quite a bit since you 
bought your kit. Now that's dedication. As you say, many upgrades are 
available to you as an owner of the first DTXPress. To be simple 
about it, the only ones that aren't fully compatible with what you 
have are the pads that can access three sounds from the module. Your 
unofficial first question about not getting a response from the snare 
every time you hit it can have a multitude of answers, from playing 
technique to programming. Let's leave it for now. You can come back 
to it in another post if the problem persists.

(1) DTXpressI, 1999; DTXpressII, 2002/3?; DTXpressIII, 2004. These 
are my best responses from memory. A mark IV seems unlikely any time 
soon. The III has by no means exhausted its market or its welcome. 
OGD?

(2) The original brain cannot be upgraded internally with new sounds, 
firmware, etc. It is what it is. An upgrade would be a new module.

(3) The first module is identified by the orange faceplate and black 
top. The second has a red face and largely silver top with "DTXpress 
II" written conspicuously on it, and the third continues in that 
tradition. 

Keep the questions coming. Good to have you with us. Maybe we can 
have the annual DTXpress Group Convention at your place this year.

Ed

Hi,
I am a new dtxpress user and did some investigation recently.
In response to some of your questions, see below email I got from yamaha directly.
 
"The major differences will be the DTXPRESSIII will have improved
voices. Better rubber on the pads. Snake cable and new rack system. Our
opinion would be the new DTXPRESS unit over the older one. The warranty
on DTXPRESS units is one year parts and labor. If you have any further
questions, please call us at (714) 522-9000 or email us. Thank you."
 

"The DTXpress was discontinued in 2002 and the DTXpress II wasdiscontinued in 2004. Yamaha Customer Supportycasupport@..."


Also, EMF (ed) helped me alot with being able to tell the difference between the different units. See his recent posts..basically a 3 says 3 on the unit, 2 says 2, and the original says nothing...I had to investigate this because guitar center tried to sell be an original unit as a dtx2. I could have gotten ripped off. Anyway, it didnt competely work and I returned it for a new dtx3.

Good Luck. I am also new to drums  and it sounds like you have had much more progress than my simple banging on the drums.

Garrey

 

 



rust_preacher <rust_preacher@...> wrote:



Hello Everyone,

I am a newbie to drums despite my well-over-40 age mark. I just got 
an original DTXpress kit, second hand, with a pedal and stool thrown 
in the bargain. I use this kit in my garage for occasional band 
practice, and for my son's band as well. My daughter likes to bang on 
the kit too. (I play guitar in our band at work but sometimes all of 
us cannot make the practice so it is useful to have a 2nd choice to 
get together during the week.)

I started reading the messages from 1999 onwards, and it is 
illuminating reading on the initial difficulties people have had. 
They are very similar to what I am experiencing (apart from my dismal 
playing ability). Bass pedal setup and sensitivity, snare trigger 
sensitivity/rejection tweaks, stick choices, not having dual-trigger 
sensors, etc. From what I gather I could actually buy upgrades with 
rim triggers if I wanted and they would fit right in. Well, for now, 
I think I am quite happy with what I got for less than 50% of a cost 
of a new kit, although the DTXplorer without the pedal and seat was 
quite close. I got hooked right away learning the backbeat 8/8. A 
major success was experienced when I got able to lift my left foot 
for the hi-hat at the end of every second bar! But I got a severe 
cramp in my right thigh. My left arm is a bit sore too, and I can't 
seem to get the snare to trigger every time I hit it.

I think I need a practice pad for when I am traveling...

I have a couple of specific questions however: 

1) When have the different generations of the DTXpress appeared on 
the market, and are we due to get an "IV" any time soon?

2) Can the original orange brain be upgraded?

3) In the event that I had another version than the original, how 
would I be able to tell? (All the manuals and the brain box 
say "DTXpress" with no version designation as far as I can tell.)

I am glad that this group exists, and I can see the tone of postings 
is good all around. I am looking forward to your respective replies!

Jyrki
from Finland









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Thanks Ed,

I appreciate the answers you gave to my questions. I think now I can 
skip 5 years worth of archives and speed up to this year's threads.

I am sure I will have a lot more to ask later on. I will have to work 
on my coordination first to be able to do anything else but keep time 
on the bass drum. 

Regarding the convention you mentioned, first of all let me say it 
might be a bit expensive for people to travel all the way to Finland. 
Furthermore, you would be treated to some strange customs we have 
here, such as the traditional sauna rituals that would probably get 
you in jail in some other countries such as the U.S. In 1998, I left 
a news discussion group due to some arguments regarding convention 
manners - I just casually noted that I would not tolerate some of the 
U.S. members' activities that are illegal here, and some of that 
other crowd got inflamed over this issue (recreational drugs). So 
there would be some discussions before such an event ever took place 
in my summer house.

Certainly I will try to get the most out of my kit, now that I know 
more or less what it can do, and as I mentioned, I don't think I will 
reach the limitations of the kit before I advance considerably on my 
skills first. I look forward to the discusions on this group.

Jyrki


--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "emf" <liberatusvirus@y...> wrote:
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "rust_preacher" 
<rust_preacher@y...> 
> wrote:
> > I started reading the messages from 1999 onwards, and it is 
> > illuminating reading on the initial difficulties people have had. 
> Hi Jyrki,
> 
> Welcome to the group. If you read all of our messages from 1999 to 
> the present before posting, you must have aged quite a bit since 
you 
> bought your kit. Now that's dedication. As you say, many upgrades 
are 
> available to you as an owner of the first DTXPress. To be simple 
> about it, the only ones that aren't fully compatible with what you 
> have are the pads that can access three sounds from the module. 
Your 
> unofficial first question about not getting a response from the 
snare 
> every time you hit it can have a multitude of answers, from playing 
> technique to programming. Let's leave it for now. You can come back 
> to it in another post if the problem persists.
> 
> (1) DTXpressI, 1999; DTXpressII, 2002/3?; DTXpressIII, 2004. These 
> are my best responses from memory. A mark IV seems unlikely any 
time 
> soon. The III has by no means exhausted its market or its welcome. 
> OGD?
> 
> (2) The original brain cannot be upgraded internally with new 
sounds, 
> firmware, etc. It is what it is. An upgrade would be a new module.
> 
> (3) The first module is identified by the orange faceplate and 
black 
> top. The second has a red face and largely silver top 
with "DTXpress 

> II" written conspicuously on it, and the third continues in that 
> tradition. 
> 
> Keep the questions coming. Good to have you with us. Maybe we can 
> have the annual DTXpress Group Convention at your place this year.
> 
> Ed

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, Garrey Faller <garreyf@y...> wrote:
> Hi,
> I am a new dtxpress user and did some investigation recently.
> In response to some of your questions, see below email I got from 
yamaha directly.
>  
> "The major differences will be the DTXPRESSIII will have improved
> voices. Better rubber on the pads. Snake cable and new rack system. 
Our
> opinion would be the new DTXPRESS unit over the older one. The 
warranty
> on DTXPRESS units is one year parts and labor. If you have any 
further
> questions, please call us at (714) 522-9000 or email us. Thank you."
>  
> 
> "The DTXpress was discontinued in 2002 and the DTXpress II 
wasdiscontinued in 2004. Yamaha Customer Supportycasupport@y..."
> 
> 
> Also, EMF (ed) helped me alot with being able to tell the 
difference between the different units. See his recent 
posts..basically a 3 says 3 on the unit, 2 says 2, and the original 
says nothing...I had to investigate this because guitar center tried 
to sell be an original unit as a dtx2. I could have gotten ripped 
off. Anyway, it didnt competely work and I returned it for a new dtx3.
> 
> Good Luck. I am also new to drums  and it sounds like you have had 
much more progress than my simple banging on the drums.
> 
> Garrey
> 
>  
> 

Thanks Garrey,

It is good to get the same answer from several sources - basically 
you say the same thing Ed did. Also, it is good to see that there are 
other newbies in the group so I don't feel like I am alone in the 
world of Dave Weckls or Jim Keltners.

Thanks again,

Jyrki