Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

June 1st.  Good Wed.!

Bry from Indiana (so. part) here.  Just bought a used (traded in) 
DTX III.  So far (a couple of days) i've had a little trouble with 
it, but I expected things to be different until I got used to it and 
found my way by trial and error.

In the 70's I played in garage bands (early 70's) then in the mid to 
late 70's (after finding Christ) played drums for a gospel group. 
Went to college (backslid,too), got married, a job, etc. and with 
apartments,smaller houses, etc., kept my HUGE Slingerland set in 
storage.  Last time I had them out was my wedding reception (played 
at my own!).  After 23 years of marriage and not giving church much 
thought I started reading and thinking and have gone back with a 
fervor.  As such, I wanted to start playing drums in church again. 
My present church is SO SMALL (downright tiny)and has no music 
(well, cd's)but I want to play drums eventually.  Thus, the only way 
to get started was to get a small, compact travelling digital kit.  

Made the first move last weekend by trading my behemoth 
Slingerland's in for the used DTX III.  I'm sure the dealer has 
contacts and can get much more for the Slingerland's than he gave me 
in trade, but...    I got a new Hartke amp as trade.   Also, had 
been wanting a "cheater" pedal for years (played double bass in 
garage bands) so I got a Pearl.   

Now, to problems so far.   The volume (headphones) isn't nearly as 
loud as I want it.  Especially on a couple of the pads.  They are 
almost silent and so far I haven't been able to adjust it.  

There wasn't a manual with the kit, so I managed to d/l one and have 
been studying it.  Looks like there might be a switch or something 
mising from the back Input Attenuation (what does that do?) Would 
that be a possible cause?  

I don't want midi or any of the strange (at least to me) kits.  I 
just wanted a SMALL, PORTABLE, drum kit.  I'll have to learn to 
adapt and live with the differences between this and old style drums.
I'm hoping that as a member of this list that i'll find advice and 
get input on help doing that. 

Sorry to have rambled in my first post.

Sincerely,

Bry  (Huntingburg, Indiana)

Bry,

Welcome. A factory reset probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start with.

I would expect all the attenuation switches to be down on a standard
setup.  

If you select the trigger edit (shift+trig edit) then page down you
will be able to see what percentage of maximum you are registering
when you hit each of the pads.  If that looks OK (i.e. you can get
near 99%) then you may have to increase the individual voice volume. 
In particular, the hi-hats can be a little quiet.

Keith.

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "bjthomas44" <nthomas@f...> wrote:
> Now, to problems so far.   The volume (headphones) isn't nearly as 
> loud as I want it.  Especially on a couple of the pads.  They are 
> almost silent and so far I haven't been able to adjust it.  
> 
> There wasn't a manual with the kit, so I managed to d/l one and have 
> been studying it.  Looks like there might be a switch or something 
> mising from the back Input Attenuation (what does that do?) Would 
> that be a possible cause?  

Bry,

I'll expand a little on Keith's points. After your factory reset, 
switch into Live Mode, as opposed to Practice Mode, if you aren't 
there already (look in the Utility menu). You can control volume 
levels from the front panel better that way. Also, raise the master 
global volume to the maximum ( I think in the Voice Menu, possibly 
under Common Parameters). The individual pads also have volume 
registers in Voice that you can use to balance them. 

The headphones that you use with the kit are critical for acceptable 
volume. You need them to have low impedance, less than 100, and high 
sensitivity. If they are studio phones, they will also be a closed 
design, which will help to keep competing noise out of the mix. Many 
walkman-type phones or otherwise good consumer-audio phones won't cut 
it in this context.

In the last resort, depending on your preference, you might benefit 
from a headphone amp or a mixer, but we don't have to go there yet.

Ed

Bry,

Headphone choice is probably the most critical to the
volume and sound quality. I have 2 different sets of
Sony studio headphones that work great. I don't have
any sound or volume issues. I've seen these on ebay
ranging from $15 to $60 used, to $35-$85 new. 

To add to Ed's suggestions,when I first got my used
set, the guy said to use this little amplifier that he
included becuase he could'nt get satisfactory volume
from his headphones. It was called a "BosstaRoo."
Radio Shack and similar places have them. They cost
like $10 or $15. That fixed the problem becuase he had
cheaper headphones. But with the Sony headphones, I
get good volume and disconnected the booster. 

Most important, follow Ed's suggestions first, which
should be done anyways to see if its a hardware or
settings issue. Ed's knows his stuff!

Post your results to what steps you took and if it
solved the issue.

Ern

To add to Keith's thoughts, check the volume switch on each individual
trigger pad. You will need a little screwdriver for this. Clockwise
turns it up, and counterclockwise down. I've read that if its set too
high, that it might also trigger other heads when hitting that pad. I
had that problem with my barpad(BP80). I turned it to just about 3/4
of the way, and it solved my issue. 

So, play with the control to get it right. 

And by the way, welcome to the group.

Ern

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Keith" <keith@k...> wrote:

> Bry,
> 
> Welcome. A factory reset probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start with.
> 
> I would expect all the attenuation switches to be down on a standard
> setup.  
> 
> If you select the trigger edit (shift+trig edit) then page down you
> will be able to see what percentage of maximum you are registering
> when you hit each of the pads.  If that looks OK (i.e. you can get
> near 99%) then you may have to increase the individual voice volume. 
> In particular, the hi-hats can be a little quiet.
> 
> Keith.

I made a typo...the booster is called a "BoostaRoo."

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, Ernie Vega <sternern@y...> wrote:

> Bry,
> 
> Headphone choice is probably the most critical to the
> volume and sound quality. I have 2 different sets of
> Sony studio headphones that work great. I don't have
> any sound or volume issues. I've seen these on ebay
> ranging from $15 to $60 used, to $35-$85 new. 
> 
> To add to Ed's suggestions,when I first got my used
> set, the guy said to use this little amplifier that he
> included becuase he could'nt get satisfactory volume
> from his headphones. It was called a "BosstaRoo."
> Radio Shack and similar places have them. They cost
> like $10 or $15. That fixed the problem becuase he had
> cheaper headphones. But with the Sony headphones, I
> get good volume and disconnected the booster. 
> 
> Most important, follow Ed's suggestions first, which
> should be done anyways to see if its a hardware or
> settings issue. Ed's knows his stuff!
> 
> Post your results to what steps you took and if it
> solved the issue.
> 
> Ern

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Ernie Vega" <sternern@y...> wrote:
> To add to Keith's thoughts, check the volume switch on each individual
> trigger pad.

Wow, I forgot about those, mainly because I have never adjusted them!

Keith.