Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Hi you guys,
 
I been learning for only a year now and my kit is too just loud for 
me to practice properly, neighbours, kids etc... I've been 
recommended a Yamaha electronic kit as a good method of learning 
quietly, but it's a lot of money even with trading in my old Premier 
kit. Can anyone out there give me some confidence that I'm doing the 
right thing. I want to play live eventually, but sooner rather than 
later.
 
Richard

Richard,

I sold my old pearl kit and bought a dtxpress for the same reason, 
heres my 2p.

To play e drums live you need a decent amp/speaker set up, if only 
for yourself and other band members to here whats going on, so you 
need to budget for that as well ( or keep your accoustic set )

Have you tried putting mesh heads on your kit? they are cheap and 
realy do cut the sound down whilst still giving the same feel. You 
can then put triggers on the drums and just buy the dtxpress brain.

I have a practice kit made from 8 inch toms with mesh heads and 
triggers, its quieter than the yamaha rubber pads. and the feel is 
better 

You MUST go and play e drums before you get them, even if its a long 
journey. Give them a good thrashing and be critical, it's easy to be 
taken in by the brilliant bright sounds and not think about how you 
are playing. Compare with the roland and ddrum kits if you can.


I don't regret selling my accoustic kit at all, I practice a lot more 
now ( because I can , at 11pm with the rest of the familly asleep ) 
The live sound is awesome (with decent speakers) and I love all the 
different sounds.

hope this helps
Adam



--- In DTXpress@y..., daftasabrushything@y... wrote:
> Hi you guys,
>  
> I been learning for only a year now and my kit is too just loud for 
> me to practice properly, neighbours, kids etc... I've been 
> recommended a Yamaha electronic kit as a good method of learning 
> quietly, but it's a lot of money even with trading in my old 
Premier 
> kit. Can anyone out there give me some confidence that I'm doing 
the 

> right thing. I want to play live eventually, but sooner rather than 
> later.
>  
> Richard

Richard,

I sold my old pearl kit and bought a dtxpress for the same reason, 
heres my 2p.

To play e drums live you need a decent amp/speaker set up, if only 
for yourself and other band members to here whats going on, so you 
need to budget for that as well ( or keep your accoustic set )

Have you tried putting mesh heads on your kit? they are cheap and 
realy do cut the sound down whilst still giving the same feel. You 
can then put triggers on the drums and just buy the dtxpress brain.

I have a practice kit made from 8 inch toms with mesh heads and 
triggers, its quieter than the yamaha rubber pads. and the feel is 
better 

You MUST go and play e drums before you get them, even if its a long 
journey. Give them a good thrashing and be critical, it's easy to be 
taken in by the brilliant bright sounds and not think about how you 
are playing. Compare with the roland and ddrum kits if you can.


I don't regret selling my accoustic kit at all, I practice a lot more 
now ( because I can , at 11pm with the rest of the familly asleep ) 
The live sound is awesome (with decent speakers) and I love all the 
different sounds.

hope this helps
Adam



--- In DTXpress@y..., daftasabrushything@y... wrote:
> Hi you guys,
>  
> I been learning for only a year now and my kit is too just loud for 
> me to practice properly, neighbours, kids etc... I've been 
> recommended a Yamaha electronic kit as a good method of learning 
> quietly, but it's a lot of money even with trading in my old 
Premier 
> kit. Can anyone out there give me some confidence that I'm doing 
the 

> right thing. I want to play live eventually, but sooner rather than 
> later.
>  
> Richard

FWIW I completely agree with Adam - I would only add that in my 
experience the sound equipment required to cope with the output of 
the DTXpress can cost several times the price of the kit - and it's 
very heavy!
Worth it though for the result. 
I've played all sorts of drums in over 30 years of playing - 
including the dear old Simmons kits and have never had so many 
compliments on sound and technique since I started with the DTXpress -
 so it must be doing something right!
Regards,
Will


--- In DTXpress@y..., adam.keen@b... wrote:
> Richard,
> 
> I sold my old pearl kit and bought a dtxpress for the same reason, 
> heres my 2p.
> 
> To play e drums live you need a decent amp/speaker set up, if only 
> for yourself and other band members to here whats going on, so you 
> need to budget for that as well ( or keep your accoustic set )
> 
> Have you tried putting mesh heads on your kit? they are cheap and 
> realy do cut the sound down whilst still giving the same feel. You 
> can then put triggers on the drums and just buy the dtxpress brain.
> 
> I have a practice kit made from 8 inch toms with mesh heads and 
> triggers, its quieter than the yamaha rubber pads. and the feel is 
> better 
> 
> You MUST go and play e drums before you get them, even if its a 
long 
> journey. Give them a good thrashing and be critical, it's easy to 
be 
> taken in by the brilliant bright sounds and not think about how you 
> are playing. Compare with the roland and ddrum kits if you can.
> 
> 
> I don't regret selling my accoustic kit at all, I practice a lot 
more 
> now ( because I can , at 11pm with the rest of the familly asleep ) 
> The live sound is awesome (with decent speakers) and I love all the 
> different sounds.
> 
> hope this helps
> Adam
> 
> 
> 
> --- In DTXpress@y..., daftasabrushything@y... wrote:
> > Hi you guys,
> >  
> > I been learning for only a year now and my kit is too just loud 
for 
> > me to practice properly, neighbours, kids etc... I've been 
> > recommended a Yamaha electronic kit as a good method of learning 
> > quietly, but it's a lot of money even with trading in my old 
> Premier 
> > kit. Can anyone out there give me some confidence that I'm doing 
> the 
> > right thing. I want to play live eventually, but sooner rather 
than 

> > later.
> >  
> > Richard

4 want of not being repetitive, i totally agree with Adam & William except for William's comment on the amplification required. He makes it sound like u need some Spinal Tap gear (yea, it goes to 11 !) I put my DTXP thru' the bands PA and use a Marshall Keyboard combo to fill that out and also as a monitor. Saying that, i'm in the middle of putting 2gether a monitor system that will use 2 monitor speakers mounted on the kit frame facing directly 2wards me and they'll b connected 2 the desk so i get a complete monitor of the whole band pointing in my face. With a little tweaking, i'm sure if u use a PA in a band, this will suffice. I would add that using a good set of cans can help, i recommend Sennheiser EH2200's. Affordable and can take a LOT of input (up 2 64 ohms)
Also, make sure u visit Giles Hearn's site "DTXPressions" and download the software and kits 2 put in2 ur kit once u have it. His "Generic" kit is a fantastic all round kit and forms the base of all my kit designs.

http://www.gihe.fsnet.co.uk/dtxpressions/

DO try 1 b4 u buy, but i'm sure once u've had a go, u'll b opening ur wallet with speed ! My technique has improved no end since i started playing mine in January and the versatility of being able 2 place the pads anywhere u like (i.e my hi-hat is on the right so i can play open handed which allows greater freedom) and the sheer depth of sounds and their "tweekability" means u'll 4ever b able 2 build and tweek 2 ur hearts content.

Good luck, and here's 2 many hours of DTXP'ing !!

Rob.
Peace & B Wild.




--------------------
talk21 your FREE portable and private address on the net at http://www.talk21.com

Yep, I thought someone would say it's over the top!
Depends if you play with bands that have good gear really but as I 
play with allsorts I like to effectively have my own PA - this took a 
great deal of sorting out with EV in Germany and Ohm in the UK among 
others - the problem in the end was just getting a big enough amp to 
stop clipping which was trashing the speakers.
Regards,
Will

--- In DTXpress@y..., lovesign@t... wrote:
> 
> 4 want of not being repetitive, i totally agree with Adam & William 
except for William's comment on the amplification required. He makes 
it sound like u need some Spinal Tap gear (yea, it goes to 11 !) I 
put my DTXP thru' the bands PA and use a Marshall Keyboard combo to 
fill that out and also as a monitor. Saying that, i'm in the middle 
of putting 2gether a monitor system that will use 2 monitor speakers 
mounted on the kit frame facing directly 2wards me and they'll b 
connected 2 the desk so i get a complete monitor of the whole band 
pointing in my face. With a little tweaking, i'm sure if u use a PA 
in a band, this will suffice. I would add that using a good set of 
cans can help, i recommend Sennheiser EH2200's. Affordable and can 
take a LOT of input (up 2 64 ohms)
> Also, make sure u visit Giles Hearn's site "DTXPressions" and 
download the software and kits 2 put in2 ur kit once u have it. 
His "Generic" kit is a fantastic all round kit and forms the base of 
all my kit designs.
> 
> http://www.gihe.fsnet.co.uk/dtxpressions/
> 
> DO try 1 b4 u buy, but i'm sure once u've had a go, u'll b opening 
ur wallet with speed ! My technique has improved no end since i 
started playing mine in January and the versatility of being able 2 
place the pads anywhere u like (i.e my hi-hat is on the right so i 
can play open handed which allows greater freedom) and the sheer 
depth of sounds and their "tweekability" means u'll 4ever b able 2 
build and tweek 2 ur hearts content.
> 
> Good luck, and here's 2 many hours of DTXP'ing !!
> 
> Rob.
> Peace & B Wild.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --------------------
> talk21 your FREE portable and private address on the net at 
http://www.talk21.com

Guys,

Thanks for your input here. I have a set up kit waiting at a shop 
that's only 30 mins drive from here. The man there insisted that I 
try it all out, he'll do some trading for my old kit that will cover 
some of the cost. Amplification is not a problem as I already play 
bass guitar in a band as it is, I have a 350W/channel PA, 200W bass 
amp + 15" loaded cabinet etc at my disposal (i.e. mine and not the 
bands).. I'm sure it'll handle the low end frequencies OK, at least 
for the volume I'll be playing in the short term. The main thing is 
that I should be able to practice with headphones, like now (9.15 
p.m.) with the kids in bed. My main worry was that I'd somehow not be 
learning properly or that my technique, such as it's likely to be, 
would be not suitable for accoustic drums. At least I know now that 
other people have been in the same position and survived.

Cheers,

Richard 


--- In DTXpress@y..., william.sutherland4@b... wrote:
> Yep, I thought someone would say it's over the top!
> Depends if you play with bands that have good gear really but as I 
> play with allsorts I like to effectively have my own PA - this took 
a 
> great deal of sorting out with EV in Germany and Ohm in the UK 
among 
> others - the problem in the end was just getting a big enough amp 
to 
> stop clipping which was trashing the speakers.
> Regards,
> Will
> 
> --- In DTXpress@y..., lovesign@t... wrote:
> > 
> > 4 want of not being repetitive, i totally agree with Adam & 
William 
> except for William's comment on the amplification required. He 
makes 
> it sound like u need some Spinal Tap gear (yea, it goes to 11 !) I 
> put my DTXP thru' the bands PA and use a Marshall Keyboard combo to 
> fill that out and also as a monitor. Saying that, i'm in the middle 
> of putting 2gether a monitor system that will use 2 monitor 
speakers 
> mounted on the kit frame facing directly 2wards me and they'll b 
> connected 2 the desk so i get a complete monitor of the whole band 
> pointing in my face. With a little tweaking, i'm sure if u use a PA 
> in a band, this will suffice. I would add that using a good set of 
> cans can help, i recommend Sennheiser EH2200's. Affordable and can 
> take a LOT of input (up 2 64 ohms)
> > Also, make sure u visit Giles Hearn's site "DTXPressions" and 
> download the software and kits 2 put in2 ur kit once u have it. 
> His "Generic" kit is a fantastic all round kit and forms the base 
of 
> all my kit designs.
> > 
> > http://www.gihe.fsnet.co.uk/dtxpressions/
> > 
> > DO try 1 b4 u buy, but i'm sure once u've had a go, u'll b 
opening 

> ur wallet with speed ! My technique has improved no end since i 
> started playing mine in January and the versatility of being able 2 
> place the pads anywhere u like (i.e my hi-hat is on the right so i 
> can play open handed which allows greater freedom) and the sheer 
> depth of sounds and their "tweekability" means u'll 4ever b able 2 
> build and tweek 2 ur hearts content.
> > 
> > Good luck, and here's 2 many hours of DTXP'ing !!
> > 
> > Rob.
> > Peace & B Wild.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --------------------
> > talk21 your FREE portable and private address on the net at 
> http://www.talk21.com

Richard,

Your technique may change with electronic drums.
The bounce from the pads is good and you will be able to do 
double/triple strokes, buzz rolls etc, The pads are small so your 
accuracy improves, you can gets the pads physically realy close 
together so you can move around the toms a lot easier than on an 
accoustic kit.
One thing that may suffer is your power, you dont need to hit pads 
that hard and so you dont, Because you can get a huge kick drum sound 
from a light tap with the beater my bass drum speed has improved, but 
I know I would not be able to play as fast on an accoutic kit, 
because i dont have the power and speed.

But because you can practice anytime, you will get better.

Re silent practice, the pads may be quiet, but you will still get 
thump from the kick , especially if you are in a room with a wooden 
floor, and this thump will travel around your house. If you can set 
up in a ground floor room with a concrete floor, you get much less .


Cheers
Adam

--- In DTXpress@y..., daftasabrushything@y... wrote:
> Guys,

The main thing is 
> that I should be able to practice with headphones, like now (9.15 
> p.m.) with the kids in bed. My main worry was that I'd somehow not 
be 

> learning properly or that my technique, such as it's likely to be, 
> would be not suitable for accoustic drums. At least I know now that 
> other people have been in the same position and survived.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Richard

Adam's spot on again... exactly my experience too..

One thing I did discover was the disparity between sounds carefully 
set up listening on headphones and then playing live - the DTxpress 
outputs an incredible amount of low frequency sound if you let it - I 
use a signal processor to roll off some of this - not obvious on 
average headphones. You need to try out sounds through an amp as well 
as headphones.  Another thing I noticed was the sensitivity 
switch/knob on the kick post can make a huge difference to the bass 
drum sound - for both better and worse. 
Apart from normal practice I assume everyone else does the same trick 
of feeding a portable CD player into the aux in socket and playing 
along with favourite tracks?
Regards,
Will


--- In DTXpress@y..., adam.keen@b... wrote:
> Richard,
> 
> Your technique may change with electronic drums.
> The bounce from the pads is good and you will be able to do 
> double/triple strokes, buzz rolls etc, The pads are small so your 
> accuracy improves, you can gets the pads physically realy close 
> together so you can move around the toms a lot easier than on an 
> accoustic kit.
> One thing that may suffer is your power, you dont need to hit pads 
> that hard and so you dont, Because you can get a huge kick drum 
sound 
> from a light tap with the beater my bass drum speed has improved, 
but 
> I know I would not be able to play as fast on an accoutic kit, 
> because i dont have the power and speed.
> 
> But because you can practice anytime, you will get better.
> 
> Re silent practice, the pads may be quiet, but you will still get 
> thump from the kick , especially if you are in a room with a wooden 
> floor, and this thump will travel around your house. If you can set 
> up in a ground floor room with a concrete floor, you get much less .
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Adam
> 
> --- In DTXpress@y..., daftasabrushything@y... wrote:
> > Guys,
> 
> The main thing is 
> > that I should be able to practice with headphones, like now (9.15 
> > p.m.) with the kids in bed. My main worry was that I'd somehow 
not 
> be 
> > learning properly or that my technique, such as it's likely to 
be, 
> > would be not suitable for accoustic drums. At least I know now 
that 

> > other people have been in the same position and survived.
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > 
> > Richard