Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

I just set up a CY-5 with my DTXpress III kit (standard, not the 
Special).  

The drum manager at the local Sam Ash was gracious enough to let me 
take a CY-8 off a Roland floor demo and attach it to a Yamaha demo 
of my kit to see if I could get it to work.  After playing around 
with it a bit, I found that the output signal wasn't quite as strong 
as on the Yamaha pads, but I found a setting (trigger type Misc 2 
with the gain at 99%) that worked well enough as a starting point.  
The beat-up CY-8 didn't trigger consistently, but I felt it was 
worth a shot to order the CY-5, especially at Sam Ash's price ($65 
USD).

It arrived at the shop in less than a week (I'm in SoCal). I also 
picked up a Roland MDH-10U hatched tom mount to secure it to and 
quickly headed home.  The pad comes with the hardware to use a tom 
mount or a cymabal mount, as well as a stereo cable. I started with 
the same settings I used with the CY-8 at the store and found the 
same triggering issues, but once I lowered the minimum velocity for 
the input to 16% and fiddled with the velocity curve a bit, I'm very 
happy after about an hour's worth of playing with my purchase.  It 
feels world's better to play than a rubber pad, and it's nice to 
have different bow and edge hihat sounds to play.  Oh, and after 
trying it in one of the cymbal inputs, I found that the choke 
function works perfectly also!

So far, so good, but only time will tell how well it holds up to my 
novice abuse (technique -- can't I just order some on-line??!?!)...

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "geerayman" <guidoracer@...> wrote:
>
> I just set up a CY-5 with my DTXpress III kit (standard, not the 
> Special).  ...
> 

That is interesting.  What is the CY-5 made of if it isn't rubber?  (I
have never seen one).  I contunually wonder what would make a better
hi-hat for the DTXpress (I use a PCY65 for the Hi-Hat).

Keith.

It's round and has a rubber-coated wedge-shaped playing suface over a 
plastic body. What's a little different about it is that even though 
it is 10" in diameter, the off-set mounting hole gives you the 
equivalent playing surface of a 12" cymbal (the hole is offset 1").  
Okay, maybe it isn't that cool -- heck, our PCY65s are even much more 
efficient in that manner.  When using the CY-5 as a splash on a cymbal 
stand mount, the mounting method lets it pivot forward and back.  When 
using it as a hihat, the tom mount hardware lets you adjust how much 
motion it has while key notches in the pad, felt, and lower plate keep 
the thing from rotating.

I really like that it has some motion when playing.  When doing my kit 
shopping, I took a hard look at the latest in the TD-3 line.  They now 
come with the CY-5 as a hihat and a mesh snare. But the module is 
practically brain-dead compared to the DTX3U.  We were able to get the 
DTXpressIII for $750 new, and I wasn't about to let my wife spend more 
on a kit with a lesser brain.  But I really like the feel on the CY-5 
in the demo kit I checked out.  I was prepared to use a PCY65S, but 
this Roland setup was cheaper and available without having to deal 
wiht mailorder.  I got the pad and mount for $89 (before tax).  A 
PCY65S and another CYAT65 would have been $104 -- only a few bucks 
more, I know, but every bit helps.  

I've read that many of you have used a PCY successfully for HH duty, 
I'm new to this e-drum world, and I kind of liked the challenge of 
seeing if I could get that Roland part to world. Maybe my old Roland 
SPD-8 pads won't be so jealous now, knowing that it has a second 
cousin five-times-removed in the setup.


--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Keith" <keith@...> wrote:
>
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "geerayman" <guidoracer@> wrote:
> >
> > I just set up a CY-5 with my DTXpress III kit (standard, not the 
> > Special.  ...
> > 
> 
> That is interesting.  What is the CY-5 made of if it isn't rubber?  
(I

> have never seen one).  I contunually wonder what would make a better
> hi-hat for the DTXpress (I use a PCY65 for the Hi-Hat).
> 
> Keith.
>

Thanks for the information.  The CY-5 sounds like a bit of a bargain -
unusual for Roland.  The Yamaha CYAT65 is also quite pricy whereas the
Roland equivalent is cheaper.

Keith.

The list on it is $95, and most on-line places I've seen have it for 
$80-$85.  I was very, very surprised that Sam Ash had it for $69, so I 
couldn't pass it up.  They are marketing it as a cheap hihat cymbal 
(as in the TD-3SW kits) or as a cheap splash.  Either way, you get bow 
and edge triggering, and chokability, so it really is a bit of a 
bargain.  Who would have thought?

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Keith" <keith@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the information.  The CY-5 sounds like a bit of a 
bargain -
> unusual for Roland.  The Yamaha CYAT65 is also quite pricy whereas 
the

> Roland equivalent is cheaper.
> 
> Keith.
>