Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

hi,

i have an old dtxpress drum kit. i mostly use my laptop + a drum 
sampler called battery 3 to make drum tracks, though. my current midi 
controller is a cheap m-audio keyboard. while playing drums with your 
fingers is a whole lot of fun, what i wanted to know is whether or not 
i can hook up my dtxpress directly to my laptop and use it as a midi 
controller? (ie be able to play live on the drum kit, and have it send 
the correct midi messages to battery 3, letting me use their sound 
banks?)

i checked out the dtxpressions.com page and all the stuff i found on 
midi pertained to uploading kits and saving them on your computer. 
while this is promising, i'd like to know for sure i can do what i 
want before buying a midi-to-usb cable.

any advice/confirmation would be very greatly appreciated. also has 
anyone found a pdf version of the dtxpress manual? i'd love to run 
through that.

I can't help you with the midi stiff (although I am fairly sure that
it is possible to do what you ask - hopefully someone will confirm
it), but the manuals can be downloaded from here:

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/index.php

Just type in DTXpress and it will list the manuals for the different
versions.

Keith.

Hi, Yes it can be done. I use an M-audio usb uno. Make sure your selector switch on the back of your DTX controller is set to midi. Fire up Battery, load up

Hi Dave,

Thanks so much. Keith - I found the links to the manuals, thank you 
for that. I'm glad this is a possibility. I'm picking up an uno this 
afternoon, and then get to fool around with DTX voices vs midi note 
numbers in battery. 

Just out of curiosity (I'm at work and don't have Battery here in 
front of me), do you know where I go in Battery to see what midi 
note numbers are assigned to what?

Thanks again, this is all very encouraging. Hopefully everything 
will go smoothly.

-DS

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "dc" <carrda@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>  
> Yes it can be done. I use an M-audio usb uno. Make sure your 
selector
> switch on the back of your DTX controller is set to midi. Fire up
> Battery, load up your kit in Battery. Now here comes the fun part. 
You
> have to edit the voices on the DTX  to correspond with the midi 
note
> numbers in Battery. You'll find that info in the Drum Kit Voice 
edit
> mode section in the manual. It's a little time consuming, but well 
worth
> it. Have fun :}
>  
>  
> Dave
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DTXpress@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Keith
> Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 9:46 AM
> To: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [DTXpress] Re: dtxpress & midi
>  
> I can't help you with the midi stiff (although I am fairly sure 
that
> it is possible to do what you ask - hopefully someone will confirm
> it), but the manuals can be downloaded from here:
> 
> http://www.yamaha. 
<http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/index.php>
> co.jp/manual/english/index.php
> 
> Just type in DTXpress and it will list the manuals for the 
different

> versions.
> 
> Keith.
>

Hi Keith, Right on the top bar of each (see screenshot attached). Ie C1 C#1 D1 etc. As I said it is a little time consuming setting up each pad in the DTX but

Thanks again, Dave,

The attachment says 'Not Stored' but I'm sure I can figure this out. 
If you happen to have another way of posting the screenshot please 
do - greatly appreciated.

-DS

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "dc" <carrda@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Keith,
>  
> Right on the top bar of each (see screenshot attached). Ie C1 C#1 
D1
> etc.
>  
> As I said it is a little time consuming setting up each pad in the 
DTX
> but well worth it. Have fun.
>  
>  
> Dave
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DTXpress@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of selfcase
> Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 10:59 AM
> To: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [DTXpress] Re: dtxpress & midi
>  
> Hi Dave,
> 
> Thanks so much. Keith - I found the links to the manuals, thank 
you 
> for that. I'm glad this is a possibility. I'm picking up an uno 
this 
> afternoon, and then get to fool around with DTX voices vs midi 
note 
> numbers in battery. 
> 
> Just out of curiosity (I'm at work and don't have Battery here in 
> front of me), do you know where I go in Battery to see what midi 
> note numbers are assigned to what?
> 
> Thanks again, this is all very encouraging. Hopefully everything 
> will go smoothly.
> 
> -DS
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroup <mailto:DTXpress%40yahoogroups.com> 
s.com,
> "dc" <carrda@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> > 
> > Yes it can be done. I use an M-audio usb uno. Make sure your 
> selector
> > switch on the back of your DTX controller is set to midi. Fire up
> > Battery, load up your kit in Battery. Now here comes the fun 
part. 
> You
> > have to edit the voices on the DTX to correspond with the midi 
> note
> > numbers in Battery. You'll find that info in the Drum Kit Voice 
> edit
> > mode section in the manual. It's a little time consuming, but 
well 
> worth
> > it. Have fun :}
> > 
> > 
> > Dave
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: DTXpress@yahoogroup <mailto:DTXpress%40yahoogroups.com> 
s.com
> [mailto:DTXpress@yahoogroup <mailto:DTXpress%40yahoogroups.com> 
s.com]
> On
> > Behalf Of Keith
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 9:46 AM
> > To: DTXpress@yahoogroup <mailto:DTXpress%40yahoogroups.com> s.com
> > Subject: [DTXpress] Re: dtxpress & midi
> > 
> > I can't help you with the midi stiff (although I am fairly sure 
> that
> > it is possible to do what you ask - hopefully someone will 
confirm
> > it), but the manuals can be downloaded from here:
> > 
> > http://www.yamaha. 
> <http://www.yamaha. 
<http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/index.php>

> co.jp/manual/english/index.php>
> > co.jp/manual/english/index.php
> > 
> > Just type in DTXpress and it will list the manuals for the 
> different
> > versions.
> > 
> > Keith.
> >
>

there you go Dave ... From: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DTXpress@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of selfcase Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 1:39 PM To:

Try this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v345/keith1200rs/Tests/Battery.jpg?t=1182971168

Keith.

Thanks very much, Keith!

Alright, I've been playing around with this for a bit and have come
across a rather unusual problem..

Sitting down and playing the kit doesn't work. I first need to do a
bulk dump (I've been dumping "one drumkit"), which suddenly enables me
to play the kit as normal. HOWEVER, I can only seem to play any given
pad for as long as I can keep that pad "busy". As in I need to hit it
fairly hard and very very often (pretty much a slow roll) in order to
keep things working 'normally'. If I stop hitting the pad frequently
or start hitting too quietly, the signal just drops off and no more
midi messages are sent. I have to do another bulk dump to get it
started again.

Any idea at all what might be causing this? It seems so strange.

The other thing is that I downloaded MIDI Watch to keep an eye on the
signals sent. When I just play the kit there's nothing. If I do a bulk
dump a bunch of code pops up, and then after that it shows the normal
Note On/Note Off messages for as long as I keep the drum kit "busy"
and hit it plenty and often. However I noticed that the Note value
displayed by MIDI Watch is a full two octaves higher than what Battery
3 is telling me! For example, in MIDI watch if I hit a pad it'll say
Note: B3. But in Battery 3 the cell assigned to B1 will get triggered!
While I can work around this easily, I'd still like to know what's up.

Other than that I'm amazed that this got set up pretty quickly. I
opened up Battery as a vsti within cubase and set up a midi track and
everything works well. The sounds are triggered in real time, the
velocity is taken into account, and when I record the midi track
everything gets popped in beautifully. It's just this really weird
matter of having to play a ton before the signal just cuts out. 

If anyone has any idea what's going on here please let me know!

Thanks,
DS

Hi, Sounds really strange. I just tried  it in Cubase LE and all works fine for me. I m thinking maybe a driver/ O.S. problem. Have you been to the m-audio

Hey Dave,

I'll give it a shot. I used the drivers that came with the uno, but 
I'll see if there's an update on the site. You didn't have to play 
around with any of the UT MIDI settings in the dtxpress, did you? 
Just plugged it in and started playing?

I'll check ASIO again, as well, but I think that's alright as it 
works just fine for other midi devices. 

I'll give it a shot tonight. I'm hoping it's one of those problems 
where you reboot everything a few times and suddenly it all works. 
Such a weird problem! 

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "dc" <carrda@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>  
>  Sounds really strange. I just tried  it in Cubase LE and all 
works fine
> for me. I'm thinking maybe a driver/ O.S. problem. Have you been 
to the
> m-audio site to update? I had a few problems when I bought my Uno 
over a
> year ago, and a driver update solved them all. Maybe do an Asio 
set-up

> again (I'm kinda guessin here) :-). 
>  
>  
> Dave
>

Hi, It s been a while since I first set it up, so what I did was go screen by screen in the UT menu for midi and compared with the manual, which I am assuming

Thanks for all your help, Dave. I'll check it out tonight and see 
what happens. One last question (if you're still around) - does the 
midi-out light on your UNO light up when everything's plugged in?

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "dc" <carrda@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>  
> It's been a while since I first set it up, so what I did was go 
screen
> by screen in the UT menu for midi and compared with the manual, 
which I
> am assuming are the default settings.The only difference between 
mine
> and the manual is in the "MIDI PC TABLE" the manual shows No= 1-> 
kit 56
> and mine is No=1>-kit40, which I believe is the GM standard kit. 
>  
> One thing that did happen last night was kinda strange. After I 
played
> around in Cubase a bit trying it out (I don't use Cubase 
generally), I
> closed Cubase and started Ableton Live. All my other devices, 
keyboards,
> Rs7k worked fine, but the DTX quit sending. All I did was reset 
the Host
> Select switch at the back and it worked. 
>  
> Then one last thing.if you are using a pc and not a Mac, maybe 
make sure

> that your usb host drivers are up to date. Hope this helps and good
> luck.
>  
>  
> Dave
>

Yes if I select it as a midi output in Ableton and play a midi file. The DTX plays. Dave ... From: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DTXpress@yahoogroups.com]

I had very similiar problems with the USB Uno. It was driving me 
crazy for weeks. Read some old posts on here and bought the Yamaha 
UX16 USB adapter from Musician's Friend, and it worked perfect right 
out of the box. Midiwatch showed everything correctly that the UNO 
hadn't. Also, no more weird reboots and reloads of kits. Just my 
experience, hate to see you spend $40 more bucks, but it's definitely 
better than weeks of frustrations.

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "selfcase" <selfcase@...> wrote:

>
> Hey Dave,
> 
> I'll give it a shot. I used the drivers that came with the uno, but 
> I'll see if there's an update on the site. You didn't have to play 
> around with any of the UT MIDI settings in the dtxpress, did you? 
> Just plugged it in and started playing?
> 
> I'll check ASIO again, as well, but I think that's alright as it 
> works just fine for other midi devices. 
> 
> I'll give it a shot tonight. I'm hoping it's one of those problems 
> where you reboot everything a few times and suddenly it all works. 
> Such a weird problem! 
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "dc" <carrda@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >  
> >  Sounds really strange. I just tried  it in Cubase LE and all 
> works fine
> > for me. I'm thinking maybe a driver/ O.S. problem. Have you been 
> to the
> > m-audio site to update? I had a few problems when I bought my Uno 
> over a
> > year ago, and a driver update solved them all. Maybe do an Asio 
> set-up
> > again (I'm kinda guessin here) :-). 
> >  
> >  
> > Dave
> >
>

Great, thanks,

I updated the drivers from the m-audio website, but didn't have much 
time to mess around with it. One improvement (I think) is that now 
when I turn on the dtxpress I can immediately generate messages that 
are picked up by MIDI watch... However I noticed that each time I 
hit a pad, MIDI watch picks up one note on signal, and two note off 
signals! I have no idea why it's doing this. 

In Cubase when I just start hitting pads the midi bar doesn't 
activate at all. To get things working in cubase I still have to go 
through the process of doing a bulk dump before I can start 
generating midi messages, and then it's the same strange problem of 
having to keep the kit consistently 'busy' or else it stops working 
altogether.

Very strange! I'll keep working on this.

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "dc" <carrda@...> wrote:
>
> Yes if I select it as a midi output in Ableton and play a midi 
file. The
> DTX plays.
>  
>  
> Dave
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DTXpress@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of selfcase
> Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 10:45 AM
> To: DTXpress@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [DTXpress] Re: dtxpress & midi
>  
> Thanks for all your help, Dave. I'll check it out tonight and see 
> what happens. One last question (if you're still around) - does 
the 
> midi-out light on your UNO light up when everything's plugged in?
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroup <mailto:DTXpress%40yahoogroups.com> 
s.com,
> "dc" <carrda@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> > 
> > It's been a while since I first set it up, so what I did was go 
> screen
> > by screen in the UT menu for midi and compared with the manual, 
> which I
> > am assuming are the default settings.The only difference between 
> mine
> > and the manual is in the "MIDI PC TABLE" the manual shows No= 1-
> 
> kit 56
> > and mine is No=1>-kit40, which I believe is the GM standard kit. 
> > 
> > One thing that did happen last night was kinda strange. After I 
> played
> > around in Cubase a bit trying it out (I don't use Cubase 
> generally), I
> > closed Cubase and started Ableton Live. All my other devices, 
> keyboards,
> > Rs7k worked fine, but the DTX quit sending. All I did was reset 
> the Host
> > Select switch at the back and it worked. 
> > 
> > Then one last thing.if you are using a pc and not a Mac, maybe 
> make sure
> > that your usb host drivers are up to date. Hope this helps and 
good

> > luck.
> > 
> > 
> > Dave
> >
>

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the input - so you think it's the Uno? That's really 
strange. What problems where you having with the Uno, exactly? 
Either way I'll look into the UX16 and see if any music stores here 
in Ottawa carry it.

Thanks!
DS

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mrstark1@...> wrote:
>
> I had very similiar problems with the USB Uno. It was driving me 
> crazy for weeks. Read some old posts on here and bought the Yamaha 
> UX16 USB adapter from Musician's Friend, and it worked perfect 
right 
> out of the box. Midiwatch showed everything correctly that the UNO 
> hadn't. Also, no more weird reboots and reloads of kits. Just my 
> experience, hate to see you spend $40 more bucks, but it's 
definitely 
> better than weeks of frustrations.
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "selfcase" <selfcase@> wrote:
> >
> > Hey Dave,
> > 
> > I'll give it a shot. I used the drivers that came with the uno, 
but 
> > I'll see if there's an update on the site. You didn't have to 
play 
> > around with any of the UT MIDI settings in the dtxpress, did 
you? 
> > Just plugged it in and started playing?
> > 
> > I'll check ASIO again, as well, but I think that's alright as it 
> > works just fine for other midi devices. 
> > 
> > I'll give it a shot tonight. I'm hoping it's one of those 
problems 
> > where you reboot everything a few times and suddenly it all 
works. 
> > Such a weird problem! 
> > 
> > --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "dc" <carrda@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >  
> > >  Sounds really strange. I just tried  it in Cubase LE and all 
> > works fine
> > > for me. I'm thinking maybe a driver/ O.S. problem. Have you 
been 
> > to the
> > > m-audio site to update? I had a few problems when I bought my 
Uno 
> > over a
> > > year ago, and a driver update solved them all. Maybe do an 
Asio 

> > set-up
> > > again (I'm kinda guessin here) :-). 
> > >  
> > >  
> > > Dave
> > >
> >
>

I can't say for sure in your case, but for me, all I did was plug in 
the Yamaha one and it worked perfect. From what I understand, the 
Yamaha adapter isn't that great in general, but it works great with 
the DTX kits. Here is my post with specifics:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/DTXpress/message/12522 

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "selfcase" <selfcase@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Mike,
> 
> Thanks for the input - so you think it's the Uno? That's really 
> strange. What problems where you having with the Uno, exactly? 
> Either way I'll look into the UX16 and see if any music stores here 
> in Ottawa carry it.
> 
> Thanks!
> DS
> 
> --- In DTXpress@...m, "Mike" <mrstark1@> wrote:
> >
> > I had very similiar problems with the USB Uno. It was driving me 
> > crazy for weeks. Read some old posts on here and bought the 
Yamaha 
> > UX16 USB adapter from Musician's Friend, and it worked perfect 
> right 
> > out of the box. Midiwatch showed everything correctly that the 
UNO 
> > hadn't. Also, no more weird reboots and reloads of kits. Just my 
> > experience, hate to see you spend $40 more bucks, but it's 
> definitely 
> > better than weeks of frustrations.
> > 
> > --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "selfcase" <selfcase@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hey Dave,
> > > 
> > > I'll give it a shot. I used the drivers that came with the uno, 
> but 
> > > I'll see if there's an update on the site. You didn't have to 
> play 
> > > around with any of the UT MIDI settings in the dtxpress, did 
> you? 
> > > Just plugged it in and started playing?
> > > 
> > > I'll check ASIO again, as well, but I think that's alright as 
it 

> > > works just fine for other midi devices. 
> > > 
> > > I'll give it a shot tonight. I'm hoping it's one of those 
> problems 
> > > where you reboot everything a few times and suddenly it all 
> works. 
> > > Such a weird problem! 
> > > 
> > > --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "dc" <carrda@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi,
> > > >  
> > > >  Sounds really strange. I just tried  it in Cubase LE and all 
> > > works fine
> > > > for me. I'm thinking maybe a driver/ O.S. problem. Have you 
> been 
> > > to the
> > > > m-audio site to update? I had a few problems when I bought my 
> Uno 
> > > over a
> > > > year ago, and a driver update solved them all. Maybe do an 
> Asio 
> > > set-up
> > > > again (I'm kinda guessin here) :-). 
> > > >  
> > > >  
> > > > Dave
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Hi!

Well, after a night of frustrating trouble-shooting I decided to trade
in the uno for whatever else they might have available. I first
decided to see if I could get the yamaha ux but nobody had it.
Interestingly enough one place I called said they no longer carried
the m-audio uno because all the returns were getting too expensive for
them. Another guy at another store I called said the uno was hands
down the worst midi-to-usb cable you could get.

I ended up getting an edirol um-1ex instead. it was about the same
price. Plugged it in, turn on the dtxpress, and everything worked
perfectly.

So I guess it was the uno! What a piece of garbage! I will also vouch
for the edirol um1ex (so far). apparently the emu 1x1 one is also a
better alternative, but i don't have any personal experience with it.

thanks for letting me in on the uno's terrible secret - who knows how
long i might have fiddled around with it otherwise.

Thanks as well, Dave, for all your help. It's nice to have this thing
up and running!

-DS

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mrstark1@...> wrote:

>
> I can't say for sure in your case, but for me, all I did was plug in 
> the Yamaha one and it worked perfect. From what I understand, the 
> Yamaha adapter isn't that great in general, but it works great with 
> the DTX kits. Here is my post with specifics:
> http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/DTXpress/message/12522 
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "selfcase" <selfcase@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Mike,
> > 
> > Thanks for the input - so you think it's the Uno? That's really 
> > strange. What problems where you having with the Uno, exactly? 
> > Either way I'll look into the UX16 and see if any music stores here 
> > in Ottawa carry it.
> > 
> > Thanks!
> > DS
> > 
> > --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mrstark1@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I had very similiar problems with the USB Uno. It was driving me 
> > > crazy for weeks. Read some old posts on here and bought the 
> Yamaha 
> > > UX16 USB adapter from Musician's Friend, and it worked perfect 
> > right 
> > > out of the box. Midiwatch showed everything correctly that the 
> UNO 
> > > hadn't. Also, no more weird reboots and reloads of kits. Just my 
> > > experience, hate to see you spend $40 more bucks, but it's 
> > definitely 
> > > better than weeks of frustrations.
> > > 
> > > --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "selfcase" <selfcase@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hey Dave,
> > > > 
> > > > I'll give it a shot. I used the drivers that came with the uno, 
> > but 
> > > > I'll see if there's an update on the site. You didn't have to 
> > play 
> > > > around with any of the UT MIDI settings in the dtxpress, did 
> > you? 
> > > > Just plugged it in and started playing?
> > > > 
> > > > I'll check ASIO again, as well, but I think that's alright as 
> it 
> > > > works just fine for other midi devices. 
> > > > 
> > > > I'll give it a shot tonight. I'm hoping it's one of those 
> > problems 
> > > > where you reboot everything a few times and suddenly it all 
> > works. 
> > > > Such a weird problem! 
> > > > 
> > > > --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "dc" <carrda@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Hi,
> > > > >  
> > > > >  Sounds really strange. I just tried  it in Cubase LE and all 
> > > > works fine
> > > > > for me. I'm thinking maybe a driver/ O.S. problem. Have you 
> > been 
> > > > to the
> > > > > m-audio site to update? I had a few problems when I bought my 
> > Uno 
> > > > over a
> > > > > year ago, and a driver update solved them all. Maybe do an 
> > Asio 
> > > > set-up
> > > > > again (I'm kinda guessin here) :-). 
> > > > >  
> > > > >  
> > > > > Dave
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Hi, Sorry I recommended the Uno. My experience so far has been positive. I m glad you are finally up and running. I think I ll put my Uno on eBay as the only