Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

well, ive been putting in off for long enough... i need an electronic drumkit. my 
price range limits me to only a few kits. all of which are entry level. that is fine 
with me (this is really going to be only a practice set... not for playing live). so, 
ive narrowed it down to these kits, in order of least to most price:
hart prodigy
yamaha dtxpress
roland vclub
well, i have knocked the hart kit out. i dont like the pads. now the vclub and 
the dtxpress kits are similar but have things that i like about them that the 
other doesnt have (like dt has room for a double bass. vclub has more kits). 
not to mention that the dtxpress is $300 less. 
anyway, my question is if any one has played both kits and can give me an 
opinion.

thanks...

On Sun, 22 Dec 2002 07:47:50 -0000, you wrote:


>well, i have knocked the hart kit out. i dont like the pads. now the vclub and 
>the dtxpress kits are similar but have things that i like about them that the 
>other doesnt have (like dt has room for a double bass. vclub has more kits). 
>not to mention that the dtxpress is $300 less. 

Personally, I think the pre-programmed kits are useless, unless you
are using them as a starting point for a user programmed kit.  I think
you'll find that it's more pleasurable to play kits that you've made
up yourself.  Plus, of you add a pad or two, the pre-programmed kits
are out the window because you can't save to them.  Definitely leave
that aspect out of your decision.  The amount of memory space for user
kits is more important.



____________________________

Jim

yes... good point about the preprogrammed kits. so, what is the proceedure to 
make a user defined kit? and how customizable is it? 

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, Ratzo <ratzo@t...> wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Dec 2002 07:47:50 -0000, you wrote:
> 
> 
> >well, i have knocked the hart kit out. i dont like the pads. now the vclub and 
> >the dtxpress kits are similar but have things that i like about them that the 
> >other doesnt have (like dt has room for a double bass. vclub has more 
kits). 

> >not to mention that the dtxpress is $300 less. 
> 
> Personally, I think the pre-programmed kits are useless, unless you
> are using them as a starting point for a user programmed kit.  I think
> you'll find that it's more pleasurable to play kits that you've made
> up yourself.  Plus, of you add a pad or two, the pre-programmed kits
> are out the window because you can't save to them.  Definitely leave
> that aspect out of your decision.  The amount of memory space for user
> kits is more important.
> 
> 
> 
> ____________________________
> 
> Jim

On Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:02:25 -0000, you wrote:

>yes... good point about the preprogrammed kits. so, what is the proceedure to 
>make a user defined kit? and how customizable is it? 

Very customizable.  You just assign a sound or sounds to a pad, and
save it to a location.  You can name your kits so you can easily
discern them from the pre-programmed ones.  On the DTXpress II, you
can assign up to 3 voices per trigger, so in essence, you can create a
snare out of three different snare sounds, mix these sounds by volume
so that you get the sound you're after.  You figure it out as you play
the kit.  I've had mine three months and I'm still tweaking my kits,
and making new ones.




____________________________

Jim

thats great... thanks for the info. one more question: how about its ability to 
connect with a computer? i dont know much about midi, but it would be fun to 
play around a bit. can you upload new sounds to the dtxpress' brain via 
computer? oh... and what about expandability? can i add more pads to the 
kit? how many?

thanks again...



--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, Ratzo <ratzo@t...> wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:02:25 -0000, you wrote:
> 
> >yes... good point about the preprogrammed kits. so, what is the proceedure 
to 

> >make a user defined kit? and how customizable is it? 
> 
> Very customizable.  You just assign a sound or sounds to a pad, and
> save it to a location.  You can name your kits so you can easily
> discern them from the pre-programmed ones.  On the DTXpress II, you
> can assign up to 3 voices per trigger, so in essence, you can create a
> snare out of three different snare sounds, mix these sounds by volume
> so that you get the sound you're after.  You figure it out as you play
> the kit.  I've had mine three months and I'm still tweaking my kits,
> and making new ones.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ____________________________
> 
> Jim

On Sun, 22 Dec 2002 21:17:00 -0000, you wrote:

>thats great... thanks for the info. one more question: how about its ability to 
>connect with a computer? i dont know much about midi, but it would be fun to 
>play around a bit. can you upload new sounds to the dtxpress' brain via 
>computer? oh... and what about expandability? can i add more pads to the 
>kit? how many?

About the computer connection and MIDI, yes it can be done, but I
never have.  There are others here who have and can answer your
questions about that.

You can add two more triggers to the kit without having to expand to a
second drum module.  I use an extra TP-60 pad for a ride cymbal, and
soon will add the bell pad.  That will use up all of my inputs.  I use
the PCY60 ride cymbal pad as a crash.  So I have 2 crashes, a ride,
hihat, snare, kick and 3 toms, and still have room for one more.



____________________________

Jim