Hi Andreas,
I agree that the two cymbal configuration is limiting. I'm not sure
that this is the best option for you, but Vern just brought it up so
I'll mention it again. Over the years, people have taken a Yamaha
cymbal and crossfaded it in such a way as to produce a natural bell
sound when hitting the cymbal close to the wing nut. The reason that
this works is that the Yam. cymbals get louder naturally toward the
top position. You can crossfade for a bell sound without actually
having to hit the cymbal harder, just by hitting it higher, because
it gets louder up there anyway. You'll have to experiment with
crossfade settings, or check the archives for details about the
technique.
That's one route, probably not the best; it's main advantage is that
it would save money and input real estate. The PCY65 with a PCY10 is
undoubtedly a more reliable strategy. Another avenue is to get
what's called a dual-zone cymbal, which has separate outputs for the
bow and the bell of the cymbal, essentially like the Yamaha
combination but integrated into a single cymbal. They are tailor-
made for input 9/10 on the DTXpress, though you have to use a TRS
splitter to make the connection. Two highly available models are the
Hart EcymbalII 16" bronze ride and the Visu-lite 1800B 18" ride.
I've used both. The former, which looks and feels uncannily like an
acoustic cymbal, didn't work so well for me through Yamaha
electronics. Walt was having problems with his as well; I don't know
whether he's solved them yet. Others have reported similar troubles.
I can claim success, however, with the Visu-lite, which, though
acrylic rather than bronze, still behaves much like an acoustic
cymbal and sounds/looks fabulous--to me, anyway--in a DTX
environment. These cymbals run between $100 and $200.
One last cymbal that I'd like to mention is the 14" gum rubber
Pintech Zenbal. It comes in both mono ($90) and stereo ($100)
versions, like the PCY65 and PCY65S, respectively. The stereo model,
unlike the dual-zones, then, has a piezo bow and an FSR rim, which
cannot be spit into inputs 9/10. I would certainly be stretching a
point to call it a bell-oriented cymbal; it might be weird, for
instance, to play a bell sound on a rim. But if any stereo cymbal
could pull it off, I'd bet on the Zenbal. Connecting to input slot 6
or 7, however, would allow you to move your mono PCY to either input
9 or 10 and use the other input for something else, maybe another
cymbal, a PCY10, or a fourth tom, which might be an appealing
expansion.
I hope this is helpful. I'm sure other members have good suggestions
as well.
Ed
--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "leffelejon <gadda@k...>"
<gadda@k...> wrote:
> Hi all.
> first of all thank you for your feedback to my last post about
> double pedals... i think i will go for the iron cobra jr.
>
> Im thinking about expanding my set with a cymbal...
> I hace 2 right now... 1 crash and one ride.... it would be nice
with
> 2 crashes and 1 ride (with the bell sound) i have the original
pads
> that came with the dtxpress 2. i dont know how many things i can
> plug in into the 9/10 port but i guess i can plug in one mono
cymbal
> like pcy 65 and put the pcy 10 on top of it? Maybe there are
better
> options with other cymbals out there who are compatible with the
> dtxpress. Anyone who have tried any other cymbals ?
>
> I dont know what all of you gyus think but 1 crash like the
original
> setup allows feels a little bit weird... and also i really want
that
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> bell sound that comes from real ride cymbals.
>
> anyway i would really appreciate to hear some thoughts and
> experiences about cymbals.
>
> thanks in advance
>
> Andreas
