(no subject)
1999-12-02 by bkadrie@iname.com
Boy, what a find this message board is! Lots and lots of good hands-on experience to be found here. Well, maybe I can spice up the disscussions some :) Well, I'll start off with why I'm here. I've just recently started thinking about e-kits after a trip to my local music store looking for some cheap practice pad kits. I've been drumless for about 3 years now after I had to begrudgingly give up my acoustic kit due to complaints from my neighbors. (I live in a condominium complex) I tried the sound deadener route, but found that the base drum and toms still made too much noise. (My neighbors would turn up their tvs and radios until I 'got' the hint.) I'd been getting antsy wanting to play again, so I took a look at my local music stores stock of practice-pad drum kits. While talking with a salesman, he suggested that I take a look at some e-drums. Like everyone else, I thought that those things would cost way to much for casual drumming. I figured that playing on some practice pads would get rid of my drumming itch. Then the salesman suggested that I play on some of their e-kits. Wow, amazing fun. I had to own one of those kits :) Seeing the DTXpress kit made made me realize that I might be able to actually take the plunge. (Currently, my local shop has them priced in the $900 range.) Although the feel of the pads seemed a bit hard, not very bouncy IMHO, as a complete package, the price looked very good. I did also get a chance to try out a new Roland e-kit (I think the V-Custom) and really liked the snare and tom feel. Seemed to be a real drum head being used, but I didn't take the time to investigate it. Only problem was the price ;). Anyway...here are my questions. 1)The DTXpress looks like it has a limited number of pads that it can support (inputs?). I'm wanting to try to semi-recreate my acoustic kit (4 toms, 2 crash, 1 splash, 1 china, ride cym, and HH. From the looks of the kit, you are limited to a single crash and ride cym, with 3 toms. Correct me if I'm wrong, but would I need more than the 10 inputs in the DTXpress to accomplish what I want? 2) If I have to add a new brain to support additional pads, how would it work with the DTXpress unit? 3)I've also been checking out the nice web page at http://www.logiztix.com/stix/pads2.htm that gives you instructions on buiding your own e-kits. I'm thinking of going this route to add more triggers to a DTXpress kit at a lower cost. What I'm curious about is how truly feasible this is. Will the DTXpress unit accept homemade drums like they say? Anyone have any luck trying this? Thanks for listening! Brett Kadrie