Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Hi everybody !
Old email no longer relevant, changed companies, will respond to all 
(although I think it was only Stuart)who wish to see/play the kit 
(KOBY 15 piece with Alesis DM-Pro).

Ciao

Drew

--- Drew wrote:
> Old email no longer relevant, changed companies, will
> respond to all (although I think it was only Stuart)
> who wish to see/play the kit (KOBY 15 piece with Alesis
> DM-Pro).

Hey there Drew, welcome back.

Actually, I had a chance to catch up with Colin Schofield at Music 
Live today. We had a fragmented conversation - the guy was selling 
stuff rather than gossiping with me, I mean, how outrageous is that? 
He had the "9 piece" kit set up and I had a limited go. Not because 
he didn't let me have time but ... well, how can I put this ... 
Colin and I displace different quantities of bathwater. Not only 
that, but he cleary likes his kit set up low, and much more acutely 
angled than me. Not being a big commercial fish he had only a tiny 
booth stand, so this isn't a criticism at all. He had no room for 
more than one kit, and that one had to be set up for him so he could 
demo to people. Fair enough.

Anyhow, a few things of note.

First, I love the gear. First thing that struck my eye while we 
chatted was the stand. As solid as a solid thing, and very 
attractive in brushed stainless. Makes the standard DTXpressII rack 
look positively flimsy in comparison. The mesh heads pads too are 
very substantial and pleasing on the eye. The cymbals were a tad 
disappointing. True, they are round and swing properly, and trigger 
well. But ... they have a slightly, well, domestic appearance.

My brief and cramped try out was pleasing. The mesh head pads are 
lovely. Now, note that most of my experience is on gum rubber - I 
have had a couple of tries of Roland kit a while back, but nothing 
more recent, so this test was a little in the abstract. But my, I 
liked it. Very quiet, and very responsive mesh heads. And although 
the cymbals are slightly cheesy to look at, they trigger well. The 
ride in particular was set up with a velocity cross-fade producing a 
very pleasing bell/bow distinction with no "gray" between the two - 
although this required a strike on the "bell" which does not have a 
gum rubber pad and so clonked a bit. I found no crosstalk from the 
rack-mounted kick at all (indeed from any pads), and the module 
(Alesis) settings did NOT have rejection cranked up. The sturdy 
appearance of the rack was backed up by a marked lack of wobble - 
very rigid indeed.

New developments in the pipeline are a dual zone cymbal pad (two 
piezo, bow and bell) and [fanfare] a 10" dual-zone mesh snare. This 
latter will be the same price as the 8" one (new price £132, about 
$225, list). I might just have me one of those when they arrive 
(about a month or so for test versions, generally available in the 
new year).

Lastly, and arguably just as importantly, Colin is an e-drum nut. I 
get the distinct impression that making money is almost secondary 
for him. His primary motivation is to produce quality tackle. I 
liked him immediately.

(More news from Music Live tomorrow. But don't get your hopes up - 
not even a sniff of the DTXpress III.)

Stewart

Stewart,

Interesting indeed. I'm not referring so much to your first 
impressions of Koby, which are important in their own right, as to 
the observation that you and Colin displace different amounts of 
bathwater. Who knew?

Ed