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Just thought some of you guys might be interested:
Kevin, one of the guys here at Midwest Drum and Percussion (good bunch of people, by the way), was kind enough to let me try out his own personal e-kit that he had set up out on the sales floor. It consisted of a Yamaha DTXtreme module, 3 Roland CY-6 cymbals set up in the ride, crash, and hi-hat positions, 3 Pearl Rhythm Traveler toms, a Rhythm Traveler snare, and a Pearl Prestige Session (I believe) bass drum--all fitted with ddrum triggers. All the drums had the stock single-ply black mesh heads mounted on them that come with the Rhythm Traveler kit. The hi-hat pedal was the same type of pedal that comes with the DTXpress, not the new one that comes with the DTXtreme and really sucks ass from what I read on this site. Kevin mentioned that he had only one kit set up that had been tweaked to his taste, and that that kit would be the one I was playing (it was called "Horizon", just for the record). Some observations:
1. This is kind of unrelated, but I have to say that the Pearl Eliminator (red cam) pedal that he had on the kit was just killer! I could do 16ths on that thing effortlessly. I've got to admit that it felt better and smoother to me than the counterpart DW and Tama pedals, and I've been a diehard Tama user for years....
2. I've also got to admit that despite the current tendency to slag the DTXtreme, the sound and playability of this particular kit was top-notch, especially the snare and hi-hat. Buzzes, drags, and pianissimo playing all tracked exceptionally well on the snare--so well, in fact, that it was just about indistinguishable from an acoustic one. Funk patterns are usually a good thing to play in order to determine whether a drum module is up to snuff in terms of dynamic response, and it passed this test with flying colors. I have to be honest here: I thought Kevin had his kit set up on the floor because he was trying to sell it (another dissatisfied DTXtreme player...blah, blah, blah), but I think he was actually trying to show off his own little slant on electronic percussion. Got to give him props and say I was coveting his kit something serious that day!
3. One of you guys out there in Vdrums.com-land (I seem to have forgotten exactly who--my apologies) is using a similar setup with a Roland module. Looks like you may be onto something....
4. barrybonzo: you were absolutely right about the CY-6 being a "super hi-hat!". And with that I scratch the CY-12H from my list...
5. About the only negative for me in playing this kit was that the ride response and sound was very subpar. It just seemed totally out of balance with the rest of the set.
6. An interesting little side effect to using the CY-6 cymbals with the DTXtreme module on this kit was that you could hit the crash, choke it, and then trigger a splash sound from the bow while the cymbal was still being choked! This is not something I've been able to duplicate with my TD-8, and kudos to Yamaha if this is in fact a feature unique to the DTXtreme.
I hope you guys find this informative in some way. I know that this experience, brief as it was, has certainly changed some opinions I had about some products and methods of using them. I'm starting to think that the thing that's hurting the DTXtreme is the Yamaha pads, not the module itself. Combining it with Roland pads may be just the ticket--it certainly worked with the CY-6s. Perhaps a reevaluation of the DTXtreme is in order?
Cheers,
Mick
Kevin, one of the guys here at Midwest Drum and Percussion (good bunch of people, by the way), was kind enough to let me try out his own personal e-kit that he had set up out on the sales floor. It consisted of a Yamaha DTXtreme module, 3 Roland CY-6 cymbals set up in the ride, crash, and hi-hat positions, 3 Pearl Rhythm Traveler toms, a Rhythm Traveler snare, and a Pearl Prestige Session (I believe) bass drum--all fitted with ddrum triggers. All the drums had the stock single-ply black mesh heads mounted on them that come with the Rhythm Traveler kit. The hi-hat pedal was the same type of pedal that comes with the DTXpress, not the new one that comes with the DTXtreme and really sucks ass from what I read on this site. Kevin mentioned that he had only one kit set up that had been tweaked to his taste, and that that kit would be the one I was playing (it was called "Horizon", just for the record). Some observations:
1. This is kind of unrelated, but I have to say that the Pearl Eliminator (red cam) pedal that he had on the kit was just killer! I could do 16ths on that thing effortlessly. I've got to admit that it felt better and smoother to me than the counterpart DW and Tama pedals, and I've been a diehard Tama user for years....
2. I've also got to admit that despite the current tendency to slag the DTXtreme, the sound and playability of this particular kit was top-notch, especially the snare and hi-hat. Buzzes, drags, and pianissimo playing all tracked exceptionally well on the snare--so well, in fact, that it was just about indistinguishable from an acoustic one. Funk patterns are usually a good thing to play in order to determine whether a drum module is up to snuff in terms of dynamic response, and it passed this test with flying colors. I have to be honest here: I thought Kevin had his kit set up on the floor because he was trying to sell it (another dissatisfied DTXtreme player...blah, blah, blah), but I think he was actually trying to show off his own little slant on electronic percussion. Got to give him props and say I was coveting his kit something serious that day!
3. One of you guys out there in Vdrums.com-land (I seem to have forgotten exactly who--my apologies) is using a similar setup with a Roland module. Looks like you may be onto something....
4. barrybonzo: you were absolutely right about the CY-6 being a "super hi-hat!". And with that I scratch the CY-12H from my list...
5. About the only negative for me in playing this kit was that the ride response and sound was very subpar. It just seemed totally out of balance with the rest of the set.
6. An interesting little side effect to using the CY-6 cymbals with the DTXtreme module on this kit was that you could hit the crash, choke it, and then trigger a splash sound from the bow while the cymbal was still being choked! This is not something I've been able to duplicate with my TD-8, and kudos to Yamaha if this is in fact a feature unique to the DTXtreme.
I hope you guys find this informative in some way. I know that this experience, brief as it was, has certainly changed some opinions I had about some products and methods of using them. I'm starting to think that the thing that's hurting the DTXtreme is the Yamaha pads, not the module itself. Combining it with Roland pads may be just the ticket--it certainly worked with the CY-6s. Perhaps a reevaluation of the DTXtreme is in order?
Cheers,
Mick
........
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