Yamaha DTXPLORER

Hey, Just bought a new Yamaha DTXplorer and it's really awsome.
I did a TON of research before buying this and looked across the whole internet and watched tons of videos on the Yamaha DTxplorer and after all of that I was still slightly unsure, so I rented it and it seemed like a great deal for the price and after a month I bought it!

Overall Rating:
**********
8 out of 10

Yamaha DTxplorer (DXPL) Features:

• Complete Five Piece Electronic Drum Kit
  
  • The DXPL has a snare pad, three tom pads, a kick pad, hi-hat and two cymbal pads. The kit even includes a bass drum pedal.
• 32 Factory Kits, 10 User Kits, 214 Voices
  
  • The 32 factory programmed kits give you a wide variety of kits that can be used in almost any musical situation. The 10 user kits allow you to build custom kits using any of the 214 voices.
• Groove Check with Rhythm Gate
  
  • The DXPL module has our popular Groove Check function, but takes it to the next level as a learning tool. You can engage the rhythm Gate so that when you play out of time the module will mute the drums until you get back in time with the click.
• Multi Zone Inputs
  
  • The snare input will accept a three-zone pad giving you the head, rim shot and cross stick sounds. The cymbal inputs will accept dual zone cymbals and allow cymbal choking. (Not till you Buy them)
    

Yamaha DTXplorer PROS and Cool Features in my opinion :

• Comes with Bass Pedal, something most other cheaper kits don't contain (and roland doesn't make pedals).
• Plugs into any amp or just through headphones at 4am.
• Can turn the high-hat pedal into a double bass pedal!
• Midi Output so I can have endless drum voices via my laptop!
• Ability to add-on better drum heads
• Sturdy frame and semi-realistic feel, a little to much bounce if you ask me.
• Ability to tweak: drum sounds, responce time, delay, reverb, etc.
• Cheaper than almost anything other electric drum kit.
  

Yamaha DTXplorer CONS and Limits in my opinion :

• No rim shots with the original drum heads (only a limit of money).
• No Cymbal choking without upgrade (same as above).
• You can't add new drum voices (unless via my midi-computer workaround).
  
• No Throne, had to buy my own stool (got a Gibralter).
• The Bass drum would suck on hardwood cause you would have to screw it down prolly, it's great on carpet though, doesnt shift a bit. (you could screw it and the pedal into some ply wood or rubber though.

Online Questions and Top Myths Dispelled :

1. "No Dynamics?" Actually the pads for the electric kit are responsive to fairly light to heavy pounding and are spot on time even though lots of reviews state otherwise, to be sure do: hold shift+drumkit/trigger till you see "TRIG 1" and change it to Dynamic, if you still can notice a difference return your kit cause its broken.
2. "Is there Delay? can I keep time?" I hope you can, I seem to be able to do just fine and I don't notice any delay at all even when I drumming fast.
   
3. "Pads don't have Rebound?" Yeah of course they don't feel like Real Drums but they actually have just a bit more bounce back then "Real Drums" in my opinion.
4. "All the Sounds are Hokey?" Not at all, there are some real nice sounding sets in there and if your not against messing around with them more you can get some amazing sounds, but yeah there is some real electric fake sounding kits in the mix, but not as many as some other sets I have heard, yuk.
   
5. "Does it break down fast?" Well, I have only had mine a month now and I am not the best drummer but I pound the crap out of it and it still looks like I just took it out of the box (if anything changes then so will this text).
6. "Is the Highhat pedal really hit and miss?" Just tighten up the deal on the front with a drum key and it'll be about 99.9% for you, only time I have problems is with the double kick but rarely.
7. "Can it be upgraded?" Yeah the Pads can be replaced with 3 zone pads and the cybals can be switched for chokable ones, only thing is I would have liked another input for extra pads.
   

Summary and Overall :
********** 8 stars out of 10
I think that with some slight tweaks and a future upgrade of better pads I will have an amazing digital recording kit at a steal of a price. The Yamaha DTXplorer is a great entry level drum kits suited for practice or recording (who plays electric drums live? def leppard?),

Amazon had them for $699 new (check above) most electric drum kits are well over a grand so the price is right.

I think anyone looking for a kit for practice or the studio will really enjoy this kit.

I Don't Like:
-Drum pads and cymbals should be upgraded.
-No extra pad input.
-No throne.

I Like:
-Comes with bass pedal.
-Highhat can be double kick.
-Midi out allows me tons more sounds via laptop.
-Lots of good to great sounds that can be tweaked even more.
-Drum pads and cymbals can be upgraded.

Buy The Yamaha DTXplorer from Amazon Brand Spanking new for $699
if you buy a Used Yamaha DTXplorer and get new pads and chokable cymbals your set! (all you need for this is the brain and the frame.)

Buy it from here to help me out, thanks
Photos of my DTxplorer:



















Video of some guy playing his DTxplorer: