Re: New drummer looking to upgrade
If you've had a DM6 kit, here's one problem. Only your snare pad is a dual-zone trigger pad (that alows for a rim click sound). All of your other pads are single triggers. Now, even if you upgrade the module to say, another brand like Roland or Yamaha, which send dual trigger commands, your other pads will still only trigger one sound. Which means whilst you won't have to worry about your toms, your cymbals won't all of a sudden have say a seperate bell sound for the ride or you'll be able to choke the crash, simply because the cymbal pads won't have that function, irrespective of the module. So if you are upgrading your module, and if say you went for a Roland TD-12, you would have gone for a lot of unnecessary expense if you don't also upgrade the cymbals.
Myself, I bough a couple of Alesis DM5 kits (older model ones that first came out), I did a few modifications on the rack (I like their light weight but the corner clamps were hopeless, so I replaced them). Then the cymbal pads were replaced (all single zones, I've saved them for a few students and friends), replaced them with dual and triple trigger Alesis Surge cymbals, but here is the kicker....the DM5, not a bad module in itself (far superior to the DM6 to DM8 series, I wouldn't even touch them at all), the DM5 unfortunately is a single trigger module [N.B: the DM5 is a development from the Alesis D4 (a 16-bit module that was often used for replacing drum sounds in studios, and is now seen as a piece of vintage gear)]. So what I had to do was to order two Alesis I/O units which I have to MIDI into the Alesis DM5 modules if I want to allow my cymbals to choke.
In the meantime, because I have a Roland Octopad, I run two dual-trigger Roland PDX-8 snare pads (one for each kit) into the Octopad, which allows dual-triggering, whilst two Roland KD-85 kick pads (again, one for each kit) still connect up into each of the Alesis modules (they only need a single trigger function). But for anything that you have which will need dual triggering - from a snare pad to your ride cymbal and crashes....if you upgrade your DM6 module, you're going to need to upgrade your various pads as well.
As to why I've stayed with the DM5? Well, it's an AU$995 module that has 12 trigger inputs, as oppsed to the usual 8-10 you find on some of the lower end Roland and Yamaha modules at that same price range. Of course, once you come up to the Roland TD-10, TD-12 and the TD-20, remember, the bigger bucks will definitely get you the superior quality you'd expect (and maybe a few more inputs than the Alesis DM5). But once I get my Alesis I/O units up and running, I'll be pretty happy for what I got for teaching and practicing. After all, this sort of technology wasn't available to the average drummer quite a number of years ago......you should see footage of what it was like handling the old hexagonal pad Simmons electronic sets.....it was a nightmare when it came to upgrading and connecting various units together....you truly had to be dedicated manual reader to get though reading stuff like parameters, pitch bends, note numbers, etc.
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