Hi.
I've been using a Drumit 3 module with Roland pads for several years and want to buy 2 new crashes to take advantage of the 3-zone triggering.
I'm thinking the obvious choice would be to get 2Box Ride cymbals..........
Does anyone have an opinion on these regarding playability (or quality) ?
Any alternative suggestions?
I see Yamaha PCY-135 being highly recommended (but can only see 1 jack socket....)
Also Gewa CP-14 (starting to get pricey)
The Roland 13R might be an alternative but I'm not very keen on it for playability. (compared to the 15R, which is expensive!)
Comments?
I have a complete set of Yamaha cymbals - they're very good and reasonably priced compared to Roland.
Thanks - I'm particularly wanting to get the 3 zones on the crash cymbals - bell, as well as bow and edge sounds.
Are yours the 'PCY' series and do they have 2 cables like Roland's CY-15?
I don't understand how they can have 3 zones if they only have one stereo output, which is all I can see in photos...
Yamaha PCY cymbals work on a Piezo/Switch/Switch method. The switches are on the bell and edge and are distinguished via a resistor on one of them for the module to know which has been activated. All from one TRS cable.
Using the CymPY (I think it's called, I might be wrong) if the sound is a ride, will give you bell bow edge and choke. If a crash with a bell articulation, will give you that too.
Note, if you strike the cymbal in-between of the bell and the bow, especially with the shoulder of the stick, you will get the edge sound. This is a common thing, it happens with my PCY cymbals on an Edrumin too. So as long as you're accurate, will not be a problem. But just thought I should let you know while it's great, its not perfect but then, what is?
You should also check out Lemon, affordable cymbals with good value.
OK, thanks WelshSteve - that makes complete sense. I didn't know about the inner workings.
And Halftime - I'm going to have to do a bit of research on YouTube. (Never been advised to buy a Lemon before...:-)
(Has that joke already been used? ::)
So what about Gewa? Anyone played their cymbals?
No, but I have seen reviews of the G9 kit and the cymbals seems to suffer badly from a hotspot issue. The Yamaha's do to, but way more tolerable. Besides, I saw someone add a couple of piezo internally to Yamaha cymbals to make them 360, was cheap and very easy to do. I am considering doing this at some point. But as the hotspot is not really an issue with the rotation stopper, it's just an exercise of "what if?"
I've tried the GEWA cymbals and the latest version has reduced the hotspots drastically, the play well on the drumit 3 and 5 but are a bit noisier than the roland. Rebound is better because they're harder and heavier.
That's good to know! Noise on a cymbal isn't an issue for me as I will use them live mostly and have a guitarist and a bassist who insist on bringing amps, even though the drums do not have their own amplification on stage aside from 2 x 15" wedge monitors for the band, go figure.
The look kinda nice too and seem quite well priced.