I have a Yamaha DTX500 electronic drum kit. When I program a drum kit and assign the various drums I am able to the play the kit and it sounds as expected.

But if I plug the DTX into my MOXF using a standard multi-pin MIDI cable, when I play the drum kit one element of the high hat (stick hit) plays some random sound. And it records that oddball sound, too. While the rest of the kit sounds as I programmed it.

When I unplug the MIDI cable and play just the drum kit again through the DTX, it’s back to normal.

I’ve gone back into the Drum Kit application, of course, to be absolutely certain the random sound is not somehow actually programmed onto there, corrupted in some way. But the Drum Kit programming and parameters seem unaltered.

I don’t really understand what “cross talk” is, and have not experienced any other problems with the DTX, but I’m wondering if that might be the culprit. 

So I’m kind of baffled. Anybody have any ideas?

muscarella - 05 February 2021 01:13 AM

I have a Yamaha DTX500 electronic drum kit. When I program a drum kit and assign the various drums I am able to the play the kit and it sounds as expected.

OK - so far.

 

muscarella -

But if I plug the DTX into my MOXF using a standard multi-pin MIDI cable, when I play the drum kit one element of the high hat (stick hit) plays some random sound. And it records that oddball sound, too. While the rest of the kit sounds as I programmed it.

The subject of this thread is “MIDI Drum Voices sounding incorrectly with MOXF controller”, but the MOXF (or other MIDI device) can’t control a DTX500 since the DTX500 has no MIDI-in connector.

Just to make sure…
You’re playing the DTX500 (not the MOXF) when the “random sound” is heard from the DTX500? (If that’s incorrect, please explain.)

Is there anything connected to the DTX500’s AUX IN?

How are you listening to the DTX500 - via its L/MONO and R outputs? If so, where do they go - a mixer? If a mixer, is the MOXF connected there as well?

What happens if you listen to the DTX500 with headphones directly connected to its PHONES jack?

 

muscarella -

When I unplug the MIDI cable and play just the drum kit again through the DTX, it’s back to normal.

I’ve gone back into the Drum Kit application, of course, to be absolutely certain the random sound is not somehow actually programmed onto there, corrupted in some way. But the Drum Kit programming and parameters seem unaltered.

I don’t really understand what “cross talk” is, and have not experienced any other problems with the DTX, but I’m wondering if that might be the culprit. 

So I’m kind of baffled. Anybody have any ideas?

Answers to the above questions might help to determine what’s happening.

I mis-stated when I said controller. I’m playing the DTX Kit and sending the MIDI signal straight from the DTX module to the MOXF.

There is nothing in the DTX AUX in. 

I have both running through my mixer. I’m using the Mono/L out of the DTX. 

If I use the headphone jack on the DTX, with or without the MIDI cable plugged into the MOXF, it sounds correct IN THE PHONES and through the mixer. 

The odd note is produced only when the MOXF is connected to the DTX. The odd note sounds through the MOXF headphones AND the mixer phones. If I Record to the track (Channel 10) the odd note gets recorded. 

In case it’s a clue, I have noticed that 90% of the time when the DTX gets plugged into the MOXF my selected Drum Voice gets replaced with some other Drum Voice, often Wood Bits. So I have to set it back, but it will sometimes do the same thing (or substitute some other Drum Voice) later in the session. 

The odd note, regardless of the Voice in use, is often the G4 key.

Let’s see if I’m getting this…
When you use the DTX to control an MOXF Drum Kit, triggering the DTX high-hat stick hit plays an unwanted sound on the MOXF. Is that it?

If so, which note do you have the DTX sending when you trigger the high-hat stick hit? At what velocity level? What sound is the MOXF kit programmed to play for the matching note? Is the MOXF kit customized, or a factory one? If factory, which one?

I think the problem lies with the DTX module wanting to randomly change parameters. I’ve had to go back into a User Drum Kit several times just to put a parameter back where I KNOW I left it just a day before. And that was the case (again) with the odd drum sound. I’ve now Factory Reset the module several times, but the DTX 500 is just not happy with me.

I’m thinking I may have to bite the bullet and get a new module. My various MIDI pads and cymbals are all from the 500-502 era series though. Are the later DTX modules sufficiently backwards compatible?

muscarella - 07 February 2021 08:04 PM

I think the problem lies with the DTX module wanting to randomly change parameters. I’ve had to go back into a User Drum Kit several times just to put a parameter back where I KNOW I left it just a day before. And that was the case (again) with the odd drum sound. I’ve now Factory Reset the module several times, but the DTX 500 is just not happy with me.

The DTX500 uses nonvolatile memory, which should retain any properly stored changes made. Most such operations require that the [SAVE/ENTER] button be pressed three times before the “Completed!” message is displayed. If that’s not happening, any changes made won’t be retained.

If you’re sure that you’re following the correct procedure but the DTX is reverting to other settings, then it’s possible the memory has developed a fault. However, typically error messages will be displayed when a fault occurs.

 

muscarella -

I’m thinking I may have to bite the bullet and get a new module. My various MIDI pads and cymbals are all from the 500-502 era series though. Are the later DTX modules sufficiently backwards compatible?

This is the most recent compatibility information…
https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/4/1206194/PadModuleCompatibility_en_d0.pdf
...which is only a couple of months old.

It definitely “forgets” my User Drum assignments. Or parameters get corrupted. I’ve been lucky to just get one User Kit the way I like it, which is fine because I’m not looking to the DTX as a tone generator, just to be able to accurately control my MOXF Drum Voices.

Is there any way to check what Firmware is on this DTX 500? (I bought it used.) And how would I update it?

Meanwhile, I will try to sort out which pads and cymbals are on my drum kit and look into what module I might need if I decide to upgrade.