Yamaha DD55 Pro

Pretty straightforward. There are some panel buttons which are easily navigable if you're already used other yamaha musical products. Though there are some important functions accessible via key combinations which are not immediately obvious so you really need to read the manual and remember the key-combis. But then, if you're not interested in tweaking the instrument, it's immediately playable right out of the box.

32 polyphony is I guess more than enough for playing the most complicated rythms. I'll give a million dollars to the first drummer who can run out of polyphony playing this with just plain drums (without any other backing instruments).

Drum pads are pressure sensitive. Bass pedal is pressure sensitive too, but not the hihat. Sensitivity is adjustable from 0 - 2. Pad sounds are reassignable so you can setup your own custom layout. However, you can only save one custom kit into memory and this is lost once you disconnect unit from power source.

Pads are made of rubber so sticks bounce enough on them for you to do rolls without much difficulty.

What I don't like with the pads is the way Yamaha layed them out particularly the hi-hat which is on the right of the snare pad. This makes it difficult or almost impossible to do 16-beat rhythms on this machine. Yes, you can re-layout the sounds, but as I have mentioned, you can only save into one custom kit and is lost once power is disconnected.

The built-in backing accompaniment is really great for quick practice. You can choose almost any musical styles for you to play on--from fusion to samba to heavy metal. Then there are also lots of looping patterns you can practice and improvise on for hours on end.

MIDI is pretty standard. GM compatible. MIDI IN and OUT, but no THRU. You can use the DD55 to trigger your sound modules.

Very expressive. Expressive as any of the higher-end and higher-priced Pro digital kits in the market today. Samples are very good and there are hundred of them for you to choose from. There's also built-in DSP. The non-percussion GM samples are quite impressive for this kind of product and is GM compaatible, so I guess you can also use the DD55 as a tone module if you wanted to.

Have been using for less than a month so I really can't tell how reliable the DD55 is. The pads look sturdy enough though, but I wouldn't hit it very hard often. The bass pedal seems to be the achelis heel of this instrument so i wouldn't pound my foot too hard on it much.

Not applicable yet.

I love this instrument a lot. I actually fell in love with the DD55 the moment I saw it. For someone like me who is not really a hardcore drummer but a Keyboard player who can play the drums casually, the DD55 is a godsend. The instrument sets up in less than a minute, fits anywhere, easy to take anywhere, and gives you roughly 80% of what other pro digital drum kits can offer. And it's very affordable. Kudos to the engineers at Yamaha for this one.

the presets sound decent to me, even though it's my 1st drum machine. Editing wasn't too difficult for me to learn. The manual is a breeze!

One thing about it is that I'm unable to record a LIVE in REAL TIME when i go to RECORD. When I hit "playback", it plays one of several hundred SONGS. That's where I just plug it directly into a 4 track cassette and play like a real drum set. I'm in the process of buying a synthworkstation like the PSR 740 and wonder if it's easy to map the MIDI sounds(?)

some of the sounds are ok. I need it mainly for MIDI into a synthworkstation. Never tryed it yet.

I can depend on it on my trusty ole Tascam 4track cassette. I wouldn't use it in a gig without a backup cause there's no way I know how to change the pattern/beat/tempo on the machine. I would definitely need a REAL drummer.

Never dealt with them yet, if their ez to get ahold of, I dunno. I read others reviews what their opinion was..

on page 42 where it says NOTE on top, number 3 down it says about MIDI, "This daia is transmitted only when it is contained in the song data". I wonder if I can play in REAL TIME at all without using the SONGS data?? In another words, MIDI from dd55 directly into Yamaha Synth PSR 740 and record in REAL time drums ( don't forget to map the drum pads first!) and record onto synths sequencer. I wonder about that. If any body knows more about this than I do, please let me know. The music store here is the only one around ..

I hate using the RECORD feature, cause i found out I can't record what "I" want to play in REAL TIME into the dd55's record feature. It plays back certain drum sounds and one can't ALTER them into a particular beat with all the nuances like a real drummer

It came today. Great manual. I've never played drums before and this beasty has taught me a couple of rhythms already. Not interfaced with the PC yet but looks pretty straight forward as all my other gear, I just could not stop playing it. Real sticks, foot controllers (need to find a way of keeping them still, I might mount them on a board). Fun factor 10 out of 10.

32 note polophony which is enough to accompany the backing GM driven songs, good feel and I'm no drummer, I did adjust the sensitivity and will probably want to change is again when I become more profficient. I aready had the necessary cabling to hook it straight into my mixing desk into 2 line level channels and about half gain (still clean) and very very loud. You could gig this through a good PA. Sound quality is excellent even compared to my aging SR16 which I always thought was good. The patches are much more up to date and modern sounding and there is also a large variety of acoustics kit sounds for those wishing to replace your real drummer and make more money gigging as you could sequence all your songs with this and use a midi file player. No seriously, this will not replace a real drummer but it is a good indication of things to come in the world of digital music.

I can only compare this to my SR16 but the sensitivity of touch is much like hitting a real drum but without all the dynamics. Much can be done to the sound by adding the built in effects but again I have not had much time to delve into the details yet, far too busy bang shit out of it. I have only really tried out the rock stuff but it has impressed me so far.

I guess you could gig this, you would probably look a little silly if not novel. In my opinion, the sound quality and playability of this instrument could be gigged but something would have to be done about the pedals as they do slide from under your feet. There would be more room for us guitarists though and never loosing a tuner to a cymbal. My daughter hasn't stopped hassling me for a go on this so I will get her one for Christmas (maybe it's little brother with the lights) I was too busy banging shit out of this wonderful instrument and turned up the volume. It should last a long time as I've never experienced any Yamaha product ever breaking down but you would'nt hit a synth module with a stick. would you? Tip, make sure you get the wall wart and some batteries if you store a song or custom kit and disconnect from the mains.

Never needed to call Yamaha for anything, I've got a lot of their stuff and its never failed.

For the price this is excellent value for money as this instrument will definitely liven up my own compositions and maybe inspire some more. I would most certainly replace it. I have convinced myself in only one day that this device will teach me how to play drums. The silver colour does look odd in my studio but I'm sure I will get over it.

This is a preliminary review, but I'm pretty sure I'll get one after mucking around
with it and reading the manual (pretty good manual, too).

It's 32 voice, 192 percussion sounds and 128 GM sound set. It's
similiar to the feature set of the DD50 it replaces, though the foot
pedals are nicer, you have real sticks, and it's Lost-In-Space silver (oh
well). MIDI In/Out and syncs to external clock or its own. Pad sensitivity
is adjustable, folks! And there's a "hands" mode for bongos and such. Take it
to the beach, too: it's battery operated (an actual power supply has to
be purchased separatly, the cheaps). The unit will fit on a snare-drum stand
(nice touch).

Gotta be honest, USUALLY instrument demos aren't really indicitive of
what a box will do. BUT these are. The effects are also excellent and
the GM sounds really shine (and I hate GM sounds). Obviously, whoever
programmed this is a drummer. With the new "Pro" designation, I'd say a
pro who doesn't mind the smallish pads and who can find a way to keep the pedals
in place (I recommend earthquake putty in a pinch) would find this a
decent back-up set or a portable one for quick gigs at the church. For
the newbie, HEY, it's fantastic. You won't miss those big drum pads because
you won't know any better. All the basic rock/ pop/ and latin are covered. Not
much in the way of classical and I didn't have a chance to see if the GM
timpanis and such could be controlled from the pads. The built-in speakers, by
the way, are very good, and have bass boost.

For the price, I'd use it in a gig and buy ANOTHER one for a back-up, just in case.

First impressions: VERY impressed. The silver retro color isn't my cup
of caf, but I guess it could sit on my not-quite-as silver Roland RS-9
without clashing with the rest of the house. One thing I'd be concerned with
is that the headphone jack doubles as the output (!); have to make sure
there's enough heat there to pump out sound without luggin' a pre-amp around.
I think most of the complaints found in the DD50 reviews may have been
addressed here (though it took Yamaha several years to do it). Should sell
even better and to a wider audience than its predecessor. And without adjusting
the pads, just wailing away on the bongos, I found it nicely responsive!