Rating the sound regardless of price; it stands along side the best! It's incredibly versatile and very generous. It offers me just about every natural percussion sound I know. It also provides many others; which range from electro to natural sound effects. It's fun to play, amazing! I used this kit to overdub the drum part I had performed twenty-four years ago in the studio. I used the mix feature; plugging the source into the DTXPRESS. Whomever had mixed it had turned the drum track down too low for my liking. This worked out just fine and now I'm proud to share my copies with others. I hooked it up to my stereo system. It sounds great! And; using the headphones, I can play all night long without making my wife mad [I'm so thoughtful]! You can also easily add more cymbal and drum pads. I've already bought two extra cymbals. It has an extra stereo input, and; with the aid of input splitter adapters this kit could be monstrous! I just wish they'd offer mesh heads. This would allow them to play more like an acoustic drum; with more bounce and better dynamic range. Then they'd be an easy 10!

They didn't provide a kick pedal or drum throne, but that's fine. I don't want to pay extra for something I've already got. Everything else I need is there. And the stand is designed so that I can set each drum pretty close to where I want it. The mounting posts are movable both vertically and horizontally; excellent! It also contains adjustable mounting arms for even more versatility. Awesome! And the "brains" of it all; the module, is incredible! And; you can easily change the volume of each pad, the pitch, and the voice! [You can set it so that each pad can exchange voices with all of the others; snare sounds off the cymbal, etc.] The combination is endless. You can also change how quickly the pad's voice fades [decay] after you strike it; the reverb, the balance [right to left channels] and more, lots more! You want, you got it!

You'll hear no complaints from me on the quality. It's nicely made and I see no reason why I won't still have it ten years from now. Although I no longer play out, I see no reason why there would be a problem hauling it around. It would surely be easy to put in the car, especially when you see how easily this contraption folds up WITHOUT taking it all apart!

There's no way you can beat this set, value-wise. After comparing it to much more expensive kits, I knew this is what would work for me while keeping my money in [my wife's] pocket! And the fact that I could add to it was a major factor in my decision. Why pay two thousand or more and regret it later if I didn't like it?

I've talked with the Yamaha tech guy and he was helpful. He took the time to answer my questions and was also easy to contact. The operator connected me without delay.

I don't buy drums for their "sex appeal," and I didn't buy this set for it's aesthetics. I bought it because it works!

Drummer since 1966. I've recorded in the studio [1980] and played in several good bands. I'm no longer playing with anyone.

Swing, old top forty rock, modern jazz, and Christian

Very natural sounding to very weird sounding. You get whatever you ask for with this one.

Would be nice if it were dual-trigger toms. The crash is excellent, as it has the ability to be 2 different ones all together or just different tones.

Plastic rack seems sturdy enough, but metal would sure be nice. The pads, from the previous versions anyway, seem to hold up forever.

Hard to find a better priced set with all the pads, the triple trigger tom, and the dual zone crash. It is just amazing what they include for the price.

Haven't needed support

It is very comfortable to play, but it's still a plastic rack.

20 years, last 10 spent on the road

Varies - Rock Clubs to Church

This kit sounds really great. the toms have good feel through fills. All of the parts on the kit have great dynamics. I love the fact that you are able to use different pieces of the kit to start bass line or grooves. I cannot wait to record with the kit.

The hi-hat switch has a good feel, but i wish the cymbals had playable bells...An added triger or something. it wiuld really add to the dynamics of the cymbals.

everything fits together well. And all pieces are pretty rigid

Active Musician

Everything

I am very impressed with the sound of this instrument. I've owned a set of Rogers acoustic drums for thirty years. Even though I would never sell them, they sound terrible in my basement and they disturb my family. The Yamaha set has a studio sound. That fact makes it hard to quit playing them! The cross stick sound is very strong, better than acoustic drums. The snare rimshot feature is also good. It's too bad they didn't include it on the toms. I'm impressed that they would build so much quality into such a modestly priced drumset!

I'm so impressed that I can optimize the sound of every individual drum to suit my taste. Even the cymbals have so many different settings that they should satisfy everyone. It's great that the module allows you to play to different types of music. Remarkable!

I just bought this set yesterday so I cannot fairly rate the longevity of it. However, everything seems to be well made and the rack is aluminum. I've seen other brands that use plastic. No way baby! It's quite simple to set up, just like they said. I pulled it out of the box, loosened some T-nuts, and bingo! The pads are thick and strong. The adjustments are a breeze. They even included velcro strips to anchor the snake cable to the rack. Awesome!

I would recommend this set to anyone on a budget with a desire for quality. Of course I wish I could afford a really expensive set with mesh heads, but I prefer to keep my money in my pocket.

I did talk on the phone with some higher-up. I found a support phone number on the Yamaha website. A nice lady put me through to this very nice man who answered all of my questions. He even told me how to upgrade the kit. Amazing! I'm going to call him back to let him know how happy I am!

I own it! The aesthetic quality is simple. It needn't be "sexy" to be for me. It does more than what I thought it could do. I can even get bell sounds [and others!] from the cymbal. I was told I couldn't. Obviously, most of the people selling this instrument don't even know everything about it!

I'm fifty-four. I've played in several bands with different styles; Christian, Swing, and top 40. I've played at the Keil Audito

Christian, jazz, swing, old Top 40

Better than an acoustic kit for most clubs, but I'd be embarrased to sit behind them in a large arena.

Very convienient with all the cable straps included... just add your favorite throne, a kick pedal, and some sticks!

I depend on it every weekend in clubs of all sorts.

I'd like to pay less for everything I buy, but this one really is a bargain compared to what else is available.

Haven't needed support

Active Musician

Variety of styles

I've been serching for a set. I been to many music stores. The sound of this product is very good for the money. but your store have it for a very good price. Trying now how to get it.

It could use a better brain

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I want it so badly. I live in apt. this is what I need.

Never played before until my church needed a dummer. Then I played for 2 yrs.

Whatever the holy spirit leds me

As with any musical instrument, it takes a bit of tweaking to find the "perfect" sound, but the preset kits are a good start. The voice layering and fully programmable velocity-switching fuctions help -- something you won't find on similarly-priced Roland kits.

It would be nice to have multi-outs, and a bigger display, but the programming features far outshine the TD-3 I also considered. The voice layering I mentioned above is great. And the stand has extra support bracing, which is a nice touch. Lots of usable sounds.

Unpack the boxes, unfold the stand, mounts the pads, hook up the labeled (on both ends) pad cables, plug in the wall-wart and headphones, and go. Initial setup takes well under 10 minutes. Of course, it took a few days to dial the pad heights the way I like them, but getting it up and running is really quick.

The quality seems appropriate for the price and target audience. I don't think it's marketed towards the touring musician, so they can get away with composite clamps and such, but for home use or a weekly church gig, the hardware is just fine. The pads themselves are very sturdy and have a nice feel.

The module alone makes it a value compared to the competition. Yes, the Roland sounds good OOTB, but seems brain-dead (function-wise) compared to the DTX3.

I e-mailed Yamaha to find out about an extra arm brace for the floor-tom support arm, even including a picture of the part I wanted, since the individual RS70 rack parts aren't publised on-line. The response was to call Yamaha here in SoCal. So I called them up and got through to the right department in less than a minute. The price they wanted for the parts (which weren't in stock) were waaaay too high, so I used some parts from old Tama and USS keyboard stands to do the job. I was just impressed that I could get the right person on the phone (and she was very pleasant, I must add) pretty quickly.

It can fit in a small space, has great features and good sound, and heck, that red tubing accents sure are purty. How much did I want it? Enough to buy it!

Hobbyist

Rock, Alternative, Pop