During the manufacturing process, it’s filled with millions of tiny bubbles that give the head a very realistic and natural feel.

The playing surface is made from a silicone gel material that has the appearance and texture of a coated drumhead. This isn’t a new design - in fact, it has been part of the Yamaha range for over 10 years - but it may not be familiar to you. Both the 8‑inch XP80 snare and 7‑inch XP70 tom pads feature Yamaha’s unique Textured Cellular Silicone (TCS) playing surface. Mesh pads are pretty much the norm on electronic kits these days, so the inclusion of something different instantly makes this kit stand out. The most striking feature (no pun intended) of the DTX6K3‑X is the pads. I’ve been sent the top‑of‑the range DTX6K3‑X to have a look at and test, so without further ado. The new range comprises the DTX6K‑X, DTX6K2‑X and DTX6K3‑X, all three kits being based around the new DTX Pro module (see the ‘ Kit List’ box for a full configuration run‑down of each kit). So does the DTX6 range put Yamaha right back in the game? There have been rumours of new products coming from Yamaha for some time, but the announcement of the new DTX6 range in November still came as something of a pleasant surprise to me, as I’ve been impressed with the kits I’ve reviewed in the past and the EAD10 was an innovative and exciting product.

However, that was really more of an incursion into the increasingly popular territory of hybrid drumming than anything resembling a full return to the electronic drum market. The fantastic EAD10 (reviewed in SOS April 2018) did, perhaps, give us reason to believe Yamaha hadn’t abandoned the fray completely. Historically, Yamaha and Roland have shared the crown in the field of electronic drums, but the more recent introduction of Alesis into the frame and a relative paucity of new offerings from Yamaha has seen the latter fall beneath the radar somewhat, with only the entry‑level DTX402 range and DTX Multi12 in their current catalogue. Yamaha’s new DTX6 range is a force to be reckoned with.

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