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The DTXtreme III immediately renders everything else a bit dated in the aesthetics department

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There's no doubt that the world of electronic drums has been an extremely interesting place in the last five years. Increasingly impressive developments from the two big boys (that'll be Roland and Yamaha) and a steady trickle of good stuff from smaller brands have seen drummers treated to better sounds and more 'natural'-feeling set-ups than ever. And the pace of change shows no signs of slowing.

With Roland's new TD-9K on its way and the new Yamaha DTXtreme III Special here, 2008 looks like it might be the best year for e-drummers yet. But how will Yamaha's newbie fare in this competitive sector?

Build

The DTXtreme III Special certainly gets off to a good start. From the moment the rack and an assortment of Protection Racket cases rolled off the courier van expectations were high, simply down to the fact that the rack looks so darn good.

There's something rather traditional about the hexagonal, three-sided rack - which is unique to the 'Special' version of the new DTXtreme series - and it looks like it means serious business. It's less hi-tech and more purposeful than the kind of electronic drum rack we've become used to, and the DTXtreme III immediately renders everything else a bit dated in the aesthetics department.

And the rest of the kit is equally pro in terms of visual appeal. The five rubber-faced drum pads, PCY 'cymbal' pads (a pair of 13"s and one 15" ride), KP125 kick and the RHH135 hi-hat are all hefty pieces of kit - simple but streamlined both in terms of looks and operation. And the DTXtreme III brain is a thing to behold, with a huge LCD display, a mini-mixer for the kit and clearly laid-out transport and editing buttons promising an easy ride as far as delving deeper is concerned.

The spec of the playing surfaces is commendable too, with three zones allowing head, rimshot and cross-stick sounds from the drum pads (where applicable) and bell, bow and edge tones from the cymbals. Where such acoustic emulation is unnecessary - in the case of some of the more otherworldly electronic kit presets, for example - these features are brought into play to allow loops to be triggered from the rims of the pads.