"blisspikle" wrote in message
oups.com...
I was reading a little on the DM Pro. Does anyone know why this was
discontinued? It looks like such a great product. I bit a little
giddy when I see bits go up, and all the 6 indivual audio outputs look
nice. They are selling higher on ebay then the DM5, so someone must
still want them.

Some people do still want them. But then some people prefer the Alesis HR-16B,
or that awful SR-16 to the original HR-16, which I think still sounds pretty
darn good all things considered.

As to the DM5 versus the DM Pro, it all depends on what you really want out of
the unit. Do you want a trigger-to-MIDI, a quality sound module, both?

There are several differences between the two units, and I'd be willing to bet
only one of them will really matter to you based on what you stated you're
looking for: the DM5 has 12 trigger inputs. The DM Pro has 16. But those extra 4
trigger inputs come with some baggage.

The rest of the differences have to do with audio and, while the DM Pro does
sport 20-bit samples and 24-bit effects, the DM5's DAC is 18-bit and the
difference in sound quality isn't all that enormous to my ears. YMMV. As to
samples, the DM Pro has twice as many sounds at 20-bit compared to the DM5's
18-bit; as to number of voices the DM Pro has 64 voice polyphony, the DM5 has
16; and audio outputs - the DM Pro has 6 assignable unbalanced outs, the DM5 has
4. Does audio matter to you?

The other big difference between the two is the programmable samples you can
play from the card of the DM Pro, a feature not available on the DM5. But I
wouldn't get too jazzed about that, either. The DM Pro requires a PCMCIA card
and even 8Mb cards aren't cheap. It plays exactly what's on the card; it doesn't
load them into the unit and allow you to layer four voices like the DM Pro's
factory patches can. That means you have to create a finished sample and store
it on the card.

For pity's sake, why bother? Use the DM Pro to fire off a soft sampler like
you're wanting to do and be done with it. With all the quality drum sample sets
available I'd rather shoot my toes off one at a time than have to create
individual samples to fit on an 8Mb card.

All that being said, there's a couple of other reasons I'd stick with the DM5,
aside from it being $100 to $150 cheaper.

The DM5 is still in production; the DM Pro was discontinued.

The DM PRO had a software upgrade last year. Most probably you'd want one with
version 2.0; it fixed a few glitches in both audio and triggering, but
unfortunately, broke the cymbal choke feature of version 1.x. That was helpful.
If the unit doesn't already have the upgrade, it'll cost you $50 plus shipping
from Alesis for the two EPROMS. Changing them out is a matter of five screws and
careful handling of the EPROMS.

Also, the DM PRO runs hotter than either the DM4 or the DM5. This caused many
units to heat the circuit boards and expose a really annoying habit of some of
the solder joints to go bad. Unfortunately these tend to be around the EPROM
sockets. One of the EPROMS is the one that handles triggering functions. ("Trig
BIST failure" is an annoying message to read on the LCD display, which also has
a habit of dimming for no good reason.) If you're handy with a soldering iron
and don't mind pulling the thing apart, you can fix it yourself. Otherwise, plan
on a $150 trip to Alesis.

Now, I happen to really like my DM Pro. I've fixed the above issues with mine
and if it craps out on me, I'll likely replace it with a used one. But for
straight, mostly worry free triggering, for the price of a used unit just stick
with the DM5. My DM5 has never once glitched on me. Ever. Again, YMMV.

John LeBlanc
Houston, TX