Yamaha PHX - am I missing something?

The only things that bother me about the PHX kits are that there's no matching snare drum, and that it's $7000 for a kit that sounds like it plays in a lower range, which is the opposite of the Live Custom, which sounds $1000 more expensive than it is. It's a quality product coming from Yamaha no doubt, and I know guys like Weckl love them so it's probably just a sound that it doesn't fit in my taste. But I'm mostly a value shopper anyway, so I might just be totally off base. Who knows.

Anyway for the price, I think the Tama Star gives you more bang for your buck. 3 different shells, like what 10 snare drums at this point (some of which are solid shells), and you get some of the best drum hardware in the industry. I believe they were probably introduced to compete directly with the PHX anyway.
 
Tand that it's $7000 for a kit that sounds like it plays in a lower range

That is quite a bold statement and far from true in my experience with the kit.

If one spend time on tuning and fresh heads that is.

In the studio it is the most versatile kit there is, to bring out the most versatile studio sound and ease of use for the engineer, and you certainly hear that higher price tag back (and if i'm correct its less then 7k for a standard kit)

Live, I could agree that there are more kits out there for a more affordable pricing. Yet if you use it as a studio kit, why not as a live kit right?

(disclaimer I don't make enough money with studio work to justify such a purchase, but if I was this would be my to go work horse in that area)
 
I think the Star model is closer to my favourite, just cleaner without the cool growl. PHX is a completely different design and concept.
 
Hi All- Just bought a 18X22 PHX bass drum. It gives me this High Honk that i cant get rid of. Tried Both Powerstroke Clear with patch and Powerstroke Smooth white, and different tunings. Same thing. Front head is ported.

Any Experience? any thoughts? This aint a cheap drum and the honk is terrible.
Thanks,
 
Remove the reso head, brace all the lugs so they don’t vibrate. Tune a single-ply head to JAW. Play it. Have a friend play it so you can hear it from all directions. Slightly increase tension until you hear it. If you don’t hear it by the time it gets tom-tom tight, pop the reso head on and repeat the process, matching the tension of the two heads each time.

If you hear it through all tensions with only one head, could it be a hardware issue? Or a crack in the shell? ?
 
It seems to be the infamous Basketball/Bottle effect... a result of this huge shell's resonance reflections... im just not used to such a long drum..
Ill try dampening the inner drum, not the heads though, and see. In 35 year career i never ran into such a pronounced annoying Basketball effect...
Thanks for your help!
 
At certain tunings I get the “beach ball” sound effect on my 15”x8” maple snare. Moon gel or a hydraulic head is my fix.
 
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