Tama Dyna Sync Pedal.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Thanks for the review!
Did you fuss with the adjustments on the pedal?
What kind of music do you play?

Interestingly enough I’ve never fiddled with the settings. I know there are more tweaks and adjustments you can make to it, but it felt great to me right out of the box. It’s the first pedal I’ve owned that I can say that about.
I’ve traditionally played rock and indie pop, but I’ve been learning jazz from a renown teacher in my area. The one to one connection between my brain and foot is the true magic of direct drive. The Dyna-Sync just retains the feel that most dd pedals miss out on.
 
Did you have to do much tweaking of the original settings, or did it feel perfect right out of the box?
[/QUOTEI haven’t touched the settings on the

The pedal just felt right to me right out of the box. Tama has achieved something remarkable here. I probably could dive deeper but I’m pretty stoked with it as is.
 
I want to address the OP’s original question. I own a Dyna-Sync single. I too was a little reluctant because you can only do so much testing in a shop. I took the plunge and haven’t looked back. It is far and away my favorite pedal I’ve ever owned. I don’t know what kind of black magic Tama used to create this thing but the “loss of power” that I’ve also felt from other DD pedals doesn’t exist in the Dyna-Sync IMO. Worth is in the eye (or wallet) of the beholder but I feel like this pedal has paid me back in spades.

Thanks for getting this back on topic.

I ended up getting one, and I really like it; I haven't had a whole lot of time to experiment with it yet but it feels great and is clearly quite solid due to the direct linkage between pedal and beater.

I will add that, indeed, it appears to be just as 'powerful' as my Iron Cobra.
 
You can make the righty a lefty. You have to remove the mainshaft and flip everything around on both the master and slave pedals. You now have a lefty version.
The Yamaha pedal is easily covertible. Just buy the direct drive spare parts and a lefty chain drive pedal, after that it takes a drum key and 5 minutes... Couldn't be happier with the result.
Don't know why Tama refuses to offer a lefty version (or at least an easily covertible one)
 
Were you able to test the Tama for reversibility in a store?
No I wasn't, but the German distributor (Meinl) offered me to rig one lefty and send it to me with warranty. I guess it is doable at home, but not as easy as the Yamaha pedal.
 
... And here I was thinking I was the only person being told that my arguments do not matter by that clown...

The Dyna Sync looks pretty damn awesome, imo.

I think one of the reasons for them having more power than regular direct drives is the shorter footboard.
 
Enough, already! Will somebody post a link to slo-mo vid of a comparison between a DD pedal’s and a chain pedal’s motion?
 
Enough, already! Will somebody post a link to slo-mo vid of a comparison between a DD pedal’s and a chain pedal’s motion?
A slow-mo video will likely not capture the subtlety of the situation.

The argument boils down to whether a direct drive ever has a compression force on it. A strain gauge on the direct drive portion of the pedal would solve this dilemma most effectively. A comparison with the forces on the chain would likely deliver the data to show why the power may be slightly different between the two designs.

For all practical purposes with average spring tension and average beater weight, skilas is correct that the chain will never appear slack. But to say that the chain is always under tension means that it should have an identical feel to a direct drive, which it doesn't so that should be enough evidence to convince someone. If tension is the only force on the drive system, they would operate and feel identical.
 
Last edited:
My only tiny complaint about this pedal is that the beater/shaft is not centered directly over the foot pedal. I like to have it strike the middle of the head. Out of the box, it's like 2 inches to the right so I'm going to move it as close to the drive link as possible. Other than that, I'm very happy with it.
 
My only tiny complaint about this pedal is that the beater/shaft is not centered directly over the foot pedal. I like to have it strike the middle of the head. Out of the box, it's like 2 inches to the right so I'm going to move it as close to the drive link as possible. Other than that, I'm very happy with it.

Yeah, that is a little strange. It doesn't bother me so I haven't looked into it further, but I imagine you can slide it to the left by loosening the one hex bolt.
 
My only tiny complaint about this pedal is that the beater/shaft is not centered directly over the foot pedal. I like to have it strike the middle of the head. Out of the box, it's like 2 inches to the right so I'm going to move it as close to the drive link as possible. Other than that, I'm very happy with it.
I noticed this on a shop demo and figured it was a way to have that beater length (if needed) and not strike the center of the drum of any diameter.
 
For all practical purposes with average spring tension and average beater weight, skilas is correct that the chain will never appear slack. But to say that the chain is always under tension means that it should have an identical feel to a direct drive, which it doesn't so that should be enough evidence to convince someone. If tension is the only force on the drive system, they would operate and feel identical.

I have a thought on this. You stated elsewhere you are an engineer (I think), so I will run it by you.

The geometry of the two setups is different. A chain pulls basically straight down from a single source of rotation. It doesn't really deviate from this position at all, with the slight deviation of lateral movement at the footboard where the chain actually gets slightly closer to the drum head as the footboard is depressed. The pull point (rotation) remains the same. It's a basic up and down motion for the chain.

A direct drive linkage oscillates as it works. The cam changes it's pull point as the pedal is depressed. Depending on where it starts, it can get closer to or farther away from the head as it travels, sometimes both. On top of that, the attachment point at the footboard travels toward the head as the pedal is depressed. This changes the actual location of the linkage as the pedal moves. In some cases, the top part of the linkage is moving toward the drummer while the bottom part is moving toward the drum. In my mind, this is where the loss of power feeling comes from. The linkage is fighting itself to maintain position between the two pieces.

Comparing engine parts to pedal linkages, the chain drive is a push-rod and the DD is a rocker arm. Thoughts?
 
Ah yes, that's correct. The roll-off point makes for a fixed point with the chain and with a direct drive that point will move in space.
Very good point. This would actually cause more torsional forces on the drive (which a chain will never experience) which is probably the biggest reason for loss in power.
Very well stated and explained.

Too much carbon fiber testing in my recent work history. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top