Evans EMAD vs Aquarian Superkick?

ThatCallumMurrayKid

Junior Member
Busted my batter bass head today, (two years service :eek: ) as a result, im now looking for a replacement! my drum teacher said either the EMAD or aquarian superkick... which do you guys think is better? from experience preferably.
 
I find the Emad a bit too controlled, I prefer the Superkick 1 and mate it with a ported Regulator front head and can tune it either at JAW for a fat controlled sound or tweek it just a bit higher to add some resonance (can still get less resonance by burying the beater when needed) and still keep that big and fat sound and with no pillows or anything else required inside the drum it sounds a lot bigger than it really is, music123 usually sells them as a set with a double beater patch for about $62 with free shipping in the USA.
 
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I think the EMAD is punchier and can get louder, the superkick's sound great but they kind of max out at a certain dynamic level and don't get any louder after that. They sound very warm and boomy, but when you dig in they don't articulate as much.

that being said sometimes the emad can be too punchy and gets that basketball dribbling sound, depending on the drum and tuning.

you can't go wrong with either head.
 
Thanks guys,
think i might go with the emad, ive used it before and i love the sound of it! i definitely keep the superkick in mind though ;)
 
For me It's Emad all the way!
I've had Both superkicks 1 & 2, they are gr8 heads but I feel the Emad is punchier and just nicer sounding overall.
 
It may be a little late, but what the heck.

I've had the Emad's, Powerstroke's, and Super Kick's. They are all excellent heads. I thought after I found the Emad's that I would never switch again, but then I gave the Aquarian Super Kick 10's a try. Contest over!! Now I don't want to say that I will never switch from the Super Kick 10's, because I said that about the Emad's, but let's just say that I'm not even interested in trying anything else ever again!
 
Remo PS3 and you won't look back.
IMO the Superkick is a great head and cheaper but just has too much dampener on it.
 
Re: Evans EMAD vs Aquarian Super Kick?

I have three EMAD bass drum heads sitting in their boxes. I've tried them on my Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute drums, my Gretsch Renown kit, DW Classic kit and also my Ludwig Classic Maple drums and I never got a sound out of them that I was completely satisfied with. The only two bass drum batter heads that I'm currently using are the Evans EQ4 and a Remo Powerstroke 3.

I tried liking the EMAD heads quite a few times but always came away with a feeling that they were a bit too dead and overly focused for the type of bass drum sound that I'm after. I believe the popularity of Aquarian is catching on because lately I've been seeing fewer EMAD and EMAD 2 heads in the studio and more Aquarian. I keep on saying this but, one of these days I'm going to have to try some Aquarian heads. I've played bass drums with Super Kick heads, but never owned any.

Dennis
 
Re: Evans EMAD vs Aquarian Super Kick?

I tried liking the EMAD heads quite a few times but always came away with a feeling that they were a bit too dead and overly focused for the type of bass drum sound that I'm after.

And that's the key, it all depends on the sound we want.

First, let's be honest - if there's a big pillow in the kick, the batter and reso heads don't matter much. If it's a smaller pillow, blanket, or Evans or DW muffler, the heads matter to a certain degree.

But if the drum is played fairly wide open, which is what I do most of the time, head choices make all the difference. I use EMAD coated and clear batters almost exclusively, usually with an EQ3 reso, and no damping except for the foam ring. The sound and feel are perfect for 99% of what I do, whether mic'd or acoustic. The coated gives me a classic old school sound, and the clear gives me a little more attack and presence. The exception that comes to mind is on my touring kit, which has an EQ4 clear for a batter, and has 2 large pillows (see above.)

Last time I tried an Aquarian kick head was sometime in the late '80s. I recall that I didn't much like the sound or feel from where I sat, yet everyone who mic'd the kick thought it sounded great. Now with the EMAD, I can also enjoy the sound & feel! Needless to say, they sound great out front as well! :)

Bermuda
 
Re: Evans EMAD vs Aquarian Super Kick?

And that's the key, it all depends on the sound we want.

First, let's be honest - if there's a big pillow in the kick, the batter and reso heads don't matter much. If it's a smaller pillow, blanket, or Evans or DW muffler, the heads matter to a certain degree.

But if the drum is played fairly wide open, which is what I do most of the time, head choices make all the difference. I use EMAD coated and clear batters almost exclusively, usually with an EQ3 reso, and no damping except for the foam ring. The sound and feel are perfect for 99% of what I do, whether mic'd or acoustic. The coated gives me a classic old school sound, and the clear gives me a little more attack and presence. The exception that comes to mind is on my touring kit, which has an EQ4 clear for a batter, and has 2 large pillows (see above.)

Last time I tried an Aquarian kick head was sometime in the late '80s. I recall that I didn't much like the sound or feel from where I sat, yet everyone who mic'd the kick thought it sounded great. Now with the EMAD, I can also enjoy the sound & feel! Needless to say, they sound great out front as well! :)

Bermuda

Sorry to go slightly off topic but I have to ask how does your touring kit bass drum feel with two large pillows in it compared to your other bass drums that are played wide open with only the emad damping?

I only ask because the feel of the bass drum is equally important as the end result sound to me and I often wonder if many compromise feel for sound. I just always seem to be stuffing a bed sheet in my bass drums using remo PS3's just to get the right feel.

Thanks
 
I know there seems to be a lot of love out there for the Superkick heads, but for me personally, they are simply too dead sounding. I found this to be true on my own kick, and I hear it on others' kicks when they use them. I much prefer the sound of the EMAD, of the two heads you are deciding between.
 
I like both myself though I found that they are definitely drum specific. I found that the Superkick sounded better than the EMAD on an old Pearl Export kit in the practice room and just the opposite for my Acrylic set (as well as an old Luddy CS custom kit I used to have).

The EMAD allows me to better control any undesirable acrylic overtones and renders it a cannon!
 
I should add that the Peal kit was ported. Quite possibly the in difference in how it responded to the SuperKick.
 
I use both and like both, if I had to choose between the two, my choice would be the Superkick 1. I don't really like the two ply in either head, as I still like a bit of boom in my bass drum sound. One thing that no one has mentioned so far is the fragility of the tray on the EMAD that holds the foam ring. I have had no issue with them, but a number of drummers I know have had issues with them cracking.
 
I went to one of my Five Star drums shops yesterday to pick up some new heads for my Ludwig Classic Maple kit. I thought for a change that I would try Aquarian heads for the toms and bass drum batter heads. I didn't see any signs of them any more in the shop, so I asked about them. A friend of mine there advised me that they quit stocking them because they were getting too many complaints about the heads fitting the bearing edges or the hoops. It must have been the hoops because he said they fit OK with triple flange but had considerable problems with die cast.

Well, I ended up again getting Evans, this time G2 coated. I walked out of the shop with 5 heads to fit my toms and installed them today. Again one head out of the 5 was dead sounding, it was my 13" rack tom head. Again, it sounded worse than any Evans Hydraulic head you would ever want to hear. Now I have a dead sounding 13" drum until I can get back to the shop next weekend. This is the fourth dead sounding G2 head in about three weeks. I'm just about ready to put up with the sometimes premature coating wear of the Remo company once again, lol.

Thinking about it, I'm wondering about the individuals who are just learning how to tune their drums who might be experiencing the same problems with Evans heads and blaming it on their own tuning abilities.

Dennis
 
My favorite kick drum head is the Aquarian Superkick 1. It has a nice warm punch, but it also has a nice amount of "boom" to go with it. I will say, I agree with the comments about how it will hit a certain volume and then that's it. It is certainly a quieter head than the Remo Powerstroke 3.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the EMAD. To me, the EMAD takes away the body of the drum and gives you 90% attack. If you want a sound from the late 90s/early 2000s, then that might be a good choice. I'm not a fan of the Aquarian Superkick 2 for the exact same reason.

My order of preference:
1.) Aquarian Superkick 1
2.) Remo coated Powerstroke 3
3.) Remo clear Powerstroke 3
4.) Evans EMAD
 
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