Comparing head makers

drummingman

Gold Member
For a good number of years now i have played remo heads. But i am wondering how evans and aquarian heads compare to remo. Are either better then remo or are they all about the same. And which is better between evans and aquarian?

Im going to be outfitting my new set with heads at some point soon so thats why im looking into the other brands,
 
I've used all three of those brands at some point in my years of playing and I've found that all three brands have a particular sound and feel, and positives and drawbacks.

But assigning "better" and "worse" titles to each is tricky, because it's based so much on personal sound preference and experience.

I think all three of those companies make good heads, but from my own past experiences I've found Evans to be much more consistent in quality than Remo, which is why I've mostly played Evans heads for the last 15 years.

I've only started using Aquarian heads in the last year, but I've been extremely impressed by what I've heard and felt so far. Right now I'm using Aquarian on everything on my kit apart from Evans on my bass drum.
 
I just go with one of the three because I happened to like the particular sound I got from a series and I couldn't find that sound in any of the other maker's series.

It's all preference man, just preference.
 
I've been very happy with every Evans head I've ever played. I'm a particularly big fan of the G2 coated heads. That being said, I don't have extensive experience with different drum heads, because of cost issues. I've tried out a fair smattering though.
 
It truly is about sound. Go listen to similar drums like yours with all 3 heads in place. Put on a blindfold and just listen. This will take hours and hours to do and also trying to find 2 others with similar kits. But you will know what you really want. I play Remo.
 
That's not only vague but also unanswerable.

Everyone has their different opinons. Some people like a 2-ply head over single ply, but each manufacturer makes a lot of 2-ply heads, and many of them are actually very similar. You just have to get heads and try them out.

What i've found is that, particularly with snares, you have to have the head on there for a few days or a week or so to let it 'settle in' so to speak, stretch out more and then (to me at least) that's when i really start trying out different tuning ranges.

Personally, i've discovered i'm an Evans guy. I generally prefer the sound of Evans heads and i find that the coating lasts a lot longer. But others have said that the coating on Remo heads has no problems either, and that's true. For some people, the Remo may last longer but they're not me, they don't tune the same as me, they don't play the same as me and, as far as sound goes, not everyone will have the same snare as me. So i messed around with several Evans heads and liked them all.

You just have to test everything out one by one.
xoxo
 
Picking a brand is silly.

On my kit it's all Remo--because that's the sound I want.

On my kid's kit we have Remo PS3s on the bass drum and coated Ambassador over hazy Ambassador on the snare. The toms are all Evans. Because that's the sound he wants.
 
With me i haven't tried many different kinds of heads but for me I prefer Evans because there durable and i get the perfect sound out of them. But like everybody else said go try them out.
 
Picking a brand is silly.

On my kit it's all Remo--because that's the sound I want.

On my kid's kit we have Remo PS3s on the bass drum and coated Ambassador over hazy Ambassador on the snare. The toms are all Evans. Because that's the sound he wants.

Picking a brand is silly. I could say the same thing to you after saying you have All Remos.
I chose the Evans heads i have because it's the sound I wanted. I don't pick heads by the ink, i pick heads with the ear. And they turn out to be Evans most of the time.
xoxo
 
After looking at evans and aquarian and their sites and videos where those 2 hands have are being used on youtube i have decided that i will try out aquarian heads first. Im planing on getting a snare batter and a snare side head and trying them out. I may do that with a few combos of aquarian heads on my snare to see what sound i like. If i dont like what i hear after a few combs i plan on trying evans.

Being that im most informed about remo i want to try the 2 others to see what i think of them.
 
If Remo works for you, why change? You can spend lots of money going through heads and still come right back to what you've used before. I think as musicians we like to glorify the experience of trying "something new", and end up blowing a lot of cash in the meantime.

As for me, every head by Evans I have purchased has been a success. I will probably never use anything else for my snare or my kick beater heads.

Tom heads are still a mystery for me. I have gone through two series of Aquarian heads, one being the response 2 clears and the other being the super 2 coated. The response 2 clears were nice and wet but kind of flat sounding; the super 2's were fat and warm, but the tone wasn't what I was looking for. I thought about trying some Studio-X, but I think as long as I'm having terrific luck with Evans heads, I'm going to "stick" with them, haha.

Look at some youtube videos, read reviews on musicians friend (look for the 4.5 and 5 star overall reviews), and pick your top 3. Buy one head each of those three and compare. Then go from there. Rinse and repeat until you find your permanent head. Bottom line, find something that works and then use it. It will be part of "your" sound and nobody can steal that from you.
 
All 3 head companies plus Attack ( forgot them ) all make quality products. Some are comparable to each others and some aren't. Go to all of the companies sites and take some time and read over all of the product descriptions to those that would apply to your needs and just go from there. Aquarian has a comparison chart on their site which compares their heads to Evans and Remo. I'd say it's quite accurate. Just take the time and research and read up on the particular head that gets your attention.
 
If Remo works for you, why change? You can spend lots of money going through heads and still come right back to what you've used before. I think as musicians we like to glorify the experience of trying "something new", and end up blowing a lot of cash in the meantime.

As for me, every head by Evans I have purchased has been a success. I will probably never use anything else for my snare or my kick beater heads.

Tom heads are still a mystery for me. I have gone through two series of Aquarian heads, one being the response 2 clears and the other being the super 2 coated. The response 2 clears were nice and wet but kind of flat sounding; the super 2's were fat and warm, but the tone wasn't what I was looking for. I thought about trying some Studio-X, but I think as long as I'm having terrific luck with Evans heads, I'm going to "stick" with them, haha.

Look at some youtube videos, read reviews on musicians friend (look for the 4.5 and 5 star overall reviews), and pick your top 3. Buy one head each of those three and compare. Then go from there. Rinse and repeat until you find your permanent head. Bottom line, find something that works and then use it. It will be part of "your" sound and nobody can steal that from you.

At this point there is a remo head that im not totally satisfied with (the bass drum head). It has a good sound for a little while after i put it on. But then it goes flat. And i am chaging some things in my bass drum (such as no longer putting the evans muffler in it). So having the muffle ring on the head itself i think will help me achieve the sound that im going for. Plus, i want to see if these other compines take what i do like about remo heads and sounds and make them better.

I like your user name!
 
All 3 head companies plus Attack ( forgot them ) all make quality products. Some are comparable to each others and some aren't. Go to all of the companies sites and take some time and read over all of the product descriptions to those that would apply to your needs and just go from there. Aquarian has a comparison chart on their site which compares their heads to Evans and Remo. I'd say it's quite accurate. Just take the time and research and read up on the particular head that gets your attention.

I thought about Attack at some point after starting this thread. I know the least about them.

I have been to the 3 head makers sites that i included in this thread. I also looked at the aquarian comparison chart as well. That was very cool. Im sure that i will revisit those sites again as i look for heads that i will like (even if i get aquarian heads and stay with them im sure that i will go to aquarian's site again and look around some more).

I have thought about the muffle rings that aquarian puts on the inside of some of their bass drum heads (like the super kicks). Does anyone know that if i put a pillow in my bass drum and push the pillow up against the head with the muffle ring if the pillow will rub on the muffle ring when i am playing the bass drum and make buzzing or rubbing sounds (being that the muffle ring and the pillow will be touching because i like the pillow to touch the batter head, which is the head that i will have the internal muffle ring on)? I may also have the front head with a muffle ring but im not sure about that yet.
 
I thought about Attack at some point after starting this thread. I know the least about them.

I have been to the 3 head makers sites that i included in this thread. I also looked at the aquarian comparison chart as well. That was very cool. Im sure that i will revisit those sites again as i look for heads that i will like (even if i get aquarian heads and stay with them im sure that i will go to aquarian's site again and look around some more).

I have thought about the muffle rings that aquarian puts on the inside of some of their bass drum heads (like the super kicks). Does anyone know that if i put a pillow in my bass drum and push the pillow up against the head with the muffle ring if the pillow will rub on the muffle ring when i am playing the bass drum and make buzzing or rubbing sounds (being that the muffle ring and the pillow will be touching because i like the pillow to touch the batter head, which is the head that i will have the internal muffle ring on)? I may also have the front head with a muffle ring but im not sure about that yet.

yes. You can put a pillow in the drum while using the SK head. You won't hear any buzzing or rattling sounds ect. I use a foam rubber pillow with the SK. I play in the house for my own enjoyment. I don't need or want a super loud resonating drum. It works well. The Super Kick on the batter and the Regulator on the front is a great combo.
 
yes. You can put a pillow in the drum while using the SK head. You won't hear any buzzing or rattling sounds ect. I use a foam rubber pillow with the SK. I play in the house for my own enjoyment. I don't need or want a super loud resonating drum. It works well. The Super Kick on the batter and the Regulator on the front is a great combo.

Cool. Thanks for the info. Would i also not hear any buzzing or rattling sounds if i use a Impact batter head with a pillow pushed up againt it? I know it has a wider muffle ring then the super kick 1 and 2.
 
At this point there is a remo head that im not totally satisfied with (the bass drum head). It has a good sound for a little while after i put it on. But then it goes flat. And i am chaging some things in my bass drum (such as no longer putting the evans muffler in it). So having the muffle ring on the head itself i think will help me achieve the sound that im going for. Plus, i want to see if these other compines take what i do like about remo heads and sounds and make them better.

I like your user name!

Thanks for the compliment. :)

Try an Evans EMAD. Great head for the kick. Lots of thump and punch!
 
Cool. Thanks for the info. Would i also not hear any buzzing or rattling sounds if i use a Impact batter head with a pillow pushed up againt it? I know it has a wider muffle ring then the super kick 1 and 2.

Nope. You won't hear anything as far as buzzes and what not.
 
Thats whay i was first looking at but i heard that people have had problems with it. I also wondered if the foam ring may push into my pedal.

I have no contact with the foam and my pedal. I keep my pedal right close to the shell, never had a problem. In fact, I haven't had any problems at all with my EMAD. I highly, highly recommend it. It's my kick batter head from now on!
 
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