Aquarian drum heads anyone?

Terrence R

Silver Member
I've been drumming for a solid 15 years. I listen to a lot of metal and hard rock and 80's hair metal/rock. I've always had trouble getting my toms to sound the way I want. I'm currently using Evans g2's with two e-rings on each Tom. As you can tell from using two e-rings, I'm not a fan of sustained ringing and overtones. Especially when kicking my kick drum, I hate to here the toms ringing. Drives me nuts. I know a lot of people are kinda against the sound I'm looking for, but I love the sound of deep bassy toms.
So, I heard that Aquarian makes some heads that are perfect for me. Problem is, I'm not sure which ones to get. I here the performance II's are good, but are they exactly what I'm looking for? For those of you that know the sound of Lars' toms on Metallica's black album, that's the sound for me. I understand that the mics and eq's play a big part in the recordings, but I'm looking for that sound unmicced. I do mic my toms at large venues with really great results, but I would like to capture that sound in a full acoustic environment. Any suggestions? Preferably from that guys that know of the sound I'm after...

Thanx
 
EQ and mics DO play a huge role that cannot be ignored. But I guess you could get somewhat closer to the sound you're looking for if you buy the right heads.

I'm sure Tard will be here any minute and guide you through the world of Aquarian Drumheads :)
 
I use aquarian performance II's. When I 1st bought them, I was kind of sceptical. But if you're looking for that deep, low metal sound. Go for these. There's no ringing (cause i'm also a freak about ringing grrrr), you won't be dissapinted :)
 
Perfect. I like what I'm hearing. Megadeths drummer also used Aquarian heads on the Countdown to Extinction album which really has the Tom sound I've been craving. I'm not sure if he used the performance II tho, as the album was recorded in the very early 90's. that being said, are there any other Aquarian heads available that also put out that deep thuddy Tom Tom punch? He may have been using a form of hydrolic heads from Aquarian, but I find that hydrolic heads don't project enough. So, the performance II's ehh?
 
Performance II's are Aquarian's answer to the Remo Pinstripe/ Evans Hydraulic. You can also get them with power dots I believe.
 
I'm afraid you may have awakened the "Tard"

Nah, I am an Aquarian guy but single ply for me, I like the extra warmth, tone, resonance, attack and sustain you can get from a single ply but here is a video of some of Aquarian's heads so you can decide what sound your after and which head selection will give it to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot31HbyOlWE

BTW that video is older and there are some newer heads and some name changes but I think you can get the picture plus here is the link to Aquarians cross reference page.

http://www.aquariandrumheads.com/products/drumhead-guide-comparison
 
Tard, I'm enjoying my experience of testing out various Aquarian head combinations. Some really fly, some are in a similar space to others on the market. Got to say though, that Aquarian tom head comparison video has the most appalling audio quality. Why they'd release a video of such poor quality is beyond me. I've no issue with the lovely RP toms, I can even live with the close mic'ing (although I don't like it in the context of a video designed to show what something actually sounds like), but the audio capture itself is beyond terrible. Epic fail!
 
Evans has some new heads called Black Chrome that look great in person. They are essentially a 3-ply head so if that rings too much than maybe a towel is what your looking for.

They look great in person as well, I think it is 2- 7mil ply clear heads over a 7mil black chrome head. they look awesome, and I think are aimed at the heavey metal scene.

http://www.evansdrumheads.com/Black_Chrome.page
 
Evans has some new heads called Black Chrome that look great in person. They are essentially a 3-ply head so if that rings too much than maybe a towel is what your looking for.

They look great in person as well, I think it is 2- 7mil ply clear heads over a 7mil black chrome head. they look awesome, and I think are aimed at the heavey metal scene.

http://www.evansdrumheads.com/Black_Chrome.page

The Black Chromes are 2 ply heads, constructed of one transparent ply over a black ply. 7mil+7.5mil. I haven't played them personally but they seem to have a very dark, beefy sound with no overtones and very short sustain.
 
So, back to the Performance II, would the power dot heads benefit me more than the regular Performance II? How are the studio-x heads? Are they similar to the performance II?
 
I would suggest that you take a look at the Force Ten heads, this is from the Aquarian website:

Force Ten™: Force Ten drumheads are molded with two plies of 10mil Full-Range drumhead film. Aquarian's advanced molding procedures make these heads a powerful and durable head for tom toms. Force Ten drumheads are designed to have more attack, depth and durability than conventional two ply tom tom heads. These tom tom heads can be used in a variety of musical settings but are particularly well suited for Hard Rock and Metal. Available Clear or Texture Coated.

I have them, and they have a nice "thuddy" sound.
 
The studio x heads are great but being single py, they can dent. I played them for years without denting them and I'm a hard hitter. they really brought out the true sound of my drums. I am taking a leap of faith today and buying all new tom heads for my kit. I am going with the force 10 series. I havent played them but the decription sounds like what i am looking for and I trust Aquarian


.Force Ten™:
Force Ten drumheads are molded with two plies of 10mil Full-Range drumhead film. Aquarian's advanced molding procedures make these heads a powerful and durable head for tom toms. Force Ten drumheads are designed to have more attack, depth and durability than conventional two ply tom tom heads. These tom tom heads can be used in a variety of musical settings but are particularly well suited for Hard Rock and Metal. Available Clear or Texture Coated.

Characteristics: Clear or Coated
·: Two 10mil for maximun strengh
·: More Attack
·: More Sound and Volume
·: More Raw power
 
Force 10 ehh? From the description, they sound right on the money for what I'm after. So, do u think they are better than the Performance II for my personal taste?
 
Force 10 ehh? From the description, they sound right on the money for what I'm after. So, do u think they are better than the Performance II for my personal taste?

i have one performance 2 and i like it a lot. I needed to replace my 16 and bought that instead of a studio x. same sound out of my drum as the studio x just more durable.
 
From what the OP said Studio-X's and Super 2's are still too resonant. Studio-X is essentially the single ply Texture coated with an underside ring to control some of the resonance.

I like a lot of resonance so I really like the X's and S-2's above. I've used them both as well as the Texture coated single plies. FWIW: I just put another Modern Vintage on my Pork Pie 6 x 13 maple snare. I mention that to let you know I'm an Aquarian fan. However the latter head is not at all the kind you should get and I do use heads by all of the Big 3 currently.

I have coated Response 2's on my live kit's toms right now. I replaced the Super 2's that were on there for over a year and a half. The first thing I noticed was the 'thuddier' sound which i personally don't like. As with all Aquarian heads, it takes a few days of playing and tweaking (tuning) for them to reach their potential so they did improve. However I probably won't buy them again for my drums. They are supposed to be Aquarian's answer to the Evans G2 and Remo's Emperor but they feel thicker and more dampened to me than those others. As stated in Aquarian's website they do have more attack. Works OK for the louder stuff I do but not so much for the lighter more nuanced material. But that's just me. :)

I'm not familiar with Force Ten's but they do sound like the best match for the OP's sound specs.

I know we talk about this a lot on this forum but you should keep in mind that if you get the sound you really like behind the kit, especially when it comes to heavily controlled heads in loud, live music, the result may be undesireable out front where the listener is. Resonance dies a quick death in these situations the farther away you get from 'right on top' of the drums. You also have to be careful not to overcompensate if you discover this so you won't hurt yourself by overplaying (i.e. harder) a drum head.

In parting the ultimate in thud are the Evans Hydraulics. To reference Spinal Tap, "None more thuddy.." Has been for many years so if thud's what you want, that's a good place to start. You may want to try one on the middle tom you are using before throwing out cash for all toms.

HTH

Jim
 
Ok. I think I'm ganna go with the performance II heads. Sounds like the best choice for my application. Thanx for the info. And good point about just buying one for my main tom first to try it, as I have 4 toms plus my floor Tom. I'ld hate to be disappointed with them and be stuck with 5 heads. Also, I think I'll try the Impact series kick drum head with the wide foam ring. It seems like the right choice for me, unless, have you guys had bad experiences with that head? I see a lot of people on the site are using the super kick II. Any similarities between the two?

Thanx.
 
Ok. I think I'm ganna go with the performance II heads. Sounds like the best choice for my application. Thanx for the info. And good point about just buying one for my main tom first to try it, as I have 4 toms plus my floor Tom. I'ld hate to be disappointed with them and be stuck with 5 heads. Also, I think I'll try the Impact series kick drum head with the wide foam ring. It seems like the right choice for me, unless, have you guys had bad experiences with that head? I see a lot of people on the site are using the super kick II. Any similarities between the two?

Thanx.

I've only used Super Kick I, II & III (along with Regulator resonant heads) but the main similarities they would share with Impacts would be pre-dampening with underside rings. The Impact looks like it's more what you want as the ring should be wider than the Super Kick series.

Jim
 
Nice! Now the worst part; how much is this ganna cost me LOL. 4 toms plus floor Tom- 8",10",12",13",16" and the 22" impact series kick drum head. Does Aquarian offer any value packs? Even if I was able to purchase a pack that included the 12",13", and 16", that wouldn't be so bad. Then, I can buy the rest seperatly.
 
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