Had a journey through brands and types of heads... Although it‘s expensive it was a good exercise. Catched most of the heads on videos - sometimes recorded with overheads only, sometimes with individual mics on the toms. Wanted to share the links as links only but the forum software unfolded them to Youtube-Videos...
Beginning in 2016 I tested the following combos on my Pearl MMP (batter / reso):
Toms:
Amba clear / Amba clear - didn‘t like the hard attack when playing the drums without mics. Toms were missing warmth. (Video:
)
Aquarian Texture coated / Amba clear - same as above, little less plastic sounding due to coating. (Video:
)
Evans G2 clear / Amba clear - very nice sound, lot of punch and nice controlled sustain. Quite warm sounding. After a good time of playing the G2s turn dead from one beat to the other. When you take them off the drum and tap there‘s no more life in them. Good sounding heads though, fine for recording too. Very easy to tune. (Video:
)
Emperor clear / Amba clear - very similar to the G2, a little more lively on my set. Very versatile sound both for playing w/ or w/o mics. Records nice. The Emperors last forever, they do not sound dead if tapped after taken off the drum even after a good time of playing. Of course they degrade also with time, but for me the period of „sounds still acceptable“ is longer than with G2s. Tuning takes a little more effort than the G2s. (No video of this combo available)
Evans UV1 / Amba clear - sounded good on mics, they appeared to have quite a bit of damping in them. They had less volume than Emps/G2s and sounded a little dull for my ears. Coating is superb (no trace of use at all). Tuning is very easy with these. Found out that I hit harder to compensate the lacking punch... (Video:
)
Emperor clear / UV1 - interesting experiment with good results. The sympathetic ring of the resos is totally gone, the sustain of the toms is perfect for mics. Similar to the above combo with Amba clear as reso, but a tad more controlled. Also nice look from the audience to the snow white resos. (Videos:
and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqBkxenMfzY#t=1m41ss)
Remo Vintage A coated / Amba clear - these heads were very weak for my ears. They all (10-12-14-14-16) came with wrinkles in the inner 3mil ply, one of the 14 was totally dead when tapped. Installed the dead head on the snare which worked but didn‘t give the snap I usually like on snares. On the toms the heads were as quiet as the UV1s, but appeared to be even more dampened if not muffled. Played this combo only 3-4 weeks and put them off as I didn‘t liked the feedback the drums gave me with them on. (video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c14bDiARATo)
Other batters for toms I have to mention are the
Emperor Suede (not: White Suede). I use them on my thicker shelled birch drums and they sound simply fantastic! They last decades... (Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg9tC7xTjms)
Currently back to the
Emp/UV1 combo above, next set will be G2 with Amba clear and test wise Diplomat clear. Had played the Diplos a long time ago as resos and always had a great sound with these especially with mics. Got a set of used one here (clear), would love to try coated ones (or Reso7).
Bassdrum:
Currently back to EMAD clear with small ring installed as batter, reso Aquarian Regulator. Good thump, good feel of the drum. Records and tunes easy.
The other head to go for me is the PS3, clear or smooth white. All batters with Evans EQ patch (the clear one).
The PS3 is also a good reso, closed or with hole.
Snare:
Most of my snares have a Aquarian Texture coated with Powerdot installed. The dot supports the crack and adds some dryness in the center of the drum. Happy to use a Amba or TC or G1 coated too.
