Remo VS Evans VS Aquarian

[Alan12]

I couldnt agree more with your statement regarding the 'environment'. The room and even the position within the room that the kit is set up in, plays a massive part in the tone you hear. Every 'rehearsal studio' i play in tends to sound rubbish (dead, flat, dry) yet in the little storage space where I have my kit set up (essentially a 6m x 6m tin shed with no roof), it sounds fat and absolutely sing!
This is rather annoying for me as the only times my band-mates hear my kit is in bad sounding rooms and I constantly get "Are you sure you know how to tune?" or "Thats a Masters? Doesnt sound like they do on albums"......sigh....
The room where I had my drums set up at my old house sounded amazing. Was a big, open space, split-level, 30ft high cathedral style roof, wooden panelled walls and the room was full of couches. Made my old Export kit sound a million bucks!

I agree as well. My room my Masters are set up in my kit sounds alright. It's only about 15' x 9' with 8' tall ceilings and wood paneling. Not much insulation either. My friend's living room on the other hand is much like your old house you described with the ceilings and such and my kit sings there also.

[Pearl MCX man]

My kit is in my studio which is 8x12 with just vapour barrier walls and ceilings. I can't say that I have much experience in trying out different rooms cause mine has never left the studio. To attain the studio sound that I want out of my MCX I had to try out different heads and out of all that made my kit sound the best are EC2's/ EC resos on the toms, EC frosted with reverse dot/ 300 Hazy on the snare. PS3 batter/ Aquarian 2ply on the bass drum ( small pillow inside and no port hole). This may sound abit muffle for you but this has made my kit sound great. Do any of you have this combination of heads . Please comment on what is the best head that work for your MCX kit.

[playinpearls]

I've only bought Evans heads once and I didn't care for the sound.

When I first bought my kit, the Aquarian Kick pack had just come out and I purchased the set and put it on. I instantly fell in love and kept this set on for over 10 years.

Earlier this year I decided I wanted a Pearl kick head back on the front. I was kind of worried about how it would sound but figured I could stuff a pillow in if I didn't like the resonance. I'd have to say after getting the Pearl head (official Powerstroke 3 with logo), the kick "opened up" more. I could hear that there was definitely some characteristics that the Superkick ended up muting.

I likened it to this scenario: The Superkick is like slapping someone annoying across the face with a pillow. You get the effect, but its still a little vague for the point you want to get across. The Powerstroke ended up being like just straight up punching the guy in the face. You get the attack, the power, and the follow through of the entire sound. The difference is amazing.

In the near future, I'll be purchasing another batter head Powerstroke 3 and controlling the resonance myself. The characteristics that are hidden with the Superkick are just too much for the sound that I now enjoy.

*i'll never give up my Aquarian Superkick pad though. They are beastly and save hundreds!

[ThugsRook]

i cant use Remo, and i dont like Aquarian.

so...

EVANS:
Toms ~ EC1 / G1
Snare ~ coated G2 / hazy 300
Bass ~ EQ4 / EQ4

[empire]

Remo, all the way on my MCX! Im using clear emperors over clear ambassadors on the toms, reverse dot coated over emperor clear on the snare, powerstroke 3 clear batter powerstroke 3 coated reso on bass.

[idrum2.0]

I could hear that there was definitely some characteristics that the Superkick ended up muting.

I likened it to this scenario: The Superkick is like slapping someone annoying across the face with a pillow. You get the effect, but its still a little vague for the point you want to get across. The Powerstroke ended up being like just straight up punching the guy in the face. You get the attack, the power, and the follow through of the entire sound. The difference is amazing.

The characteristics that are hidden with the Superkick are just too much for the sound that I now enjoy.

After giving Evans another try, this is how I now feel about Aquarian in general. Probably why they worked so good on my Export, as they somewhat 'colour' the sound of the shells. If Im paying big bucks for an MCX, I want to hear them in their natural glory!

For reference's sake, Im using:
Kick: Clear GMAD / Stock Masters PS3 Reso
Toms: Coated G2 / Clear G1
Snare: (13x4) - Coated Ambassador X / Hazy Ambassador Snare Side
(13x6) - Texture Coated with Dot / Classic Clear Snare Side
(14x5) - Coated CS with Reverse Dot / Hazy Ambassador Snare Side
(14x7) - I no longer own this snare but was using Coated CS Emperor / Hazy 300 Snare Side

[Pearl bassist]

Not sure if your looking for advice on the exports but I use clear emps over amb for toms coated amb on the snare and a super kick 2 on the kick a little bit of moongel and my exports sound great!!! Don't have any advice on the masters

[nocluejimbo]

I have had the best luck with Coated Vintage Emperors on my MRX. I have also had Clear Ambassadors, Aquarian single-ply Texture Coated, and Evans Clear and Coated G2s. Vintage Emperors provide warm, round, and deep tones, just enough sustain, with no bright overtones or slappy response that I would get from other heads.

The only thing that could be improved is the durability of the coating, but I find that the tone is enough improved over other heads to live with it. Coated G2s are my second best option.

[playinpearls]

forgot to mention other heads...

For my toms I currently have Aquarian texture coated studio-x on batter, and (insert shock and awe sound) the original resonant heads. I'll be replacing those shortly with the Remo vintage emperors.

On my snare is normally a classic Ambassador.

[HiFiBri]

I am totally an Evans guy, but it mostly boils down to personal preference.

[Linchdrums]

I use a different head for different purposes....

Always EVANS.... firstly

I prefer G2 clear on my MHX, they tend to bring out the big sound & natural tones of my drums and they're a little warmer sounding.
I do use a G2 coated too, especially if doing a fair few shows in a row. The coated tend to be a little more durable in the long run but I find I sacrifice the warmth a bit.
On my snare's I use the ST Dry head, it's vented too so it loses the unwanted overtones and eliminates the need for Gaffa.
On my kick drum I use a EQ3 head. It's durable, warm, and allows the MHX kick to be heard.

I had a brief stint with coated Remo emperors on my toms and the consistency was not there, I had a floor tom head pull out of the hoop, and they just didn't tune up nice. To be honest I couldn't wait to get them off my kit after just 1 show. (i gave them to a young drummer in the crowd who came up and chatted after the show....smiles for days...brand new/used once heads).

[Bill C]

I have experimented with various heads in the past, always went back to Remo's I currently use Clear ambassadors over clear ambassadors. Most of the time my top heads are coated.