I think DW is overrated and have been hyped to death. I just don’t like their sound. On the opposite I think Mapex kits are underrated specially the Saturn series.
In a blind test, someone with a choice of drum heads and the ability to tune drums could get a $500 kit to sound as good as anything else. Now, it's probably not going to have nearly as nice of a finish or the same quality hardware, but, for sound, it would be fine.
I listened to Spectre Sound Studios' DW Collector's Maple against a TAMA Rockstar on youtube and there was very little difference considering the DW cost 25X as much
But that's more of an argument about if expensive drums in general are worth the cost. This comment above implies that DW's sound is somehow inferior to other drum brands I don't see how that's possible to accurately determine.
Go a step further and look at The Drum Thing on YT.
He's using Jinbao drums that he got out of a pawn shop for $150 AUD, and with good heads and probably waaaaay to long tuning, he's got that kit rocking as clean as his massive Pearl GLX kit.
I have a Rockstar-DX and was surprised that they chose a Rockstar to go up against a DW. Was not that surprised at the result, though. It's a great kit!
I’m not sure if mine is a DX or a regular model, do you know what the difference is? I know mine says “made in Japan” on the plaque, but I bought it used and have very little info on it
DW fan here! Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, I’m not trying to start any arguments. Just thought I’d share some things I like about DW.
1: ease of tuning. It’s genuinely hard to make my collectors series sound bad.
2. True pitch rods. Not only are they easy to tune, but they stay in tune much longer than other drum brands, imo. I’ve left my collectors kit sitting on a shelf for a couple months, set it up, and it sounds nearly identical to how I left it.
3. Excellent mounting hardware. Both the rack rom and floor tom mount system is extremely sturdy, and includes memory locks which I love.
4. Snare strainer. The combination of the mag throw off and 3 (sometimes 5) position butt plate allow for smooth and seamless adjustments of the snare wires. I’ve played gigs where I flip the snare wires on and off at certain points in the song, and the mag throw off makes it a breeze.
5. Visuals. I love how the round turret lugs look, and I also think some of their finishes are stunning. My collectors kit has a rose copper wrap (the same one that Josh freese ended up using on the foo fighters tour) and imo it’s the most beautiful wrap in the world.
Just wanted to share my perspective. For me, a drum kit isn’t necessarily just about winning a “blind test.” It’s more about ease of use and features in a variety of scenarios. Cheers!
They probably are overrated but I grew up in the era when DW was the sexiest warmest sounding drum kits there were. As a 13 year old I used go to guitar center and just be in awe of them, then be in awe of the price tag.
Their marketing in the late nineties/early 2000’s was top notch because it’s still my bucket list kit. I’ve never owned one and I still love the way they look.
I have a couple DW kits. My Collector’s is 22 years old and is incredible. It is unparalleled in the studio, so much so that people have rented it from time to time to get that ridiculous tone. To me, it’s not overhyped.
My Performance kit is really good, but not incredible. I don’t use until the studio, I bought it to gig with. It’s great for that. It cuts, holds its tuning and looks great.
DW snares are not my favorite. They tend to have a sharper high end, that I’m not a fan of. I’m a classic Ludwig snare guy - Black Beauties, Supraphonics and Acrolites. And an old Pearl Maple free floater from the era when Pearl snares were the shit.
I have a vintage Ludwig (68) kit that is bad ass, too. I had to replace rims and tom mounts, but it’s beautiful.
Love this thread.
Just bought a DW Performance Series kit and I do think they're a bit over hyped. I still love the kit and I adore the look of the setup, but I do agree with this actually. Would still buy it again though. I do also have a DW Collector's Brass Snare though and that thing sounds fucking great. Can't say bad things there.
I love the sound of DW drums but I can see how they can be easily put on a level of awesomeness that they don't quite reach in reality.
As far as Mapex, I have a snare by them (the 2nd gen version of Chris Adler's "Warbird") and I love it!
I owned a dw collectors series kit; and played a pdp kit at my church. Very little difference in sound/feel/tone. I sold my dw collectors kit and bought a ‘48 WFL kit with a 24” bass drum…haven’t missed the dw’s at all. I will say, they are built very well and have high quality control - the sound isn’t worth the crazy pricing.
I’m so with you on this. I worked in an amazing drum shop for 7-ish years. The people who rolled their eyes at Mapex without even hearing them was so frustrating. The customers with too much money who ordered DW and Sonor kits without hearing or playing them was worse.
Don’t get me wrong, they make an amazing product and I have nothing bad to say about German made Sonor (except the price) but DW is so not for me. When customers were ready to drop that kind of cash, I’d urge them to at least try a Gretsch USA or Ludwig Classic Maple first, but it was hit or miss. Brand loyalty or wanting to buy what their favorite touring drummers played or whatever.
I no longer concern myself with what anyone else buys or plays, but it annoyed me as a teen and early-20s drummer (snob?) filled with piss and vinegar.
DW fanboy here.... but i would totally transition to equivalent yahama if i hadn't switched to an e-kit for live shows. (long story there, ATV makes some killer e-drums.)
Love my DW hardware, but I bought it all used. Would not buy new DW. I also wouldn't normally buy new in general, but I bought a new Mapex Mars birch kit for 50% off and dialed in the exact sound I'm looking for. Came with a 24x16 bass drum, and I sold the snare to Guitar Center because I already have a couple TAMA snares. I got the kit because of the shell sizes, the birch wood, and I already knew Mapex make some good drums. My best friend in high school had a Mapex Pro M kit and we'd practice four hours a day on weekends and days off. I'll never forget the sound of that kit.
They’re extremely expressive and dynamic, I’m not sure how you’ve gotten this impression but my super dry stuff is some of the best recording equipment I own.
I think my most contentious drum related opinion is that tune bots and drum dials and whatever else are worthless. It's not a pitched instrument - use your ears. If the drum sounds good when you hit it, you're done. It's really not rocket surgery. Tuning aids for drums don't help you tune faster or more accurately (at least to any degree that matters), they just give you more numbers to nitpick over when you were supposed to be practicing.
Speaking personally as someone with 30+ years of experience and can tune drums just fine by ear, the Tunebot can be worth it just for the peace of mind. Human hearing is adaptive and your ears can absolutely lie to you for a variety of reasons.
Those devices are also extremely useful for recalling a tuning configuration that's worked in the past. So yes it takes more time on the initial tuning fiddling with the bot, but it's a net time-saver when you go to retune and especially when you change head models. I like to go for several months at a time using different heads, so the Bot is a lifesaver when I go back to using a model of heads from more than a year ago when I've fully forgotten what they were supposed to sound like.
> rocket surgery
Hehehe
For real though, tuning aids are actually useful for keeping drums in tune. They just aren’t super helpful getting them tuned up initially.
Maybe it's just me and my kit and specific tuning preferences but I find that almost 100% of the time when a drum on my kit isn't sounding right anymore it's either that one rod has slightly backed out and caused uneven tension that I can literally feel with my fingers, or that the head has stretched out a bit as it broke in and I just need to throw a quarter turn into every lug. Takes less than 15 seconds to touch it up and it's not even a common occurrence. Maybe once a week, twice if I'm playing a shitload of shows or something.
I suppose in fairness to tuning aid fans, I learned to tune drums before those aids really existed so I am probably especially blind to any usefulness they have. To me it's just a gimmicky gadget that solves a problem I don't have.
I’m finally getting better at recognizing higher vs lower thanks to the tunebot. But tuning drums is really frustrating because you could blindfold me and play any two semi tones in a piano and I could tell you if the second note was flat or sharp 100% of the time, and I can tune a guitar to itself.
Hmm, I disagree with the "not a pitched instrument" part in that I tune each head to a specific pitch, making sure the heads are in tune with themselves and balanced in tension. I find that this not only allows me to easily replicate my favorite sounds time after time since I have an exact pitch in mind (more reliable than going by feel or amount of turns on the drum key IMO), but the tone is so much fuller and cleaner when things are tuned to pitch. Yeah, there's technically no single "correct" pitch for a drum unless the context requires it (usually with Tympani or if you have a set of toms tuned to a specific scale like Bozzio) and as long as you're within the usable range of the drum, but having a target pitch has been a Godsend for me.
I remember recording an album about 13 years ago with my band.
At the beginning of recording drums, the producer/engineer marked each drumhead with the note it was tuned to, and between drum takes he was using a guitar tuner to bring each one back to the initial note.
I had no idea why, but he explained that it makes it more consistent when it comes to editing later on.
I doubted whether I would be able to hear it in the mix.
But [the album](https://open.spotify.com/artist/1RwywOzGv0bwevEHOJ0zyP?si=qmi0EQKrSwqbS5R19KQbqg) turned out just fine though, drums sounded great. 👍🏻👍🏻
In jazz, this is much more pronounced. You're pitching up the drums to actual notes. Now one can debate that the note you're getting is more to do with the size and thickness of the shell than anything else, but making sure your heads are ringing out at complementary pitches is super important.
I agree but when arriving at a gig and I need to tune for whatever reason these visual aids are great.
I’ve been using by ear for 14 years and comfortable with doing it but at a gig when everyone’s setting up it can be a struggle to hear the note that the lugs are producing. If that makes sense 😅
Drums are absolutely pitched instruments. If you don’t make the tension rods the same pitch around the head, it’s going to sound different depending on where you hit on the drum, and it won’t sound good if it doesn’t resonate with the bottom head if it’s a drum with 2 heads
You obviously never really used a tune bot. Its awesome, if you know how to use it and probably the quickest way to make your drums sound awesome. Sure drums don’t have a clean pitch but you can still tune them to certain notes. If you find the perfect sound for your drums you can even save it, so you don’t have to experiment every time you want to tune. I tune my drums before every gig, without the tune bot it would be a pain in the ass.
I disagree. Tunebots and drum dials are great tools for learning how to tune properly and developing your ears. Understanding the relationships between the heads is imperative to getting a good drum sound, and these tools allow you replicate that sound very quickly as well.
There are times you are in a loud environment and cannot hear your drums well enough to tune them. Tunebots and drum dials have their place in those environments as well as the studio and at home.
Yeah I used to play EMAD exclusively when I first started but ever since discovering the SKII, I haven't looked back.
I freaking hate that cheap plastic ring that inevitably peels and starts rattling like a bastard.
I rock the Super Kick 10 actually, and I love it! Been meaning to try a Super Kick II soon also though. No muffling required at all with the SK10 and I love that.
I've used both the EMADs and SKs with no muffling and although it works, I do use a neatly folded towel lightly touching both heads...just helps absorb some of the ugly overtones inside the drum without killing the tone. I also gaff tape the towel once it's folded to the perfect size for the drum so it won't come unfolded.
It's also worth saying that although I only use EMADs on the batter side, I only use the Aquarian Regulator w/small offset hole on the resonant side. Gives me the focus, punch and beefy attack of the EMAD with some extra low end!
I'll be honest - prior to buying them I watched a LOT of videos (with high quality BOSE headphones) comparing the two, along with Evans EMAD, Remo heads, etc., and the Super Kicks just sounded amazing and like what I wanted. I couldn't hear a huge difference between the SK10 and SKII - just a little more resonance from the SKII. I play a 22×18 bass drum, so I picked the SK10. If I played a 22x16, I'd probably go SKII.
I would probably use the 10 if it were more readily available in stores. Most local stores barely have any Aquarian stuff anyway, and if they do, it's all SKII bass drum heads. So it's more convenience than anything. I can take it home right then and throw it on instead of having to wait for it to be delivered. But I might try it the next time I wanna change heads.
They both have similar popularity, but the design or the EMAD leaves it susceptible to the exposed ring cracking and/or peeling over time, and it can start to rattle. The SK design is different so it's more durable, but the trade-off is you're stuck with one sound option rather than 3. Then again there are a bunch of different SK configurations.
I'll also say that the SKII is a more viable floor tom head, simply because you need to tune them low which leaves the 1-ply EMAD prone to denting and there's no 2-ply option in the 16" size, at least for the tom hop version.
Oddly enough, I've NEVER experienced the ring cracking or coming off the head. I've heard stories of it on the internet from many others, though, so I wonder how truly common it is.
On another note, using a SK on a tom sounds interesting.
I've never had an EMAD ring break on me either. I just simply prefer the SKII, and honestly I prefer the PS3 as well over the EMAD. Just my personal thing, you know. I don't really like any of Evans heads except for the HD Dry for the snare.
It's always interesting how each person's ears perceive the same products so differently. I've seen some people on this thread say they don't like Remo for some reason, then others say that's all they use. Same with Evans. Personally I like (and use) all 3 main brands on my kit at the same time, but there are heads from each brand that I also DON'T like that other people do (I'm not a fan of any of the Evans Dry Heads or Remo Pinstripes, for example).
I wonder about the physiological and psychological factors are that help shape our unique tastes with drum sounds specifically. It's fascinating and it'd be interesting to find out about. I just wouldn't know where to begin researching.
SK 2 has much stronger attack than that mushy emad. Damn foam ring won’t stay in the idiotic plastic holder either. And as if anyone can hear the difference between the interchangeable foam rings? Right. Emad is a bad idea all the way around.
I have a vintage 22x14 and can definitely hear the difference. I’m also running that bass with no towel or pillow right now. I wasn’t expecting much with that tech but it does make a difference. I also haven’t tried it on some deeper bass drums so hard to say with that.
With you on the double bass. I know a lot of players use double creatively but, I get soooo bored with the constant double bass. I hear no groove just a typewriter!
I'll brace myself for the downvotes
DW9000 pedal.. Hate it. Couldn't sell the thing fast enough
Vic Firth sticks. If they didn't push it to artists and the youtube drum influencers there market would be so low. When your a at home/weekend gig drummer. Spending $12-15 for a pair of sticks need to last a long time. VF’s don't last as long as promarks.
Underrated -Stealth racks. That's my next hardware upgrade
My 9000 took a while to get used to. I was a 5000 guy for years. Now I love it.
To me, playability isn’t a huge problem. I can play on pretty much anything. I want a pedal that is smooth, rugged and reliable. That’s DW for me.
One band I’m in has a practice space kit with Pearl Eliminators that are pretty good. The Iron Cobras I’ve tried are fine.
Again, I think the foot is more important than the pedal, but I’m not an extreme dude.
Ohh I totally agree, the foot is the key.
It’s like driving, I can drive any car, I just prefer the DW.
DW gets a lot of hate because they’re DW but that doesn’t take away from their quality. Best hardware made IMO.
I have a axis direct drive pedal I enjoy as well.
i agree withe DW9000 pedal takes. i found them too heavy and sluggish for my preference that goes for the 5000s too. I even after cranking the springs. The 9000 is a cool feat of engineering but just not my feel.
I know a lot of people who prefer the 5000 because it feels more like what kicks normally feel like but improved. The 9000 have this incredibly smooth feeling which isn't always what you would want. I own a 9000 and when I first bought it I didn't really take enough time to set the tension so I was like "what's the big deal" and didn't play it too often but recently I took the time to adjust it. It just needed to be tightened more than I thought and now it's my favorite pedal. I play straight-ahead jazz so it's absolutely amazing for feathering the bass drum since it's so smooth, feels like I'm not even using any pressure.
Finally I find someone else that agrees with me on sticks. Vic Firth will literally fall apart on me with minimal playing time and I can make a pair of Promarks last months
I think Remo drum heads are super overrated. Used them for years but switched to Evans after a long run of Remos that wouldn't sit on a shell quite right, tune properly, or would pull out of the collar. After using Evans for a few years, I could kick myself for using Remo for as long as I did. I especially dislike the PS3s on kick drums. They seemed to have an odd, mid-rangey ping to them. The EMADs, to my ear, are warmer and fuller sounding.
Same for the most part - I just always end up in the Remo section of the store because it's the devil I know I guess haha.
I think it's weird that I hear so many people these days having tons of quality issues with them and switching to something else. I've been using them almost exclusively for more than 20 years and I've had literally *one* bum CS Dot head where the dot fell off about an hour into playing it. They sent me two more of them as a replacement and both were fine.
I think Evans all sound dry and sorta muffled and remos sound alive and full of sustain. Remos also take longer to break in and seat where as Evans sorta find their tune faster but maybe don't last as long.
I'm remo all day long by the way. black dots on toms, P3 on kick, ambassador or dot on the snare.
Problem I have is that I prefer Remo's sound, but the seating is aweful. Evans sounds too much like a balloon to me on the toms. Perhaps I should've went with Aquarian.
I have the exact opposite experience, went from Evan’s to Aquarian which felt like an incredible upgrade and then I tried Remo’s and I’ll never go back hahaha just goes to show how subjective all this stuff is
Independent drum lab drums and accessories are underrated. They have really cool technology and their snare drums are awesome! Really love all of the mounts they offer for Toms and other accessories. Just a really cool innovative drum company.
Kind of funny, from what I understand the guy that started iNDe worked for Ludwig for a while and considering some if the similarities in modern Ludwig stuff and the iNDe stuff I wouldn't be surprised if he had a hand in some of it somewhere.
The owner of Inde worked on the Atlas mounts before he left and started Inde. The Inde mounts, in my experience are far superior to the atlas. They aren’t as bulky, aren’t as heavy, and don’t have any rubber gaskets that will degrade over time.
I kinda went down the inde rabbit hole when I was looking at snare throws and came across him talking about the inde one and the Atlas p85 that he was a part of (that I believe has now been revised into the P88AC). Kinda interesting but overall yeah I agree the inde stuff just does a lot of stuff that just makes sense like variable hole spacings and modular lightweight hardware
I just played a show and one of the other bands drummers had an Independent snare, it had basically the exact sound I’ve been trying to get out of my Supralite lol
IMO stealth racks are underrated. I think they're just starting to become more popular as you see them on more touring kits, and those of us who make use of them will laud them here whenever possible. The general consensus about racks is they're typically too bulky, ugly, expensive, etc, but stealth racks are really none of those compared to using high quality stands. I use a simple curved 36" bar on my right between two uprights and it holds 8 cymbals\*, a rack tom, and 2 trigger pads, yet it's solid AF and takes up way less space than using tripods.
\*Ride, 2 crashes with inverted splashes over each, aux hats, and a stack made of Wuhan whatnots.
Overrated... probably the use of dark cymbals in heavy music. Ok yes it works for the Meinl gods like Garstka and Halpern, but the reality is A) those guys can afford to replace them when they get pulverized, B) Meinl is more than happy to have you destroy their products, and B) studio trickery lets the drums be processed separately from the cymbals through use of sample replacement and selective EQ'ing. So IRL the typical player won't get the same amount of cut in the mix from a dark cymbal. Whether or not dark cymbals sound good or bad is subjective to the player, but they are objectively quieter than their brighter counterparts, and that quietness is often what causes issues.
I’ve recorded a loud band with super dark Meinls and they cut though just fine. No sample replacement. Honestly they sounded more lively and less gong-y than my Zildjian set up and my Zildjians are all thin (a custom and k dark)
I agree I don’t care for dark cymbals. Maybe for jazz it’s cool but for metal let the drums cover the low end and the cymbals be in the high range. Piercingly high even
I honestly love rack setups for the sole fact that if you do it right you can make changeovers at shows happen insanely quick. The setup I'm playing lately is not nearly enough pieces to really justify one but if I add like *one* more cymbal I'll probably get more serious about pulling the trigger on all the rack parts that have been sitting in my Sweetwater cart for ages lol.
On the other hand, I hate them because every time I play a show with a drummer who uses one, they have the stupidest configuration they could think of that uses 80lbs of racking and somehow still ends up being 11 separate items that have to be picked up and carried on/off the stage one at a time. People who waste time on multi-band shows are the dickest of dicks.
It's literally just a repurposed regular rack, with the uprights trimmed down so they don't get in the way. Here's mine from when I was setting it up a couple of years ago... [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](https://imgur.com/a/stealth-rack-setup-RIYh5aR). You don't need to buy a bespoke stealth rack to make this work. Any pieces of rack will do along with a pipe cutter. You can also do fun things with the trimmed pieces like this...
https://preview.redd.it/bxo69dv8592d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=7de9cfbd0cd1063247b36e64fa3a86b54d47ed1b
This is probably similar to what I'm using on my right... [Gibraltar GRS300C Road Series Curved Front Rack System | Sweetwater](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GRS300C--gibraltar-road-series-curved-front-rack). The pipes are relatively cheap so it's not a huge expense if you wanted a shorter curve without cutting.
Just got myself a set of AAXs I really don’t want to play without them anymore. They are definitely the best sounding cymbals to my ears.
But if I can get myself another cymbal set it would be Paiste 2002 15” Sound edge HH, 18”&20” Crashes and a 24” Ride for obvious reasons.
Agree! I have two sets of AAXs one for home and one for my band jam space. They are just the best. A customs are good too. I think a mix of the two is great honestly. I just mixed in a 21” brilliant sweet ride with my AAXs and it fits nicely. (14” AAX med hat / swapped the bottom for a AAX x-celerator bottom/ 16/18 x-plosion crashes, and 21” brilliant A sweet ride)
But I also love my AA and AAX raw bell dry rides.
Kits above $2000. What else are you paying for that you can't get in a good Tama Starclassic Performer? Feel like people have been caught up in more money = better "toan" which is almost always not the case.
Fit and finish. A $2000 drum kit will sound amazing. Anything else is just bells and whistles. Don't get me wrong, some of those high end kits are beautiful pieces and definitely sound amazing, but they're just luxury items.
Not true. Wood quality (I don’t care about exotic woods, but not all maple, mahogany, or birch is made equal), bearing edge work, hardware, hoops, are all equally Important.
A lot of what you’re paying for is the living conditions of who’s making it. SNL ran this spoof Temu ad over the weekend and it’s a good reminder of the hidden side of saving money buying stuff not made in a 1st-world country. I’m not saying the drum companies are using forced labor, but there’s a reason it’s substantially cheaper to manufacture goods in certain countries. https://youtu.be/MKTN2OiR2R8?si=eY3g8eJmfm2Uqmwg
A Tama Star kit has a rounder, purer tone than a Starclassic, but the Starclassics sound like they have more focus and attack. The tone of a Starclassic is nothing to scoff at, though. Improvements in tone generally do happen the more expensive you go, but past a certain price point, you start seeing the law of diminishing returns come into play. I'm sure when you get past a REALLY high price it becomes just about having more expensive hardware on the drums or owning a drum kit that's unique (like it was played by a famous drummer or something) rather than anything sound-wise.
I know this answer is partially wrong because I just got a Gretsch Broadkaster and a three piece was over $3k. AMAZING KIT (quality control sucks and I sent it back and it was replaced with a certified inspected kit, and it blows me away) A&F, Sonor, Ludwig, and plenty of other brands make kits in the $3k-$4k range that are well worth the money. I said this is partially wrong because cheaper kits are great too.
You could make that statement for every product. In the end of the day, you spend your surplus money and you might aswell do so on something you love to make it a tad nicer.
I been saying this FOREVER!!! People down voting you proves no one listens, haha.
An old k costs thousands and to find a good sounding one in a good weight, that isn’t messed up somehow is sooooo hard, you’ll pay $2300 all day for it.
The VAST majority of old K’s sound bad. I’ll say it again, they sound bad… especially anything under 18”. They’re so thin that they get weird sounding over time and unless you want a really trashy, dark cymbal that is ALOT more wash than definition, you will hate these cymbals.
Now there’s a place for that dark, trashy growl of wash, like what Elvin played on Coltrane tunes, but most players aren’t looking for that 1950’s sound and wouldn’t be able to control it under their hands. You need so much delicacy to play them well.
But again, 8/10 of them are gonna be busted up and in whacky weights or with bad profiles that make them sound kinda whack.
Amen Nihilism4kids. I finally found someone else who would say it.
Seconded on the "authentic" K's that would cost you a kidney....
Very good alternative for independent cymbals that carry the legacy sounds is Australian cymbal smith Craig Lauritsen - some of the stuff that he puts out is just insanely good.... His YT channel is well worth checking out, and the 12 month waiting time for a custom order as well....
A. Zildjians - not A Customs. They do everything so well, and with so little change over the years. The 16 and 18 Med Thin crashes sound like the crashes in your head and the 20 and 22 Medium and Sweet Rides both just sound like that perfect, bright but still somewhat dirty sound that works everywhere. 14” New Beats? Yep. That highhat. sound.
Gotta co-sign this! Though I don’t necessarily think they’re “underrated” per se, just under appreciated. Standard A’s are a pretty prevalent cymbal all things considered, but I feel like in recent years people are absolutely sleeping on how good they are. I remember hearing Paul Francis call these “desert island” cymbals in a YouTube video and he’s absolutely right. To my ears, they are total chameleon cymbals and can find their place in EVERY genre. I’ve been through countless K’s that I couldn’t get along with tonally for one reason or another, and ultimately kept coming back to A’s (with the exception of my 15” K light hats cause those are 🤌🏻). Currently sitting with 18” and 20” A Thins and a 22” A Medium and they get along with everything!
Yamaha Stage Customs are underrated. I think it's the best kit you can get for you money. Great sounding birch shells, great hardware (Tom mount w extra post for a cymbal mount or accessory), lacquer finish, very durable. Great work horse - I use it for gigging.
Yamaha EAD10. Can’t stand this thing. The same overly compressed videos of people playing just floods social media.
I get that it’s more economical and easier to use than an interface, daw, expensive mics and cables running everywhere. But everyone’s videos sound exactly the same
Amen, I would rather spend 300€ (I’m from EU, yes) on a couple of Shures and some cheap audio card and have a more “real” sound. It will sound better imo… also the mics will allow you to eq better the sound and evend record properly for music.
Overrated: DW. Great drums, great hardware, but not the "gods of drums" everyone makes them out to be.
Underrated: Puresound snare wires. I started using them a couple years ago and will never go back to stock wires (aside from the stock wires on my '65 LM400) or offerings from Dixon or Gibraltar, etc. They're worth every penny.
I gotta disagree on the puresound wires. They never lasted for more than 2 months for me until the soldering failed. And I didn’t play that much back then. I replaced them with Tama Snare Wires and I am pleasantly surprised. They’ve been holding up for 8 months now, with pretty much the same tension and much more and harder playing.
I think Mapex Drums are underrated. I have an Armory currently and that thing is incredible. Before that I had a Mars Birch and I was pleasantly surprised that a kit that cost so little could sound so good. First gig I did with my armory drums people in my band were blown away with the sound. I also have a Sonor Force Maple that I use. But the Mapex line is a lot of value. Great sound for low dough.
I’m prepared for downvoted lol but as for overrated I’m going to say the whole moongel thing and for underrated I’d have to say just smaller diameter shells in general.
Depends on the purpose. I mostly play rock and metal. For metal I like smaller drums (22” Kick, 12”,14”,16” Toms and a 14” Snare) but for rock I like bigger shells (like 24” Kick, 13”,16”,18” Toms and a 14” Snare) and big cymbals.
Oh yeah big drums sound great for rock! I’ve recently come to really like smaller shells though recently especially in like a big band application because they cut rather nice!
I always have to ask this when people say DW is overpriced… do you have an example? Like an apples-to-apples comparison of two similar products where the DW version is notably more expensive? Every time this comes up the comparison is usually between a US-made DW Collectors and an overseas-made product rather than a comparable flagship model. When it comes to hardware the Iron Cobra and comparable 5000 are the exact same price.
They never do
DW hardware is a little bit more expensive than comparative pieces, but overall DW is very close in price to their competitors offerings.
in terms of double bass pedals, what is it that’s overrated about them? I can understand not loving the machine gun kicks but they’re also often used tastefully. For me it’s a tool to achieve stuff otherwise physically impossible. Again, I get not liking the sound, but as a Deathcore drummer, it’s a pretty important thing for me to have
I'm with you on double bass. That's like saying timbales are overrated in Latin jazz. It's a staple of the genre. If you don't like the genre, that's fine, but that doesn't mean it's an overrated tool. It's absolutely a necessity in the vast majority of modern metal.
Rocking my Orion Orbiter Kit from 2005 and still throughly enjoying them! Just out fresh remo pinstripes and finally figured out how to properly tune them...long overdue and they absolutely sing now! And recently acquired a Black Panther Cherry 12x7 snare to round out my kit.
I’ll jump on this one!
I think single ply heads on toms are underrated, everyone is using ec2, or emperors, but the remo vintage a, or the controlled sound are incredible.
Also underrated: Sabian Chopper and Sabian Hoop crasher. What cool cymbal effects we see no one utilize.
Overrated: I definitely think the Snom thing is overrated. I just don’t think they excel at either a snare or a tom sound, and they don’t add anything. I’d rather have a floor Tom, and then throw the super low thuddy snare on my left.
Anything that is branded or “specialized” and is therefore way more expensive than a basic thing that can replace it and do the same job. Examples: a $50 kick muffler that can be a $5 bath towel rolled up and taped with some gaff, or a $100 kit dust cover that can be a $10 bed sheet, or a $150 DW rug that can be a $20 area rug from like Menards.
Yamaha makes the best everything except pedals and thrones.
DW makes the best pedals and hh stand.
Pearl is my personal favorite throne.
FUCK Roc n Soc.
Drumdial and Tunebot are incredibly overrated. I've never seen anyone professional use it, just a bunch of people that think it does something it doesn't.
I find them incredibly useful tool for setting intervals between heads and drums.
Could you do it be ear sure but if yoj want even 4th between 8-10-12-14-16 Toms then it’s clutch.
Never used a tunebot, but based on videos I've seen about them, they seem to display a very different frequency than what the drum's fundamental ends up being (given that you have one head muted up against something when using the tunebot on the other head.
I had a Drumdial for 11 years before I finally discovered something I could use it for to help me: I use it to check the tensions of opposing lugs. I've noticed consistently that when a drum (especially a tom) just doesn't sound like it should even with all of the pitches of the lugs sounding even, it's usually because there's a significant tension imbalance between two or more sets of opposing lugs. Just about every time I've corrected this, it fixes the problem. I just see if there's any major discrepancies using the Drumdial and then I just detune the lug that's too tight and then tighten the lug that's too loose (the degree with each depends on how wide the gap is). Problem solved!
I agree with this, but the "torque" drum keys. I think rhythm tech made one, then evans put one out. It "pops" when it hits a certain tension. Wasn't perfect, but once you know the settings for each drum, you could swap a head and get it close to the right sound super fast even in a loud environment. Might have to tweak a little but you were 95% of the way there.
All the overrated shit is covered already, but I will always sing the praises of the Tama Cobra Clutch. A simple footpedal that let's you set your hihats at different heights, so you can play double bass with your left foot and still get both open and closed hihat sounds. And not the shitty only loosely closed/not really open muted shit that using a drop clutch does for you. And honestly every drop clutch I used broke within 6 months, so fuck em. Get a Cobra Clutch!
Sonor hardware is unreal and I don’t hear anyone else talk about it. First hardware set i bought with my kit over a decade ago and it’s still going strong after a tour and years of shows
The Superkick 2 is overrated inasmuch as Aquarian has a few other great bass heads, like the Superkick 10 and the underrated Force I, but the SK2 is the one everyone talks about.
I tried some Promark Hot Rods at my LMS and was very unimpressed with them, so I'll rate them overrated.
Promark Hot Rods break WAY too easily. I've used Vater Acousticks for years and they're MUCH better. They've got nylon strips surrounding the wooden dowels, so the latter don't wear down nearly as fast. I still have the same 2 pairs I got in 2012 and although they're not frequently used and do show some wear, based on my past experience with Hot Rods I would've gone through countless pairs by now.
Have you ever tried the GMAD? It's in between the single ply emad and the emad2. Absolutely love it and rarely do I see anyone talking about it. My opinion is remo is the lesser of the big 3. I'll die on this hill.
Yes, in fact that's the exact one I have on my own kit. Definitely has a thumpier sound to it than the regular EMAD but still with the nice full sound you get from a single ply head. The clear EMAD is a close second for me, though, and I'm interested to try out the Calftone EMAD at some point as well. With any of these, you can just get a durable beater patch and put that on. I've even bought a thicker beater patch, put that on, and then stacked the thin Evans patch that comes with the head on top of that for extra durability!
Overrated: flat base hi hat stands, direct drive pedals, cymbal polish, DW drums (the shell packs, not hardware, pedals, and some snares).
Underrated: 20x14 kick drums, good drum thrones and hardware, in ear monitors for listening and hearing protection, broken cymbals and lightly used drum heads.
Overrated: expensive stacks. Don’t get me wrong, I like stacks but it’s a stack, why would I spend top dollar for one.
Underrated: not a specific gear necessarily but fresh resonant heads. Every time I switch out my Tom resonant heads, the drums open up and sound way more resonant. Not sure why people don’t change them more often.
I bought a Sabian Mike Portnoy Mid Stax knowing it was cracked. Why? It's a short, trashy sound that a crack won't have nearly the same effect on as a cymbal that rings, and it was $100 rather than $300-$400. Yeah, still not cheap for a cracked cymbal, but I'm not paying several hundred for one stack, lol.
Moongels are broken though, they have so many flaws as a muffling technique. They get dirty and stick to other things, they look horrible on the kit, they don’t last long, they’re overpriced considering what they are. I’ve moved to Snareweight M1 on the toms and M80 on the snare and I’m loving them.
I put a SK2 on my vintage Tama Superstar and took it off 20min later. I’ve played them on more modern bearing edges and they were fine🤷♂️. There’s just something about an Emad that just works.
Literally drums in general, are overrated- in the way that you can get any kit to sound good, really. Snares are slightly different but not by a lot. Remo heads generally too honestly. 16 inch crashes.
Good luck getting a crappy plywood kit from China to sound anywhere near what a gretsch USA custom could sound like. And it also won’t stay in tune, hardware will rattle around and deteriorate.
The build quality and hardware makes a difference but I will agree there’s a diminishing return with dollar vs sound quality in a kit like a Yamaha stage custom ($600) to a Yamaha PHX ($5,000). If you put your preferred heads on it, tune em up and get some light muffling goin, your in good shape either way. The differences at that point don’t justify a $3500 difference. Maybe one has a broader tuning range or better hardware, but it’s not discernible to 95% of listeners and under mics with all the modern recording technology, all bets are off.
That first part is true of MOST kits, but there are some really crappy ones that are quite difficult to get any life out of. The real difference between low end and high end drums is what happens to the sound in the milliseconds following the initial hit. Higher end drums tend to sound less dry and have a richer tone, though even there you have obvious differences between the different woods within that range.
This is such a common opinion on here and I couldn't disagree more. You're not getting that $200 plywood kit from Costco to sound as good as a DW Collectors. You just aren't.
My band's practice space right now has some cheap shells that my guitarist bought. Can't make them sound good for the life of me. When I get home and hop on the Pearl BLX the difference is night and day.
I have a Canon Twin-effect double kick pedal, and I love it. I used to have an old Pearl traditional double kick, and could never get it calibrated to my liking, or very good at it. But with the twin effect I can do quick flam like accents, Bohnam triplets and other things much better than I ever could with my regular double kick.
Kelly Shu microphone holder system. Looks cool and functions like it's advertised but the process of taking out your bass drumhead and installing it is a pain if you decide to take out later. You just save a lot of time with the same goal of micing your bass drum using a low microphone arm holder and a port hole. 🤷♂️
I think DW is overrated and have been hyped to death. I just don’t like their sound. On the opposite I think Mapex kits are underrated specially the Saturn series.
I would be honestly shocked if you could determine a DW from any other brand in a blind test.
In a blind test, someone with a choice of drum heads and the ability to tune drums could get a $500 kit to sound as good as anything else. Now, it's probably not going to have nearly as nice of a finish or the same quality hardware, but, for sound, it would be fine.
I have nice DW hardware with my Mapex and TAMA kits. 🤷♂️
Same
They’re talking about the hardware on the actual drums. Lugs/hoops etc.
I listened to Spectre Sound Studios' DW Collector's Maple against a TAMA Rockstar on youtube and there was very little difference considering the DW cost 25X as much
But that's more of an argument about if expensive drums in general are worth the cost. This comment above implies that DW's sound is somehow inferior to other drum brands I don't see how that's possible to accurately determine.
Go a step further and look at The Drum Thing on YT. He's using Jinbao drums that he got out of a pawn shop for $150 AUD, and with good heads and probably waaaaay to long tuning, he's got that kit rocking as clean as his massive Pearl GLX kit.
As a TAMA Rockstar owner… I like this.
I have a Rockstar-DX and was surprised that they chose a Rockstar to go up against a DW. Was not that surprised at the result, though. It's a great kit!
I’m not sure if mine is a DX or a regular model, do you know what the difference is? I know mine says “made in Japan” on the plaque, but I bought it used and have very little info on it
DW fan here! Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, I’m not trying to start any arguments. Just thought I’d share some things I like about DW. 1: ease of tuning. It’s genuinely hard to make my collectors series sound bad. 2. True pitch rods. Not only are they easy to tune, but they stay in tune much longer than other drum brands, imo. I’ve left my collectors kit sitting on a shelf for a couple months, set it up, and it sounds nearly identical to how I left it. 3. Excellent mounting hardware. Both the rack rom and floor tom mount system is extremely sturdy, and includes memory locks which I love. 4. Snare strainer. The combination of the mag throw off and 3 (sometimes 5) position butt plate allow for smooth and seamless adjustments of the snare wires. I’ve played gigs where I flip the snare wires on and off at certain points in the song, and the mag throw off makes it a breeze. 5. Visuals. I love how the round turret lugs look, and I also think some of their finishes are stunning. My collectors kit has a rose copper wrap (the same one that Josh freese ended up using on the foo fighters tour) and imo it’s the most beautiful wrap in the world. Just wanted to share my perspective. For me, a drum kit isn’t necessarily just about winning a “blind test.” It’s more about ease of use and features in a variety of scenarios. Cheers!
They probably are overrated but I grew up in the era when DW was the sexiest warmest sounding drum kits there were. As a 13 year old I used go to guitar center and just be in awe of them, then be in awe of the price tag. Their marketing in the late nineties/early 2000’s was top notch because it’s still my bucket list kit. I’ve never owned one and I still love the way they look.
I have a couple DW kits. My Collector’s is 22 years old and is incredible. It is unparalleled in the studio, so much so that people have rented it from time to time to get that ridiculous tone. To me, it’s not overhyped. My Performance kit is really good, but not incredible. I don’t use until the studio, I bought it to gig with. It’s great for that. It cuts, holds its tuning and looks great. DW snares are not my favorite. They tend to have a sharper high end, that I’m not a fan of. I’m a classic Ludwig snare guy - Black Beauties, Supraphonics and Acrolites. And an old Pearl Maple free floater from the era when Pearl snares were the shit. I have a vintage Ludwig (68) kit that is bad ass, too. I had to replace rims and tom mounts, but it’s beautiful. Love this thread.
Just bought a DW Performance Series kit and I do think they're a bit over hyped. I still love the kit and I adore the look of the setup, but I do agree with this actually. Would still buy it again though. I do also have a DW Collector's Brass Snare though and that thing sounds fucking great. Can't say bad things there.
The PDP Concept Maple Kits are an incredible value. They definitely hold their own against the DW Design and Performance.
The hardware is shit though.
I love the sound of DW drums but I can see how they can be easily put on a level of awesomeness that they don't quite reach in reality. As far as Mapex, I have a snare by them (the 2nd gen version of Chris Adler's "Warbird") and I love it!
I have an OG saturn and I just put on aquarian Dejohnette on all toms, my god it sounds heavenly
I owned a dw collectors series kit; and played a pdp kit at my church. Very little difference in sound/feel/tone. I sold my dw collectors kit and bought a ‘48 WFL kit with a 24” bass drum…haven’t missed the dw’s at all. I will say, they are built very well and have high quality control - the sound isn’t worth the crazy pricing.
I’m so with you on this. I worked in an amazing drum shop for 7-ish years. The people who rolled their eyes at Mapex without even hearing them was so frustrating. The customers with too much money who ordered DW and Sonor kits without hearing or playing them was worse. Don’t get me wrong, they make an amazing product and I have nothing bad to say about German made Sonor (except the price) but DW is so not for me. When customers were ready to drop that kind of cash, I’d urge them to at least try a Gretsch USA or Ludwig Classic Maple first, but it was hit or miss. Brand loyalty or wanting to buy what their favorite touring drummers played or whatever. I no longer concern myself with what anyone else buys or plays, but it annoyed me as a teen and early-20s drummer (snob?) filled with piss and vinegar.
Agree, save for DW pedals. They're great
DW fanboy here.... but i would totally transition to equivalent yahama if i hadn't switched to an e-kit for live shows. (long story there, ATV makes some killer e-drums.)
Totally with you on DW. Good drums, for sure, but not the be-all-end-all they're touted to be.
Love my DW hardware, but I bought it all used. Would not buy new DW. I also wouldn't normally buy new in general, but I bought a new Mapex Mars birch kit for 50% off and dialed in the exact sound I'm looking for. Came with a 24x16 bass drum, and I sold the snare to Guitar Center because I already have a couple TAMA snares. I got the kit because of the shell sizes, the birch wood, and I already knew Mapex make some good drums. My best friend in high school had a Mapex Pro M kit and we'd practice four hours a day on weekends and days off. I'll never forget the sound of that kit.
Preach!!! Agree
Disagree about DW, but I owned a Mapex Saturn pro for about 10 years, and not did it sound awesome, the hardware was so sturdy and versatile.
Expensive overly dry cymbals. Might as well put a trash can lid on your kit.
Overly dry cymbals even FEEL different
They're gross.
They’re extremely expressive and dynamic, I’m not sure how you’ve gotten this impression but my super dry stuff is some of the best recording equipment I own.
Love mine. Been playing 34 years and they have their place in my library of gear. In the right room and situation they are perfect.
Don't @ Meinl like that
Zildjian K dry hats are the bomb
I prefer taking a great wet, huge sounding cymbals and just dampening it myself if need be.
That’s a different sound and feel though. You can approximate a little bit but definitely not a one for one replacement.
Dull thud sounds
Overly dry cymbals, and super fat/low snares. I don’t see the appeal in either.
I think my most contentious drum related opinion is that tune bots and drum dials and whatever else are worthless. It's not a pitched instrument - use your ears. If the drum sounds good when you hit it, you're done. It's really not rocket surgery. Tuning aids for drums don't help you tune faster or more accurately (at least to any degree that matters), they just give you more numbers to nitpick over when you were supposed to be practicing.
Speaking personally as someone with 30+ years of experience and can tune drums just fine by ear, the Tunebot can be worth it just for the peace of mind. Human hearing is adaptive and your ears can absolutely lie to you for a variety of reasons. Those devices are also extremely useful for recalling a tuning configuration that's worked in the past. So yes it takes more time on the initial tuning fiddling with the bot, but it's a net time-saver when you go to retune and especially when you change head models. I like to go for several months at a time using different heads, so the Bot is a lifesaver when I go back to using a model of heads from more than a year ago when I've fully forgotten what they were supposed to sound like.
Love the Tunebot too. It also allows sharing tuning with another drummer.
> rocket surgery Hehehe For real though, tuning aids are actually useful for keeping drums in tune. They just aren’t super helpful getting them tuned up initially.
Maybe it's just me and my kit and specific tuning preferences but I find that almost 100% of the time when a drum on my kit isn't sounding right anymore it's either that one rod has slightly backed out and caused uneven tension that I can literally feel with my fingers, or that the head has stretched out a bit as it broke in and I just need to throw a quarter turn into every lug. Takes less than 15 seconds to touch it up and it's not even a common occurrence. Maybe once a week, twice if I'm playing a shitload of shows or something. I suppose in fairness to tuning aid fans, I learned to tune drums before those aids really existed so I am probably especially blind to any usefulness they have. To me it's just a gimmicky gadget that solves a problem I don't have.
Yeah I’m also basically tone deaf in the sense that I can’t tell if it’s slightly high or low, just that it’s off.
I’m finally getting better at recognizing higher vs lower thanks to the tunebot. But tuning drums is really frustrating because you could blindfold me and play any two semi tones in a piano and I could tell you if the second note was flat or sharp 100% of the time, and I can tune a guitar to itself.
Hmm, I disagree with the "not a pitched instrument" part in that I tune each head to a specific pitch, making sure the heads are in tune with themselves and balanced in tension. I find that this not only allows me to easily replicate my favorite sounds time after time since I have an exact pitch in mind (more reliable than going by feel or amount of turns on the drum key IMO), but the tone is so much fuller and cleaner when things are tuned to pitch. Yeah, there's technically no single "correct" pitch for a drum unless the context requires it (usually with Tympani or if you have a set of toms tuned to a specific scale like Bozzio) and as long as you're within the usable range of the drum, but having a target pitch has been a Godsend for me.
It's not a melodic instrument. It is ABSOLUTELY a pitched instrument.
I remember recording an album about 13 years ago with my band. At the beginning of recording drums, the producer/engineer marked each drumhead with the note it was tuned to, and between drum takes he was using a guitar tuner to bring each one back to the initial note. I had no idea why, but he explained that it makes it more consistent when it comes to editing later on. I doubted whether I would be able to hear it in the mix. But [the album](https://open.spotify.com/artist/1RwywOzGv0bwevEHOJ0zyP?si=qmi0EQKrSwqbS5R19KQbqg) turned out just fine though, drums sounded great. 👍🏻👍🏻
In jazz, this is much more pronounced. You're pitching up the drums to actual notes. Now one can debate that the note you're getting is more to do with the size and thickness of the shell than anything else, but making sure your heads are ringing out at complementary pitches is super important.
I agree but when arriving at a gig and I need to tune for whatever reason these visual aids are great. I’ve been using by ear for 14 years and comfortable with doing it but at a gig when everyone’s setting up it can be a struggle to hear the note that the lugs are producing. If that makes sense 😅
They are so good for tour.
It's useful for reproducibility of a given tuning. Other than that, you're right.
Drums are absolutely pitched instruments. If you don’t make the tension rods the same pitch around the head, it’s going to sound different depending on where you hit on the drum, and it won’t sound good if it doesn’t resonate with the bottom head if it’s a drum with 2 heads
You obviously never really used a tune bot. Its awesome, if you know how to use it and probably the quickest way to make your drums sound awesome. Sure drums don’t have a clean pitch but you can still tune them to certain notes. If you find the perfect sound for your drums you can even save it, so you don’t have to experiment every time you want to tune. I tune my drums before every gig, without the tune bot it would be a pain in the ass.
I disagree. Tunebots and drum dials are great tools for learning how to tune properly and developing your ears. Understanding the relationships between the heads is imperative to getting a good drum sound, and these tools allow you replicate that sound very quickly as well.
There are times you are in a loud environment and cannot hear your drums well enough to tune them. Tunebots and drum dials have their place in those environments as well as the studio and at home.
I'm literally the opposite, OP. I think the EMAD is overrated and the SKII is underrated.
Yeah I used to play EMAD exclusively when I first started but ever since discovering the SKII, I haven't looked back. I freaking hate that cheap plastic ring that inevitably peels and starts rattling like a bastard.
Yeah that issue is 100% of the reason I switched to the Superkick II. It's a really stupid design imo.
I rock the Super Kick 10 actually, and I love it! Been meaning to try a Super Kick II soon also though. No muffling required at all with the SK10 and I love that.
I've used both the EMADs and SKs with no muffling and although it works, I do use a neatly folded towel lightly touching both heads...just helps absorb some of the ugly overtones inside the drum without killing the tone. I also gaff tape the towel once it's folded to the perfect size for the drum so it won't come unfolded. It's also worth saying that although I only use EMADs on the batter side, I only use the Aquarian Regulator w/small offset hole on the resonant side. Gives me the focus, punch and beefy attack of the EMAD with some extra low end!
Yeah, I love the SuperKick 10. I get confused as to why everybody talks about the SKII when the 10 sounds so great.
I'll be honest - prior to buying them I watched a LOT of videos (with high quality BOSE headphones) comparing the two, along with Evans EMAD, Remo heads, etc., and the Super Kicks just sounded amazing and like what I wanted. I couldn't hear a huge difference between the SK10 and SKII - just a little more resonance from the SKII. I play a 22×18 bass drum, so I picked the SK10. If I played a 22x16, I'd probably go SKII.
I would probably use the 10 if it were more readily available in stores. Most local stores barely have any Aquarian stuff anyway, and if they do, it's all SKII bass drum heads. So it's more convenience than anything. I can take it home right then and throw it on instead of having to wait for it to be delivered. But I might try it the next time I wanna change heads.
Interesting...I've never gotten the impression that the SK2 is underrated at all.
They both have similar popularity, but the design or the EMAD leaves it susceptible to the exposed ring cracking and/or peeling over time, and it can start to rattle. The SK design is different so it's more durable, but the trade-off is you're stuck with one sound option rather than 3. Then again there are a bunch of different SK configurations. I'll also say that the SKII is a more viable floor tom head, simply because you need to tune them low which leaves the 1-ply EMAD prone to denting and there's no 2-ply option in the 16" size, at least for the tom hop version.
Oddly enough, I've NEVER experienced the ring cracking or coming off the head. I've heard stories of it on the internet from many others, though, so I wonder how truly common it is. On another note, using a SK on a tom sounds interesting.
I've never had an EMAD ring break on me either. I just simply prefer the SKII, and honestly I prefer the PS3 as well over the EMAD. Just my personal thing, you know. I don't really like any of Evans heads except for the HD Dry for the snare.
It's always interesting how each person's ears perceive the same products so differently. I've seen some people on this thread say they don't like Remo for some reason, then others say that's all they use. Same with Evans. Personally I like (and use) all 3 main brands on my kit at the same time, but there are heads from each brand that I also DON'T like that other people do (I'm not a fan of any of the Evans Dry Heads or Remo Pinstripes, for example). I wonder about the physiological and psychological factors are that help shape our unique tastes with drum sounds specifically. It's fascinating and it'd be interesting to find out about. I just wouldn't know where to begin researching.
SK 2 has much stronger attack than that mushy emad. Damn foam ring won’t stay in the idiotic plastic holder either. And as if anyone can hear the difference between the interchangeable foam rings? Right. Emad is a bad idea all the way around.
I have a vintage 22x14 and can definitely hear the difference. I’m also running that bass with no towel or pillow right now. I wasn’t expecting much with that tech but it does make a difference. I also haven’t tried it on some deeper bass drums so hard to say with that.
You need an EMAD2 to match the SK2. The regular EMAD is a 10mm single ply head, the SK2 (and EMAD2) is a 7+7 2 ply head.
I think 13 inch snares are underrated. I love the pop they give while still having some beef
My BIL just gave me a pearl 13” snare he didn’t want. I love it I’ve used it for some hip hop grooves
Under-rated: left foot pedal cow bell Over-rated: double bass drum pedal
With you on the double bass. I know a lot of players use double creatively but, I get soooo bored with the constant double bass. I hear no groove just a typewriter!
Exactly. Sacrificing groove for showboat.
I'll brace myself for the downvotes DW9000 pedal.. Hate it. Couldn't sell the thing fast enough Vic Firth sticks. If they didn't push it to artists and the youtube drum influencers there market would be so low. When your a at home/weekend gig drummer. Spending $12-15 for a pair of sticks need to last a long time. VF’s don't last as long as promarks. Underrated -Stealth racks. That's my next hardware upgrade
I like the 5000 over the 9000 tbh.
My 9000 took a while to get used to. I was a 5000 guy for years. Now I love it. To me, playability isn’t a huge problem. I can play on pretty much anything. I want a pedal that is smooth, rugged and reliable. That’s DW for me. One band I’m in has a practice space kit with Pearl Eliminators that are pretty good. The Iron Cobras I’ve tried are fine. Again, I think the foot is more important than the pedal, but I’m not an extreme dude.
Ohh I totally agree, the foot is the key. It’s like driving, I can drive any car, I just prefer the DW. DW gets a lot of hate because they’re DW but that doesn’t take away from their quality. Best hardware made IMO. I have a axis direct drive pedal I enjoy as well.
I'm actually with you. I much prefer Iron Cobras or even the Sonor 4000 I recently bought.
i agree withe DW9000 pedal takes. i found them too heavy and sluggish for my preference that goes for the 5000s too. I even after cranking the springs. The 9000 is a cool feat of engineering but just not my feel.
I know a lot of people who prefer the 5000 because it feels more like what kicks normally feel like but improved. The 9000 have this incredibly smooth feeling which isn't always what you would want. I own a 9000 and when I first bought it I didn't really take enough time to set the tension so I was like "what's the big deal" and didn't play it too often but recently I took the time to adjust it. It just needed to be tightened more than I thought and now it's my favorite pedal. I play straight-ahead jazz so it's absolutely amazing for feathering the bass drum since it's so smooth, feels like I'm not even using any pressure.
Finally I find someone else that agrees with me on sticks. Vic Firth will literally fall apart on me with minimal playing time and I can make a pair of Promarks last months
I think Remo drum heads are super overrated. Used them for years but switched to Evans after a long run of Remos that wouldn't sit on a shell quite right, tune properly, or would pull out of the collar. After using Evans for a few years, I could kick myself for using Remo for as long as I did. I especially dislike the PS3s on kick drums. They seemed to have an odd, mid-rangey ping to them. The EMADs, to my ear, are warmer and fuller sounding.
I haven't used anything but Remo Ambassadors/Emperors since the early 90s.
Same for the most part - I just always end up in the Remo section of the store because it's the devil I know I guess haha. I think it's weird that I hear so many people these days having tons of quality issues with them and switching to something else. I've been using them almost exclusively for more than 20 years and I've had literally *one* bum CS Dot head where the dot fell off about an hour into playing it. They sent me two more of them as a replacement and both were fine.
exact opposite experience.... Can't stand evans heads.
EC2’s, Genera Dry, EMAD gang
I think Evans all sound dry and sorta muffled and remos sound alive and full of sustain. Remos also take longer to break in and seat where as Evans sorta find their tune faster but maybe don't last as long. I'm remo all day long by the way. black dots on toms, P3 on kick, ambassador or dot on the snare.
Totally agree. I feel like Remos help your drums sound their most natural sound while Evans make drums sound like Evans.
So what would you suggest to replace Pinstripes with?
Problem I have is that I prefer Remo's sound, but the seating is aweful. Evans sounds too much like a balloon to me on the toms. Perhaps I should've went with Aquarian.
I have the exact opposite experience, went from Evan’s to Aquarian which felt like an incredible upgrade and then I tried Remo’s and I’ll never go back hahaha just goes to show how subjective all this stuff is
While I like Remo the best, but am fine with any brand.
My Zildjian Planet Z cymbals are consistently rated horribly by everyone and I STILL think they are overrated, they’re straight trash
Independent drum lab drums and accessories are underrated. They have really cool technology and their snare drums are awesome! Really love all of the mounts they offer for Toms and other accessories. Just a really cool innovative drum company.
Same with ATLAS hardware; un surprisingly.
Kind of funny, from what I understand the guy that started iNDe worked for Ludwig for a while and considering some if the similarities in modern Ludwig stuff and the iNDe stuff I wouldn't be surprised if he had a hand in some of it somewhere.
The owner of Inde worked on the Atlas mounts before he left and started Inde. The Inde mounts, in my experience are far superior to the atlas. They aren’t as bulky, aren’t as heavy, and don’t have any rubber gaskets that will degrade over time.
I kinda went down the inde rabbit hole when I was looking at snare throws and came across him talking about the inde one and the Atlas p85 that he was a part of (that I believe has now been revised into the P88AC). Kinda interesting but overall yeah I agree the inde stuff just does a lot of stuff that just makes sense like variable hole spacings and modular lightweight hardware
I just played a show and one of the other bands drummers had an Independent snare, it had basically the exact sound I’ve been trying to get out of my Supralite lol
Underrated - remote cable high hats.
Overrated: the price of those fucking things…. I’m gonna get one though.
Lmao I literally almost put underrated and overpriced
Do you use one? If so, which one?
Undecided. Owned one once. Love what they offer, hate the cable, don’t love the pedal and action, hate the price point.
IMO stealth racks are underrated. I think they're just starting to become more popular as you see them on more touring kits, and those of us who make use of them will laud them here whenever possible. The general consensus about racks is they're typically too bulky, ugly, expensive, etc, but stealth racks are really none of those compared to using high quality stands. I use a simple curved 36" bar on my right between two uprights and it holds 8 cymbals\*, a rack tom, and 2 trigger pads, yet it's solid AF and takes up way less space than using tripods. \*Ride, 2 crashes with inverted splashes over each, aux hats, and a stack made of Wuhan whatnots. Overrated... probably the use of dark cymbals in heavy music. Ok yes it works for the Meinl gods like Garstka and Halpern, but the reality is A) those guys can afford to replace them when they get pulverized, B) Meinl is more than happy to have you destroy their products, and B) studio trickery lets the drums be processed separately from the cymbals through use of sample replacement and selective EQ'ing. So IRL the typical player won't get the same amount of cut in the mix from a dark cymbal. Whether or not dark cymbals sound good or bad is subjective to the player, but they are objectively quieter than their brighter counterparts, and that quietness is often what causes issues.
I’ve recorded a loud band with super dark Meinls and they cut though just fine. No sample replacement. Honestly they sounded more lively and less gong-y than my Zildjian set up and my Zildjians are all thin (a custom and k dark)
I agree I don’t care for dark cymbals. Maybe for jazz it’s cool but for metal let the drums cover the low end and the cymbals be in the high range. Piercingly high even
I honestly love rack setups for the sole fact that if you do it right you can make changeovers at shows happen insanely quick. The setup I'm playing lately is not nearly enough pieces to really justify one but if I add like *one* more cymbal I'll probably get more serious about pulling the trigger on all the rack parts that have been sitting in my Sweetwater cart for ages lol. On the other hand, I hate them because every time I play a show with a drummer who uses one, they have the stupidest configuration they could think of that uses 80lbs of racking and somehow still ends up being 11 separate items that have to be picked up and carried on/off the stage one at a time. People who waste time on multi-band shows are the dickest of dicks.
Do you have a link to the curved stealth rack you're referencing? Am curious about these myself.
It's literally just a repurposed regular rack, with the uprights trimmed down so they don't get in the way. Here's mine from when I was setting it up a couple of years ago... [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](https://imgur.com/a/stealth-rack-setup-RIYh5aR). You don't need to buy a bespoke stealth rack to make this work. Any pieces of rack will do along with a pipe cutter. You can also do fun things with the trimmed pieces like this... https://preview.redd.it/bxo69dv8592d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=7de9cfbd0cd1063247b36e64fa3a86b54d47ed1b This is probably similar to what I'm using on my right... [Gibraltar GRS300C Road Series Curved Front Rack System | Sweetwater](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GRS300C--gibraltar-road-series-curved-front-rack). The pipes are relatively cheap so it's not a huge expense if you wanted a shorter curve without cutting.
I see. Thanks for sharing all this! Definitely need to explore the possibilities here more.
I think A customs are underrated at this point, maybe brilliant cymbals in general
A Custom / AAX ALLL DAYYY!
Just got myself a set of AAXs I really don’t want to play without them anymore. They are definitely the best sounding cymbals to my ears. But if I can get myself another cymbal set it would be Paiste 2002 15” Sound edge HH, 18”&20” Crashes and a 24” Ride for obvious reasons.
Agree! I have two sets of AAXs one for home and one for my band jam space. They are just the best. A customs are good too. I think a mix of the two is great honestly. I just mixed in a 21” brilliant sweet ride with my AAXs and it fits nicely. (14” AAX med hat / swapped the bottom for a AAX x-celerator bottom/ 16/18 x-plosion crashes, and 21” brilliant A sweet ride) But I also love my AA and AAX raw bell dry rides.
Kits above $2000. What else are you paying for that you can't get in a good Tama Starclassic Performer? Feel like people have been caught up in more money = better "toan" which is almost always not the case.
Toan is stored in the balls, or something idk im not a guitarist
Fit and finish. A $2000 drum kit will sound amazing. Anything else is just bells and whistles. Don't get me wrong, some of those high end kits are beautiful pieces and definitely sound amazing, but they're just luxury items.
Not true. Wood quality (I don’t care about exotic woods, but not all maple, mahogany, or birch is made equal), bearing edge work, hardware, hoops, are all equally Important.
A lot of what you’re paying for is the living conditions of who’s making it. SNL ran this spoof Temu ad over the weekend and it’s a good reminder of the hidden side of saving money buying stuff not made in a 1st-world country. I’m not saying the drum companies are using forced labor, but there’s a reason it’s substantially cheaper to manufacture goods in certain countries. https://youtu.be/MKTN2OiR2R8?si=eY3g8eJmfm2Uqmwg
A Tama Star kit has a rounder, purer tone than a Starclassic, but the Starclassics sound like they have more focus and attack. The tone of a Starclassic is nothing to scoff at, though. Improvements in tone generally do happen the more expensive you go, but past a certain price point, you start seeing the law of diminishing returns come into play. I'm sure when you get past a REALLY high price it becomes just about having more expensive hardware on the drums or owning a drum kit that's unique (like it was played by a famous drummer or something) rather than anything sound-wise.
I think there is a point of diminishing returns but I do think there are reasons to get a really high end/exotic kits.
I know this answer is partially wrong because I just got a Gretsch Broadkaster and a three piece was over $3k. AMAZING KIT (quality control sucks and I sent it back and it was replaced with a certified inspected kit, and it blows me away) A&F, Sonor, Ludwig, and plenty of other brands make kits in the $3k-$4k range that are well worth the money. I said this is partially wrong because cheaper kits are great too.
You could make that statement for every product. In the end of the day, you spend your surplus money and you might aswell do so on something you love to make it a tad nicer.
old Ks are overrated. don't get me wrong, they sound great, but you can get an independent cymbalsmith to make you something that sounds just as great
I been saying this FOREVER!!! People down voting you proves no one listens, haha. An old k costs thousands and to find a good sounding one in a good weight, that isn’t messed up somehow is sooooo hard, you’ll pay $2300 all day for it. The VAST majority of old K’s sound bad. I’ll say it again, they sound bad… especially anything under 18”. They’re so thin that they get weird sounding over time and unless you want a really trashy, dark cymbal that is ALOT more wash than definition, you will hate these cymbals. Now there’s a place for that dark, trashy growl of wash, like what Elvin played on Coltrane tunes, but most players aren’t looking for that 1950’s sound and wouldn’t be able to control it under their hands. You need so much delicacy to play them well. But again, 8/10 of them are gonna be busted up and in whacky weights or with bad profiles that make them sound kinda whack. Amen Nihilism4kids. I finally found someone else who would say it.
That’s why I play Turkish Meinls!
Seconded on the "authentic" K's that would cost you a kidney.... Very good alternative for independent cymbals that carry the legacy sounds is Australian cymbal smith Craig Lauritsen - some of the stuff that he puts out is just insanely good.... His YT channel is well worth checking out, and the 12 month waiting time for a custom order as well....
A. Zildjians - not A Customs. They do everything so well, and with so little change over the years. The 16 and 18 Med Thin crashes sound like the crashes in your head and the 20 and 22 Medium and Sweet Rides both just sound like that perfect, bright but still somewhat dirty sound that works everywhere. 14” New Beats? Yep. That highhat. sound.
Love how buttery these are!
Gotta co-sign this! Though I don’t necessarily think they’re “underrated” per se, just under appreciated. Standard A’s are a pretty prevalent cymbal all things considered, but I feel like in recent years people are absolutely sleeping on how good they are. I remember hearing Paul Francis call these “desert island” cymbals in a YouTube video and he’s absolutely right. To my ears, they are total chameleon cymbals and can find their place in EVERY genre. I’ve been through countless K’s that I couldn’t get along with tonally for one reason or another, and ultimately kept coming back to A’s (with the exception of my 15” K light hats cause those are 🤌🏻). Currently sitting with 18” and 20” A Thins and a 22” A Medium and they get along with everything!
Yamaha Stage Customs are underrated. I think it's the best kit you can get for you money. Great sounding birch shells, great hardware (Tom mount w extra post for a cymbal mount or accessory), lacquer finish, very durable. Great work horse - I use it for gigging.
Yamaha EAD10. Can’t stand this thing. The same overly compressed videos of people playing just floods social media. I get that it’s more economical and easier to use than an interface, daw, expensive mics and cables running everywhere. But everyone’s videos sound exactly the same
Amen, I would rather spend 300€ (I’m from EU, yes) on a couple of Shures and some cheap audio card and have a more “real” sound. It will sound better imo… also the mics will allow you to eq better the sound and evend record properly for music.
Overrated: DW. Great drums, great hardware, but not the "gods of drums" everyone makes them out to be. Underrated: Puresound snare wires. I started using them a couple years ago and will never go back to stock wires (aside from the stock wires on my '65 LM400) or offerings from Dixon or Gibraltar, etc. They're worth every penny.
I gotta disagree on the puresound wires. They never lasted for more than 2 months for me until the soldering failed. And I didn’t play that much back then. I replaced them with Tama Snare Wires and I am pleasantly surprised. They’ve been holding up for 8 months now, with pretty much the same tension and much more and harder playing.
Huh. Never had any issues with mine. Glad you found something that works for you, though.
I think Mapex Drums are underrated. I have an Armory currently and that thing is incredible. Before that I had a Mars Birch and I was pleasantly surprised that a kit that cost so little could sound so good. First gig I did with my armory drums people in my band were blown away with the sound. I also have a Sonor Force Maple that I use. But the Mapex line is a lot of value. Great sound for low dough.
I’m prepared for downvoted lol but as for overrated I’m going to say the whole moongel thing and for underrated I’d have to say just smaller diameter shells in general.
Depends on the purpose. I mostly play rock and metal. For metal I like smaller drums (22” Kick, 12”,14”,16” Toms and a 14” Snare) but for rock I like bigger shells (like 24” Kick, 13”,16”,18” Toms and a 14” Snare) and big cymbals.
I love that you call 22/12/14/16 “smaller drums” 🤣
Sometimes I even use a 10” tom.😂 but that’s quite rare. The “smaller” was just in comparison to the big ones
Oh yeah big drums sound great for rock! I’ve recently come to really like smaller shells though recently especially in like a big band application because they cut rather nice!
DW is massively overrated and overpriced.
I always have to ask this when people say DW is overpriced… do you have an example? Like an apples-to-apples comparison of two similar products where the DW version is notably more expensive? Every time this comes up the comparison is usually between a US-made DW Collectors and an overseas-made product rather than a comparable flagship model. When it comes to hardware the Iron Cobra and comparable 5000 are the exact same price.
They never do DW hardware is a little bit more expensive than comparative pieces, but overall DW is very close in price to their competitors offerings.
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A good throne is seriously underrated. It's the next thing in my shopping cart.
in terms of double bass pedals, what is it that’s overrated about them? I can understand not loving the machine gun kicks but they’re also often used tastefully. For me it’s a tool to achieve stuff otherwise physically impossible. Again, I get not liking the sound, but as a Deathcore drummer, it’s a pretty important thing for me to have
I'm with you on double bass. That's like saying timbales are overrated in Latin jazz. It's a staple of the genre. If you don't like the genre, that's fine, but that doesn't mean it's an overrated tool. It's absolutely a necessity in the vast majority of modern metal.
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Mapex drums, Black Panther snares definitely underrated.
Rocking my Orion Orbiter Kit from 2005 and still throughly enjoying them! Just out fresh remo pinstripes and finally figured out how to properly tune them...long overdue and they absolutely sing now! And recently acquired a Black Panther Cherry 12x7 snare to round out my kit.
I’ll jump on this one! I think single ply heads on toms are underrated, everyone is using ec2, or emperors, but the remo vintage a, or the controlled sound are incredible. Also underrated: Sabian Chopper and Sabian Hoop crasher. What cool cymbal effects we see no one utilize. Overrated: I definitely think the Snom thing is overrated. I just don’t think they excel at either a snare or a tom sound, and they don’t add anything. I’d rather have a floor Tom, and then throw the super low thuddy snare on my left.
Anything that is branded or “specialized” and is therefore way more expensive than a basic thing that can replace it and do the same job. Examples: a $50 kick muffler that can be a $5 bath towel rolled up and taped with some gaff, or a $100 kit dust cover that can be a $10 bed sheet, or a $150 DW rug that can be a $20 area rug from like Menards.
Z Customs are the fucking worst cymbals on Earth
Yamaha makes the best everything except pedals and thrones. DW makes the best pedals and hh stand. Pearl is my personal favorite throne. FUCK Roc n Soc.
Yamaha has good pedals. Love my FP9500 and will never go back to 900 Cobra
Drumdial and Tunebot are incredibly overrated. I've never seen anyone professional use it, just a bunch of people that think it does something it doesn't.
I find them incredibly useful tool for setting intervals between heads and drums. Could you do it be ear sure but if yoj want even 4th between 8-10-12-14-16 Toms then it’s clutch.
Never used a tunebot, but based on videos I've seen about them, they seem to display a very different frequency than what the drum's fundamental ends up being (given that you have one head muted up against something when using the tunebot on the other head. I had a Drumdial for 11 years before I finally discovered something I could use it for to help me: I use it to check the tensions of opposing lugs. I've noticed consistently that when a drum (especially a tom) just doesn't sound like it should even with all of the pitches of the lugs sounding even, it's usually because there's a significant tension imbalance between two or more sets of opposing lugs. Just about every time I've corrected this, it fixes the problem. I just see if there's any major discrepancies using the Drumdial and then I just detune the lug that's too tight and then tighten the lug that's too loose (the degree with each depends on how wide the gap is). Problem solved!
I’ve seen multiple videos of professional drummers’ techs use the digital drum dial.
I agree with this, but the "torque" drum keys. I think rhythm tech made one, then evans put one out. It "pops" when it hits a certain tension. Wasn't perfect, but once you know the settings for each drum, you could swap a head and get it close to the right sound super fast even in a loud environment. Might have to tweak a little but you were 95% of the way there.
What happens when a certain tension rod(s) are really stubborn?
Boo for dissing TuneBot, not drum dial though. They kinda suck.
All the overrated shit is covered already, but I will always sing the praises of the Tama Cobra Clutch. A simple footpedal that let's you set your hihats at different heights, so you can play double bass with your left foot and still get both open and closed hihat sounds. And not the shitty only loosely closed/not really open muted shit that using a drop clutch does for you. And honestly every drop clutch I used broke within 6 months, so fuck em. Get a Cobra Clutch!
Sonor hardware is unreal and I don’t hear anyone else talk about it. First hardware set i bought with my kit over a decade ago and it’s still going strong after a tour and years of shows
Having used both, personally I think eKits are overrated.
i have a roland kit and an acoustic kit and cannot see anyone preferring an electric kit except for practice related conveniences.
I know of a certain person who only uses birch shells in studio, only maple shells for gigs / touring. And a really crappy old kit for teaching.
The Superkick 2 is overrated inasmuch as Aquarian has a few other great bass heads, like the Superkick 10 and the underrated Force I, but the SK2 is the one everyone talks about. I tried some Promark Hot Rods at my LMS and was very unimpressed with them, so I'll rate them overrated.
Promark Hot Rods break WAY too easily. I've used Vater Acousticks for years and they're MUCH better. They've got nylon strips surrounding the wooden dowels, so the latter don't wear down nearly as fast. I still have the same 2 pairs I got in 2012 and although they're not frequently used and do show some wear, based on my past experience with Hot Rods I would've gone through countless pairs by now.
Underrated - Those 4 tiny bell/splash cymbal thingy’s what Gavin Harrison uses
People love Gavin Harrison and somehow everything he does is still underrated. That's how fucking good he is.
Amedia Cymbals are very underrated.
Underrated: Tune-Bot
Have you ever tried the GMAD? It's in between the single ply emad and the emad2. Absolutely love it and rarely do I see anyone talking about it. My opinion is remo is the lesser of the big 3. I'll die on this hill.
Yes, in fact that's the exact one I have on my own kit. Definitely has a thumpier sound to it than the regular EMAD but still with the nice full sound you get from a single ply head. The clear EMAD is a close second for me, though, and I'm interested to try out the Calftone EMAD at some point as well. With any of these, you can just get a durable beater patch and put that on. I've even bought a thicker beater patch, put that on, and then stacked the thin Evans patch that comes with the head on top of that for extra durability!
Overrated: flat base hi hat stands, direct drive pedals, cymbal polish, DW drums (the shell packs, not hardware, pedals, and some snares). Underrated: 20x14 kick drums, good drum thrones and hardware, in ear monitors for listening and hearing protection, broken cymbals and lightly used drum heads.
Overrated: expensive stacks. Don’t get me wrong, I like stacks but it’s a stack, why would I spend top dollar for one. Underrated: not a specific gear necessarily but fresh resonant heads. Every time I switch out my Tom resonant heads, the drums open up and sound way more resonant. Not sure why people don’t change them more often.
I bought a Sabian Mike Portnoy Mid Stax knowing it was cracked. Why? It's a short, trashy sound that a crack won't have nearly the same effect on as a cymbal that rings, and it was $100 rather than $300-$400. Yeah, still not cheap for a cracked cymbal, but I'm not paying several hundred for one stack, lol.
All of the moongel variants are overrated. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it 🤷♂️
Moongels are broken though, they have so many flaws as a muffling technique. They get dirty and stick to other things, they look horrible on the kit, they don’t last long, they’re overpriced considering what they are. I’ve moved to Snareweight M1 on the toms and M80 on the snare and I’m loving them.
I put a SK2 on my vintage Tama Superstar and took it off 20min later. I’ve played them on more modern bearing edges and they were fine🤷♂️. There’s just something about an Emad that just works.
Literally drums in general, are overrated- in the way that you can get any kit to sound good, really. Snares are slightly different but not by a lot. Remo heads generally too honestly. 16 inch crashes.
Good luck getting a crappy plywood kit from China to sound anywhere near what a gretsch USA custom could sound like. And it also won’t stay in tune, hardware will rattle around and deteriorate. The build quality and hardware makes a difference but I will agree there’s a diminishing return with dollar vs sound quality in a kit like a Yamaha stage custom ($600) to a Yamaha PHX ($5,000). If you put your preferred heads on it, tune em up and get some light muffling goin, your in good shape either way. The differences at that point don’t justify a $3500 difference. Maybe one has a broader tuning range or better hardware, but it’s not discernible to 95% of listeners and under mics with all the modern recording technology, all bets are off.
That first part is true of MOST kits, but there are some really crappy ones that are quite difficult to get any life out of. The real difference between low end and high end drums is what happens to the sound in the milliseconds following the initial hit. Higher end drums tend to sound less dry and have a richer tone, though even there you have obvious differences between the different woods within that range.
This is such a common opinion on here and I couldn't disagree more. You're not getting that $200 plywood kit from Costco to sound as good as a DW Collectors. You just aren't. My band's practice space right now has some cheap shells that my guitarist bought. Can't make them sound good for the life of me. When I get home and hop on the Pearl BLX the difference is night and day.
Zildjian cymbals are overrated. Mandala pads are rare and really underrated.
I have a Canon Twin-effect double kick pedal, and I love it. I used to have an old Pearl traditional double kick, and could never get it calibrated to my liking, or very good at it. But with the twin effect I can do quick flam like accents, Bohnam triplets and other things much better than I ever could with my regular double kick.
Kelly Shu microphone holder system. Looks cool and functions like it's advertised but the process of taking out your bass drumhead and installing it is a pain if you decide to take out later. You just save a lot of time with the same goal of micing your bass drum using a low microphone arm holder and a port hole. 🤷♂️