Cheap vs. Expensive Snare Drums | The Drum Department 🥁 (Ep.41)
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- Опубліковано 15 сер 2023
- The snare drum is the most crucial sound on a drumkit, and the most personal. There are literally hundreds of snare drums to choose from, ranging in price from $100 up to $5000 or more. Does the price of a drum really dictate the drum’s value, or is it all smoke and mirrors? Today we test several different snare drums to see if you really do get what you pay for!
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I liked the Yamaha and the DW the most. It's interesting that after the snares were revealed, the guys suddenly had clear opinions about each snare.
I get the sense that snare drums are a lot like sneakers. Some are only manufactured for a short period of time, and while they work great, they end up as collector's items. Others, equally good, don't end up that way, and are affordable for regular people. Even $500 for a snare is too much for my pocketbook.
Even $250 is too much for me! I have a dozen snare drums and never paid over $150 for one. Heck, I never paid over $500 for an acoustic drum set. I buy used for pennies on the dollar.
Same in the guitar world. We have that term, "blues lawyers"
@@MiikeyLawless😂
the snare test proves people are about names prestige putting more importance on money over common sense..This goes for most things people buy..
It wasnt discussed much here, but the serviceability and functionality of a drum is a real important part of the value. Cheap drums are often really hard to deal with...poor lugs, flimsy t-rods, thin hoops, cheap heads, poor snare wires...which all make it hard to work with. Quality drums tune very easily and are not a fight. That is what makes them worth the money.
Yep agree.. it's kinda the same with cheap guitars vs more expensive.
The most expensive snare I’ve bought is my Ludwig Supraphonic LM402-$750. It’s my main snare.
I have lesser priced snares and they all sound great to me and through a PA. Some are fine as is and some I’ve made upgrades to sound great. Usually if you change the heads and/or the snare wires, almost any snare will sound great. Here’s my current list…
DW “black beauty” COB- $300. Changed batter head.
Gretsch Taylor Hawkins- $250. Changed snare wires.
Mapex Copper Cat- $400. Great as is.
Gretsch Catalina Club- $125. Changed both heads and snare wires.
All these snares sound great and play well. Spending $1000 or more is ridiculous.
Tbh, with good heads and snares, and the right dimensions you can make any snare sound great
Personally i have a harder time getting cheap toms to sound good
What heads do you use? I use Evans hydraulic black and they work great. Cheers
I've had relatively good luck with my toms, but I'm going for a fairly particular high, jazzy sound. Coated single-ply, top and bottom, tuned identically, have worked for me. The shells still need to be made well, with good bearing edges, the hoops need to be flat, and the tension rods/lugs need to be the right length and well lubricated. No shortcuts, but you can tear everything down and clean it over a weekend, buy/order parts on Monday, then have everything sounding great the next weekend. You can obviously go faster without other weekend plans and if you have a good local shop with the parts you need.
This was a great episode!
The Shells These dass are mostly well produced. So a big difference comes mostly through the absence of a even bearing edge, snare bed, good hoopes.
Strainers definitely are better on more expensive snares, and the lugs may be better made/damped.
0:06 yes, that one!
I've always felt you pay for feel and tunability. Being both how easy a drum is to tune and how wide of a tuning range it is. You can make any drum that is round and edges in decent shape sound good imo (especially in a mic'd up and EQ'd situation).
I LOVE my Zikit system!!!… I put it in a PDP concept maple, and it’s hands down my most versatile snare.
You guys should do a blind play test!! Blindfold the drummer and switch out the snare.
I have several snares that I have collected and I tend to like them in different settings. One of them is a mapex that is kind of cheap and won’t hold a tune but it sounds great in a small room. I would say generally drummers have multiple snares for the purpose of what it does for their playing.
Good Heads, Good Tuning and a cheap Snaredrum can sound pretty good.
should do this again but blind folded so they can feel and hear in prime position
First they need the same exact heads on all drums, then they need to tune both reso and batter heads the EXACT SAME (these are tuned to completely different pitches) and then they need to not even mention which brand drums they are comparing. Just play them all.. three at a time.. and let them pick their favorites each time until they go through all the drums. My guess is they will have no clue which drums are which and their picks would be different than in this test.
Thats a preference thing on the sponginess, todd suckermann has almost no tension on his live kit. His tech was surprised that he tunes it that way. He also uses ambassadors on everything
Wonderful video!
Confirmation bias is crazy! It's interesting that once you know the brand and model, listen for the qualities you expect from them instead of just listening to them. The one that withstood the confirmation bias for me was the DW design vs Gretsch. I always expect a warmth and "sturdiness" from Gretsch stuff, and expected DW design to sound "good enough". But even after the reveal, I still preferred the DW.
Big props to DW for guarding the quality of their drums at every price range.
I am not watching an hour of this to see which one of this is the best drum. I will figure it out myself.
ITS BACK ONLINE!!!!!!!!!!
Tuning and proper damping would have made a huge difference. I don’t think any of those drums are that good?
I got the metal ones right. The Yamaha stood out at once as the cheapest. But I mixed up the DW and Gretsch, I just like the DW more. But still, the cheapest snare was easy to pinpoint.
This channel has turned into a sitcom...way to go Oprah
I'm not a big fan of the banter: these could be just as useful at 15 or 20 minutes long.
@@jorymilAgreed. First thing I did was skip 5 minutes in to see if they'd started yet.
@Drumeo yup, Juninho Martins (Vamper Instrumentos) and those kids are Brazilian. Vamper is a Rio-based company which makes those practice kits and pads.
Good stuff
The biggest thing I think they missed on the steel snares is the articulation on the roll - the more expensive the drum the clearer it sounded
Um no, just no, just a big fat, NO. lol.
Wish you guys would have had a noble and Cooley steam-bent solid shell you should hear the way they sound they're pretty nice
There is a Yamaha aluminum snare that's an inexpensive snare that sounds pretty good as well surprisingly enough
Not for nothing, but I'm glad you guys are not sponsored by anyone in particular.. it allows for an honest review.
I thought the chad smith had the more muffled sound lol. When they took the snares off the 3rd one sounded closer to the Yamaha anyway. That ping sound is what I was listening to lol.
They’re talking themselves into believing they could discern a real difference. There’s very little some moon gel and a few minutes fiddling couldn’t tune out to make them identical.
Hey great video! Maybe next time we can get the sizes of the drums as well. Thanks!
I'm thinking of getting a $200 Ludwig acrolite. Just because it's cheap and sounds really good. Or the supraphonic 402. For around $600. Well worth it for an iconic badass sounding snare. A keeper.
I got the wood one’s perfect, but was off on the metal ones
the chad smith sounds phenomenal
i would say 2nd or 3rd
The guy in the middle with the "golden ears" going on about how cheap snare drums are the one drum in cheap kits that are below par.. then he goes on to pick the cheapest snare drum as his favorite in the first comparison, lol. This should tell you all something. Heads and tuning are at least 90% of the sound of a drum regardless of the shell material or price tag.
How's this Kit working out so far? Ive been looking at this on Amazon. Just haven't pulled the trigger.
What is funny is that just listening through my tv I liked the sound of the Yamaha the best in the first set. It was a little dry without the overtones as the others. I guess you'd rather have the overtones when you need them and tame them when you don't than not have the option to begin with.
This is a great segment I had them correct but found myself nervous I was wrong. It is crazy how the difference is not as drastic as the price range.
#1 the Gretch metal is a 10 lug & it is not with the same Remo batter heads as #2 & #3 ! I would like to hear all with same batter, snares ... but #1 has over all tonal ring . maybe with a Remo trimring layed on top it will sound as beefy as #2 ?
You can tell if something sounds good. What happens at times is cheaper drums sometimes don’t tune as well or hardware doesn’t hold up as long if it’s not done right. Some snare beds or the edges are not smooth. But in expensive doesn’t always mean cheap or cheaply made. I have some great in expensive snares that I have used or set up in different churches. The pearl sensitone aluminum for 300 or steal for less than 250, man they are good, but also wood snares that are done right like design series and even some pdp to be honest they sound great, some tama slp or Ludwig’s less expensive line
I’m new to drumming
Which is better, wood or metal?
Is it a matter of “Better or worse” or is it just preference?
I got the wood snares correct, but the metal ones i chose the same as the 2 who chose the same.
Need this before i go to the UK Drum show...keep my wallet still heavy xD
Lmao, that was great and i love the yamaha metal one the most, shows you how misleading everything can be! I admit i noticed it sounded more inconsistent? still liked the sound tho. The wood batch sound all nice, but dw i liked more in the end, suprising.
Re: The Drum Wallet - could you use them on toms? (Pocket = racks / wallet = FT)
Hello, yes we recommend our Pocket Watch for drums 13" and under and The Drum Wallet for 14" and above. It's all a matter of preference of course. Thanks for your interest! CHAD. . . . .
I got everything completely wrong, but I wonder if I'd had a slightly better chance if it was just coming through a camera mic or room mic?
I easily got the wood snares, but the metal ones, I only got the Dunnet
For me I struggled with the cheap/mid cost drums as mid ones seemed to sound worse while I was able to guess the expensive ones because they sounded the best to me.
Jared wouldn't have missed the opportunity at 34:10
I got the 1st round right without seeing the drums first two play-throughs. Give me a cookie.
No. 1 I thought sounded like Dani California oddly enough.
No. 2 sounds so cheap. Like my high school snare that my math teacher didn’t care that I took home for 2 days.
No. 3 sounds like… beautiful.
When he dampened it, I thought the Chad Smith snare sounded the best.
Professional level- snare drums are the most expensive when it comes to snares drum .
I'm pretty sure I watched this video a couple days ago and then it was posted again today - but maybe I'm going crazy! Anyway, I love the Chad Smith snare! I was lucky enough to win one at his clinic back in the late '90s/early 2000s. Thanks, Chad!
I just bought a cheap kit included with that snare, I was suprised that it is actually really good.
The genius of Tre cool please🙏
i put my phone or wallet on my snare..for me it seem to calm it down a bit..
I guess it makes sense to use the snares heads but I would have preferred to see all drums using the same brand of head to even out of the tone. This wasn't easy but it was easy to guess the worst wasn't the best. I super good on knowing I didn't think the chad smith drum was the best; good to know my blind ears are still as good as I think they are, thank goodness I didn't think his drum sounded good. Turns out I have no experience owning expensive drums therefore I don't care to hear them I suppose. Also the middle weight drums always come around and being that they almost sound identical to the expensive drums (maybe not in room) I'm good on owning the middle priced drums. I agree that owning one good snare is better then owning three. Also, guy, you need to lose the aluminum snare fetch really.
They are all the same heads, just different logos.
The First is cheapest
Second is most expensive
Third is medium priced
Wow, so the first was the mid priced snare, the second was the cheapest & the 3rd the most expensive. That Yamaha sounds the best of all 3 & it's the cheapest.
Yamahas cheapest shit is sometimes shockingly good
I actually thought the Yamaha sounded the worst😂
I understand the idea that some snare sounds may be easier for sound guys to work with but that shouldn't be the bar for snare sounds because the snare sound defines a big part of the feel and sound of a track and just going with what's easy and "standard" doesn't promote creativity and unique styles. For example the famous snare sounds used on songs like Billy Jean by Michael Jackson. That's not a "standard sound"
K-Rad know what he's doing at @50:55 :)
To be fair, the heads should have been the same for each category..
Enough talking already!! 10:39
The guesses!! 15:03
The answers!! 16:58
I think 1 sounds the best on test 1. Not even half way through the vid and i don't know if i have shit taste or not lol.
The problem here from an objective point of view is that none of the snare drums were tuned or sorry to say played well. I earlier watched a video from Drum Center of Portsmouth titled “The best beginner snare drums”. Every one of those drums sounded superior to any here simply
because they were tuned and played well.
I like the wood drums better.
always thought it. cheap drums are just as good as expensive. ill never pay more than 200 euro for a drumkit
You hit the snare, your ears are 2 something feet away from the drum. You have a sound.
You have a Sm57, an inch away from the head. You hear stuff coming off the speaker or headphones.
Those are two different sound sources.
The sound guy is thinking, how the sm57 blends with the overheads and hi hat mic.
It was the middle one
Surprisingly I got all of them right...can I get a job at drumeo please? ;)
You should probably have had recorded a reaction video.
I should have documented it, you are right. @@Musical_Sweetness
My question is.... What is a good drum sound???
For me it can be anything..If the drumsound fits perfectly in the song/music,, it's a good sound. Drumsound just in it's own is just personal taste.
@@M139NG yeah... I also think its almost purely subjective...
Cheapest sounds like #2
It looks as if you were trying to fix the result, 2 of you believed that the cheapest was the most expensive and that is the result and that's it
40:29 I'm air drumming now. And surprisingly, my hands have suffered some damage, air drum Hard on your hands. cause slap your Palm, your hand your stitches well. I made a 28 g drum stick for air drumming super fast. No hand damage air drummers. Sorry man, I hope I never have to set my drum. Set up again done it too many times I took to air drum like a fish out of water.#aerodrums
If they did a buzz roll or do more playing that first time lol
Being serious, i guess those two never seen many comparisons on head to head on youtube, because you can easily tell the "weirdness" on the harmonics, if all of them were heavily dampened would be hard to tell. No lying i have got the correct answers, but we do have to say that the "playing", tunning and head quality says a lot. And yes, we drummers can be too "picky" on equipment and the general audience doesnt give a crap for those specific stuff. A bad drummer can make a good snare sound bad and can make a bad drum sound good. i would love to see Benny Grebb playing a shitty kit (just an example).
Honestly couldn’t or didn’t want to spend and hour on this. 3 minute video max.
wont give away my sjc snare..
The price cannot make a drum mix with the other instruments in a mix , match the sound of the drum with how in needs to sound in the mix and that has nothing to do with price,does the mix need tin can ,plastic bucket , rubber bucket,or hollow log sound , that’s all that matters
Says they are tuned similarity, then plays snare #1 and then snare #2 and then snare #3 and they aren't even in the realm of similarly tuned, lol. If you are going to do this kind of "blind" test they should all be tuned to the exact same pitch, anything else makes no sense.
Lmao unthought the dunnett sounded the worst
A drum is ONLY worth what someone is WILLING to pay for it…
What's the point of having "tight transitions" if you then slow the show down to talk about the transition every time lol
I knew the Yamaha was 2. Sounded horrible. Probably tuning.
THAT YAMAHA SNARE IN 1O LUGS WOULD EMBARRASS THAT DUMBNNETT SNARE IT'S THAT GREAT MID LATE 8O'S & 9O'S THOSE BEING MADE IN JAPAN WERE AT THEIR BEST QUALITY THEY MADE BACK THEN
The cheaper ones feel a little "spongy" lol. Come on man, just stop! No need to try and justify the overpriced snares by dreaming up reasons to fault the cheap snares.
Better hardware higher price. Sound has nothing with the price only with a drummer!
I am not a drummer, not even a musician, but my husband is a drummer. Got better results than you. Got all brass right, knew right away what was the cheap wood one.
Drums don't have an objective "feel", drum heads and how you tune them do. You play the heads, you don't play the shell. These guys are hilarious doing everything they can to try to dream up reasons to justify overpriced snare drums as being "better", lol.
I appreciate you guys, but 60 minutes is WAY too long for this subject. I dunno, maybe is a generational thing.
4th
First
second xd
shit
Meow