what is the quietest electric drum cymbal

[atomburst]

what i mean by quietest is what is acoustically the quiestest electric cymbal when you dont have it hooked up to a module or amp or anything. ive been looking at kit toys cymbals and ive also had at look at smartigger cymbals but after reading about them people say they are loud. ive also looked at pintech cymbals and they seem ok but does anyone else want to add what they have experienced.

['lectric drumma]

I think you'll have to stick with the Roland CY-series... Watch out though, it's possible you don't like the way they feel... Each to his own of course.


Stijn

[bogiesbad]

Drumbalaya used to have a comparison chart but I don't know if it's around anymore since they sold to Kraft. I will agree with Stijn on the Roland CYs...I use them and many consider them to be the quietest...no experience with Kittoys or Hart (another option).

[daveybabes]

Gotta be Roland CY12's onwards and Yamaha PCY 130 s onwards, good thick rubber they have good weight and swing well, Kit Toys are thin and a bit noisy, (i love my CY12's)

[slapit]

harts are MUCH noisier than rolands, sort it out hart!
dont know about yam

[V(ader)DRUMMER]

The metal Hart hihat and ride are comparable to the Rolands, as long as you are playing on the rubber striking pad. I compared my old CY-5 with the Hart hat and felt the Hart was actually a slight bit quieter.

However, the polymer Hart crashes are very loud. They sound very much like you're whacking a big Frisbee. Very annoying.

I've never played the newer Hart crashes in metal, so I can't offer any input there.

[flurbs]

However, the polymer Hart crashes are very loud. They sound very much like you're whacking a big Frisbee. Very annoying.

I've never played the newer Hart crashes in metal, so I can't offer any input there.

If you choose to play on the supplied rubber surfaces, they are very similar to the ride and hats - after all, it's the same basic construction. Slightly more 'pop' than the Roland CY's, but certainly not the same as the poly Ecymbals.

[drummerToBe]

Hi,

I have the TD9KX kit and that came with CY-5, CY-8, CY-12 and they are all fairly quiet.

I'm totally new to drums and I've never played "the real thing", so especially the hi hat was a big disappointment. Like whacking an old tire with a stick and I found the acoustic noise irritating as well..

So I got myself a Hart Dynamics e-cymbal Hi Hat and the e-Pedal stand. If anything, this turned out to be a lot more disappointing.. the acoustic noise from the rubber pad is pretty much the same but feels no better. Actually playing on the bronze cymbal is, however, much noisier and doesn't really feel any better to my drummer-to-be hands..

On top of that I have triggering issues (rim zone is often activated when I hit on the head which makes open hi hat sounds almost impossible) with the cymbal.. I've just mailed Hart to see whether I can do anything to fix that..

By in a large, at least from my very limited point of view, I'm regretting going for a small third party supplier this time and will probably stay away in the future.

Roland's stuff is good and designed to work with the module. If you like tinkering and come from an acoustic drum background, there's probably more suitable gear for you out there. For a hobby guy like me, it's better to just stay close to the mothership..

Now that I've vented my disenchantment with Hart, here's something I've discovered (and you might already know):

If you want the quietest cymbals because the sound irritates you whilst playing, use isolating earphones..

I had a pair of old Shure 2c in-ear isolating headphones knocking around and the experience of playing the vdrums with them on is completely different. You can't hear the nylon-on-rubber tap tap and instead you only hear the synthesized sound, which you won't get with even the quietest cymbals.. my CY-5 hit hat suddenly sounds perfectly good and even the "feel" is (subjectively) better.

If you're a gigging drummer the added advantage is that you can blast your audience's ears off while staying at a reasonable volume yourself.. I've placed an order for Shure's SE530s.. it's not cheap but a lot cheaper than replacing all cymbals and a lot more effective at least for me.

Then again if you're after the quietest cymbals because you don't want to wake your baby who sleeps next doors, I don't think there is going to be enough difference between different rubber models to make any difference.. you're still hitting rubber with a stick..

[eric_B]

Hi,

I have the TD9KX kit and that came with CY-5, CY-8, CY-12 and they are all fairly quiet.

I'm totally new to drums and I've never played "the real thing", so especially the hi hat was a big disappointment. Like whacking an old tire with a stick and I found the acoustic noise irritating as well...

So I got myself a Hart Dynamics e-cymbal Hi Hat and the e-Pedal stand. If anything, this turned out to be a lot more disappointing.. the acoustic noise from the rubber pad is pretty much the same but feels no better. Actually playing on the bronze cymbal is, however, much noisier and doesn't really feel any better to my drummer-to-be hands...

If you want the quietest cymbals because the sound irritates you whilst playing, use isolating earphones...

Hey DrummerToBe, thanks for that info. I already posted here how I felt about the cymbals (which is the same as you), but I was hoping Hart cymbals would feel better. But apparently they don't.

Concerning the noise issue: I mostly play using my Sennheiser 280 pro headphones. I can crank up the volume of my KRK's loud enough, but I still feel using good headphones gives you the closest and most accurate sound possible.

[drummerToBe]

Hey DrummerToBe, thanks for that info. I already posted here how I felt about the cymbals (which is the same as you), but I was hoping Hart cymbals would feel better. But apparently they don't.

I guess I'll be waiting for a reply from Hart Dynamics; perhaps it's just a setup problem.. but I'm not holding my breath. Sending support emails to manufacturers often is like sending them into a black hole..

Meanwhile I'm either sticking with the CY-5/FD-9 combination or getting a Roland hi hat.. the VH-11 works with the FD-9, but will it work with the Hart Dynamics e-pedal hit hat stand or will I need to get another one of those too? I hate wasting money on experimenting.. why don't Roland just make their own hi-hat stand and pedals? or have a compatibility chart or something?

I would be very tempted by the VH-12 in case I ever upgrade to a TD-12 or TD-20 (TD-13? TD-30?), but as I understand it, it won't work at all with the TD-9 module!?

Anybody actually tried using a VH-12 with a TD-9?

Concerning the noise issue: I mostly play using my Sennheiser 280 pro headphones. I can crank up the volume of my KRK's loud enough, but I still feel using good headphones gives you the closest and most accurate sound possible.

I can't stand "normal" headphones.. I'm wearing glasses which complicates things a bit because they get trapped under the ear warmer bits.. which is the other problem

I've played mostly with my Sennheiser wireless MX1 W1 headphones (low latency) which I bought for playing the guitar; they are super comfortable but you can hear the tap tap of nylon on rubber which spoils the experience somewhat.. thus my revelation putting the noise-isolating earphones on..

[slapit]

i have also emiled hart to say what i think about their cymbals, i.e terrible. i also pointed out that in their literature it says they are 'virtually silent', thats for the poly and metal ones. whoever tested them and wrote that must have been deaf in the first place. dismal

[lucastc]

Roland CY's seem to be the quietest to me, but the crazy old lady upstairs thought my Roland kit was "A big boomy drum set that is played all hours of the day and night" she filed a noise complaint about me but I won cause my landlord is a musician and knows what a Roland kit sounds like. I aparently was playing during the times I am at work and sleeping. (I have never turned on an amp in my place either!!!) So i guess it all depends on who you are trying to avoid annoying. I should set up my acoustics and show her what a drum set sounds like. It'd probably take care of the problem for me... (Insert evil laugh here)

[V(ader)DRUMMER]

I'm totally new to drums and I've never played "the real thing", so especially the hi hat was a big disappointment. Like whacking an old tire with a stick and I found the acoustic noise irritating as well..

So I got myself a Hart Dynamics e-cymbal Hi Hat and the e-Pedal stand. If anything, this turned out to be a lot more disappointing..

I don't mean to give you a hard time, but I'm wondering what kind of feel you were expecting out of the hi-hat. You say you were surprised and disappointed by the Roland, and even more disappointed by the Hart. But, you've never played an acoustic hat, so you really can't draw any comparisons between what a real hat feels like and what an electronic hat feels like. And it sounds as if you didn't try out the Roland or Hart hats before buying them. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been surprised.

Again, I don't mean to be difficult, but if you're a complete newbie to percussion (acoustic and electronic) and you're not doing your homework and checking stuff out before you buy it, I don't know how you can then complain about the feel of anything and blame any manufacturer for not living up to your expectations.

[drummerToBe]

I don't mean to give you a hard time, but I'm wondering what kind of feel you were expecting out of the hi-hat. You say you were surprised and disappointed by the Roland, and even more disappointed by the Hart. But, you've never played an acoustic hat, so you really can't draw any comparisons between what a real hat feels like and what an electronic hat feels like. And it sounds as if you didn't try out the Roland or Hart hats before buying them. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been surprised.

Again, I don't mean to be difficult, but if you're a complete newbie to percussion (acoustic and electronic) and you're not doing your homework and checking stuff out before you buy it, I don't know how you can then complain about the feel of anything and blame any manufacturer for not living up to your expectations.

Hi,

I don't think the spirit of my post seems to have come over quite right.. I'm not blaming any manufacturer and never having played an acoustic kit I certainly don't complain about any lack of authenticity.. what I'm commenting on is that playing the hit hat always looked like it would be a lot of fun and I'm disappointed to find that it doesn't live up to my totally-without-reference-other-than-MTV expectations.

Playing the mesh heads is just what I expected and the CY-8 / CY-12RC are also easy to live with. But I just hate the "feel" of the CY-5 hi hat pad that comes with the TD-9 kit. Sorry.

Being a beginner, it's hard to know what you want before you get to play a bit and develop your own preferences. Messing around in a drum shop for a few hours with "Drums for Dummies" probably wouldn't help much either (even if I had the time to do so during opening hours); you just need to play a bit before you know what works for you.. besides the Hart Dynamics stuff isn't exactly easily available in Europe.. so you do buy pretty much "blind" via mail order.

I do hope they'll get back to me on how to set the whole thing up correctly for the TD-9 as the head/rim triggering problems just don't seem to go away no matter what I try settings wise.. or I've got the wrong end of the stick entirely. As a fellow ECymbal II HH owner and an experienced drummer, perhaps you can tell me what I'm doing wrong?

When I hit on the rubber pad bang in the middle between the edge and the centre this triggers a "head" or "rimshot" pretty much at random and when I hit a bit harder, the sound (even with the hit hat controller in the "open" position) is immediately chocked. It works fine with a gently tab!? My initial feeling was that I was probably choking the cymbal with the shoulder of the drumstick, but that's not it..

I'm not dissing Hart or indeed Roland, the CY-5 is cheap and the Hart Dynamics stuff is obviously not for beginners but for people who come for acoustic drums and miss the "authentic" feel; whether they have succeeded can be settled between slapit and yourself

I'm personally just looking to assemble a kit that feels "right" to me. Any help is appreciated.

['lectric drumma]

When I hit on the rubber pad bang in the middle between the edge and the centre this triggers a "head" or "rimshot" pretty much at random and when I hit a bit harder, the sound (even with the hit hat controller in the "open" position) is immediately chocked. It works fine with a gently tab!? My initial feeling was that I was probably choking the cymbal with the shoulder of the drumstick, but that's not it..

Have you checked your settings? Normally there is a small brochure included when you buy a Hart kit with "prefered" settings. Not sure about the TD-9, but no "offset" that needs to be set up correclty? You assigned the right pad in the module to the pad you are really using as well?

Just thinking...


Stijn