I Bought The CHEAPEST and MOST EXPENSIVE Steel Snare Drum on Amazon - Stephen Taylor & RDavidR
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
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I Bought The CHEAPEST and MOST EXPENSIVE Steel Snare Drum on Amazon
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As a drum teacher, one of the biggest drum related questions I get asked is about the cost of certain drums. Are expensive drums BETTER? Will cheaper drums work just as well? What defines a "better" sounding drum? For this video, I bought the cheapest 5.5" steel snare drum and the most expensive 5.5" steel snare drum on Amazon. An epic snare drum shoot out...and just for fun I brought along my good buddy RDavidR to help me test them out.
Check out David's channel here: / rdavidr
Watch his video on cheap vs expensive cymbals here: • Can You Hear The Diffe...
Check out my other video in this series:
I Bought The CHEAPEST and MOST EXPENSIVE Wooden Snare Drum on Amazon
• I Bought The CHEAPEST ...
Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite drum!
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Cymbals: Zildjian
Drums: Tama
Sticks: Vic Firth 5A
Heads: Aquarian
In Ears: Alclair In Ear Monitors
Lauten Microphones
Earthworks Microphones
► Start Your FREE StephensDrumShed Drum School Trial Here: bit.ly/2TpkJmJ
Subscribe or I will steal your cymbals: bit.ly/2AyH1Fb
As a drum teacher, one of the biggest drum related questions I get asked is about the cost of certain drums. Are expensive drums BETTER? Will cheaper drums work just as well? What defines a "better" sounding drum? For this video, I bought the cheapest 5.5" steel snare drum and the most expensive 5.5" steel snare drum on Amazon. An epic snare drum shoot out...and just for fun I brought along my good buddy RDavidR to help me test them out.
Check out David's channel here: ruclips.net/user/rdavidr
Watch his video on cheap vs expensive cymbals here: ruclips.net/video/rJfpnlPqwVE/видео.html
Check out my other video in this series:
I Bought The CHEAPEST and MOST EXPENSIVE Wooden Snare Drum on Amazon
ruclips.net/video/Bygsg4HTapU/видео.html
Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite drum!
Same as wine. A $10.00 bottle can taste as good as a $100.00 bottle.🍾
Great comparison!! The Yamaha Recording Custom isn't super-expensive compared to some other brands, so I think the Yamaha is a great option - as the price pays off in the end. I have the 14 x 5.5 Recording Custom Brass (so I'm slightly biased) - but this comparison put the Yamaha snare in a good light. They are fantastic snare drums for the money.
Most important to your sound is the wood the drums are made off even midrange drums will sound great. But like the old saying its not the drums it who playing the drums that make them sound good.
I subscribed hahaha know you can't touch my cymbals
Okay, I changed my mind. Ill play that cheap drum. No questions asked!
I'm with rdavidr.........but after the instructional portion of the video I made a quick bline back to 500.
yamaha got whooped i think on this one
I like the $50 one, perfect for metal honestly
But does it djent in 2023?
@@adderonit would be sample replaced.
I usually find that with some head changes and careful tuning you can make almost any drum sound reasonably ok. The biggest issue with cheap gear is durability.
just need to be creative.
The $500 drum is a ripoff. If you think the $50 one might break, just buy like 5 of them and you'll still have money left over.
I think your missing the point though...nether build quality of the Yamaha is far superior...and I’ll bet u if u gig that cheap snare it will be no good in no time... hardware falls apart... and strainer will end up letting u down...that’s why u pay more...for higher quality 🤷🏼♂️
@@scottapthorpe6172 I agree with both of you. 500 for a steel drum is overpriced but the Yamaha will last a lifetime.
That same track is annoying lol.
@@scottapthorpe6172 "Far superior" is a stretch. If it was that much superior you'd be able to hear a big difference. The cheap drum actually sounded better to me at some tunings. And having a drum that will "last a lifetime" is pointless when you can buy 10 of the cheap ones for the same price. And you'll never even get around to using all of those.I'd actually be willing to bet that if you used the cheap ones 1 at a time and replaced each one once every 5-10 years, by the time you were 80 the $500 one would be beat up and you'd still have several brand new cheap ones sitting in storage.
@@markcooperartcomofficial agreed
I actually love the cheap drum with the low-end tuning. It has a really big, open sound without too much sustain. The expensive drum just sounds too soft at that tuning without enough attack
I actually thought the cheap drum EXCELLED at the low tuning...better than the Yammy. The expensive one sounded better at the mid and high tunings, though it could have sounded more crisp IMO. Just goes to show how subjective a lot of this stuff is.
The more drum videos I watch, the more convinced I am that how good a drum sounds does not correlate with how much it costs, at all.
Usually the cheap ones has no straight edges and hoops, so it is really hard to tune.
That $50 sounds fantastic! Steel snares always sound great to my ears. They don't have too much ring in my opinion! 😀
Yeah... I think the biggest issue with cheap snares is the throw-off and the fact that cheap hardware makes frequent tuning necessary. Sounded pretty cool once you got it dialed in the best you could, but now it's a $100+ snare with the new heads and Puresounds.
omg yes, i was getting used to with cheap snare for most of my life that even now i use mid-high range snare i am always tighten the throwoff after every single song because of my years of trauma lol
In my opinion the drummer makes a lot of difference (there's a lot of subtlety in the rim shot and ghost notes), so I think for a fair comparison the same drummer should have played both drums. I understand it's a collab and both drummers should play, then I would have each one playing the both drums in the same tuning, and then swap drummers when they change tunnings.
This is exactly what I thought too.
That Lexington is actually pretty nice love the finish and sound.
What song is that? I think I’m in love
I would definitely say the Yamaha at the high tuning with perhaps a 1" wide strip of felt about 1/3 from the edge.
Some interesting advice I saw about snare drums: watch the used market, try some random drums here and there and something will surprise you.
Oh. Used is def the way to go.
@@StephenTaylorDrums And you never know exactly what result you'll get. I have a Ludwig acrolite and a Pearl Export snare drum. The acrolite mostly sits on the shelf.
My metal Pearl snare that I purchased in the 90s is really good!
The cheap drum sounds great, sadly at the price we all know it won’t last. Yamaha’s Stage Custom steel snare looks to be a steal at £130. It would be interesting to see that up against the $500 Yamaha.
My personal take.
$50 Snare:
Low: Sounds AMAZING for a church. I love how this drum through some light mixing just sounds so THICC
Med: Sounds great for more of a Rock/Pop context, still has that body but not as thicc
High: Great for a Jazz context. Not too much attack, but sounds very thin at the same time.
$500 Snare:
Low: Sounds very tinny, too ringy and needs a muffling, i would use an E Ring and some moongel to hold the ring in place.
Med: KILLER sound, there could be a touch more bark, just depends on the head you're using
High: I agree that this is the best overall treatment for this drum, it's like it was made for that specific sound.
I bought a Ludwig 402 a couple years ago because of the hype. I tried numerous heads and tuning I just did not like the way it sounded. Gave it away to my friends daughter. Music is very dynamic there is no right or wrong answer. I like the sound of the snare that came with my Pearl Export kit. Cymbals are a different story, you can't tune those. Paiste 2002 all day long. I just got a big beat 24 inch unbelievable sound. There are so many videos and information now people don't think for themselves anymore. Just my opinion.
The $50 snare, high tuning with the light mix audio kinda reminds me of Lars Ulrich's from the Saint Anger album
what is that "tuning technique" they are using at 4:06 with the stick under the snare wires?
Dude that’s crazy that a drum that price has ANY body, cheap drums seem to be impossible to squeeze any body out of in my experience. I have one relatively cheap drum that I got at basically a musical pawn shop, ended up being one of my favorite drums I’ve ever bought. It was some 13x5 pearl steel shell with 6 lugs I got for like $60, weird man!! But the crack on that thing is crazy and it’s super fun as an aux snare. Changed snares and both rims somewhere down the line so I put a little money into it (about $90 because finding 13” snare side hoop with 6 lugs was def a special order) but still worth it, one of my go to drums
The snare drum used on Third Eye Blind's debut album songs "how's it going to be?" as well as 'Losing a Whole Year' was an old 6.5x14 Pearl Export drum with a beat up PS3 Coated head on it. Killer sound on this record
Drummers go ga-ga over snare drums, while snare drums just go 'pop'. It is pretty easy to get a usable sound out of any snare drum, because they just go 'pop'. A cardboard box or a plastic bucket can serve the function of snare drum.
it's not just about tuning, the price also reflects durability. I have had all sorts of snares and at different prices, and some are falling apart, or have rusted, etc. while the more pricy ones are still here in great condition. So if you are willing to eventually throw away your money, then buy a cheap one.
100% agree
Great test guys but what you really proved was you can get exceptional sound from a much lower cost snare. An experienced drummer can buy a snare at a much lower price point and with some tuning have an incredible sound. In other words you don’t have to spend a fortune on a snare to have snare that sounds like it cost a fortune. Thank you!
I put a little rtv up under the top inside flange. That killed the nasty overtones.
See, I know everyone hates the overtones with rim shots but I think that's a fundamental characteristic of drums and such a beautiful tone that adds layers and texture to the tracks.
Again, that's just my personal opinion though and understand others mileage may vary.
I'm with you. I love overtones and once they get nested into the music, it gives it life. However, some overtones become distracting. In this case, we prob could have tweaked the tuning to accommodate the song if this were a real session for an artist.
@@StephenTaylorDrums oh most definitely and couldn't agree with you more. It's same principle of how I love a unmuffled and unported bass drum reso head.
Edited because I forgot to mention - despite what I love, the song might not call for it as much and I get that.
But even going back to what you said in your video, a little bit of muffling would of honestly probably been all you needed to.
Regardless, you rock man and appreciate all ya do for the drumming community!
This is why I say it's not about the drums it's about the drummer and finding that great sound
This is pretty surprising. I expected the cheaper snare drum to sound worse (perhaps only marginally) and be an absolute nightmare with stock heads and out-of-the-box tuning. But to me it sounds best on every tuning compared to the Yamaha, and the very first playthrough with stock heads just sounds amazing, albeit for specific occasions. I'm shocked.
Thanks for playing the same thing for each test.
I've always thought a drum just holds the heads and that's about it. I still think that. Tuning and heads are mostly the deciding factors. I think you can make any drum work ok.
In general, acoustic drums sound terrible anyway and they all need lots of processing.
I've been struggling all night with whether or not to spend $600 on a new Black Beauty, but honestly, I'm almost getting the sound I want for recording out of my $20 metal snare I found at guitar center with an Ambassador Vintage Coated head. Ha! I just... yeah. Have tried several heads on that thing and so far that's the one that "cracks" the most. Gotta try Controlled Sound and Genera Dry next! Also, been piling the mics on the snare. Just one SM57 on top could NEVER do it for me...
To be honest i love the sound of the $50 snare, live the crack and the ring out, you can keep you $500 snare!!
At high tuning, for $50 plus new heads, not a bad option at all. Def possible to play on a budget.
the 500 snare, mid tunning is closest to a bonham snare, the high pitch probably best for metal, rock songs.
Can you drop a link for that track you guys played to? It sounds doooope!!!
In the contest of the light-mixed solo sound, as the mics are placed and all, the 50$ would fit quicker in a studio environment.
As far as the MIX goes, both snares sound awful for the song.
Maybe the most usable could be the 50$ - medium... but... actually no, I would swap the snares around the first 10 seconds of take 1.
Great video !!!
What Ive heard extrem was a distort sounded on every hit on the cheap Version. The expansive one is holding the ton.
What I‘m interessted in, where is the break even when I doesn‘t have an effect to pay more money for an better sound?
this is honestly really fun to watch
Thanks Dimitri!
LoL. Cool vid. I liked the $50 snare at low and high tunings.
So you can get a decent sound out of a cheaper drum, if you put good heads on it and tune it right. BUT, I noticed that the tuning range with the higher-end drum is better. In addition, the poor hardware will make you work for it. Thank you for the video.
the cheap one sounded amazing at the lower tuning
I’m completely thrown how GREAT the $50 snare sounded.
Love the $50 at the high tuning
My spare snare drum is a very cheap, I got it for nothing, the Session pro snare is basic metal frame gives it one hell of a sound
sure, the cheaper drum had to have alot more effort into making it sound 'decent' ..but..when played with the music, it really cracked right through the mix! sounded gorgeous! ..the yamaha sounded great too, even tuned exactly the same at the high, but to me, didnt feel as 'present'..honestly i wanted to hear the rest of that song with that cheap snare! ..sorry to admit it, but it was almost inspirational!. anyhoo..just my personal opinion, no wars need rage over it. This is probably the 3rd video ive seen from u guys as i randomly click around on youtube, and I totally respect and appreciate what you guys are doing, *Hits that like and subscribe button*
Frankly, the cheap drum sounded better in each tuning. The low tuning was great, especially if you are trying for that 80s flat sound. Of course, upgrades to the hardware would be nice. The Yamaha is overpriced. The ring seemed to be a different note than the head, and a high tuning was almost St. Anger-ish. Better to get a Ludwig or Pearl for less.
i agree on all points
Whats the song that keeps getting used as the track?
Go for a compromise, get a yamaha stage custom for 150 (120 on sale) I doubt that it sounds that much worse than the RC.
Have y'all ever tested Spaun Drums?
Hi, Stephen! Who is the artist of that song?
Yeah this confirms exactly what i thought when i compared my cheapo no name snare to my teacher's Ludwig. They both sound great. The real difference was in the toms and the kickdrum.
the Lexington Steele offers a lot of bang for the buck
its funny how dave is holding the cheap snare lmao
What song are you using?
That $500 Yamaha should be $250 after this video. That crappy $50 did great for what it is. And recorded just fine.
I think the point that you don't have to have the best gear to sound amazing is very true. Like Stephen said, legend drummers play on crap gear it still sounds amazing....the whole thing of "better gear makes you a better player" I don't think is necessarily true.
$500 High Tune Light Mix reminded me of listening to the St Anger (Metallica) snare. Not near as bad harmonic ring though. I really think the snare ring is the worst!
Shaaat! I've been spending way to much money on drums!
Honestly, of the direct comparisons, $500 mid followed by $50 mid; then $50 low for me. Then the $50 out of the box. 😳
I think id go with the 50.
That cheap one sound lovely to me
What is this track !! I love it
Well there goes all the $50 snares on Amazon😂😂😂😂
that cheap drum sounded pretty amazing
You both play different, I'd would think it would be better if it was the same player for both drums. But what do I know ? 😁
Well you have confirmed what I think is true, it's all about the tuning and the player. A good player can tune a crappy drum to sound good. A beginner with an entry level drum can't tune a drum well, playing well and tuning drums to sound good both take time. Also, good quality drums, especially Gretsch (not snare drum) will sound good at various pitches. Cheap drums have a very limited tonal range where they sound good. If your're good you can pull your sound out of a cardboard box.
$50 one kinda sounded better to me tbh. High tuning on $500 sounded good though
Honestly the tuning that you call mid is the low tuning. Your high tuning is mid. So you would have to tune the heads a little tighter for a true high tone.
The cheap drum was maxed out. That was about as high as we wanted to crank that hardware for fear of it breaking. The yamaha was cranked pretty high. We had 3 drummers there and we all weighed in on the tunings before we recorded.
Both sounded better without the Aquarian heads.
The "cool" sound of the cheapest cymbal is for the mics. I think we need to hear a raw audio for a better comparison. The only way to hear the real raw sound is without the mic or rec a low quality video.
I think the cheap one is a budget marching snare 😂
Lexington!
I'm glad you made the comment about how much more work, knowledge and experience it took to get the cheap one to sound good. You made it sound fantastic!
This highlights to me the importance of your local drum shop. You can go there, play them all and get advice from the staff. Once, I went shopping for a snare to be played mostly with brushes. I went with a price-limit of $400 and left with a $200 snare. The more expensive ones were gorgeous, but the one I bought fit my needs, my personality, and it came to life under the brushes. I played half the snares in the store before making my choice -- something you can't do on Amazon!
4:44 Title song please
Low tuning on the cheap snare 😍
That black snare looks sexy
Wait you 2 guys know each other😂
You set up both snares the same and then two different players.
Yea, that was the one thing I wasn't super keen on. We discussed it but decided to go ahead the way it was filmed.
The cheap snare at the low tuning!? 🤯 Super fat and soulful!
Not a fair comparison of you're using two different drummers. I'd still go with the Yamaha.
Yes, we talked about that being the one variable that is not constant before we started. It's still a valid comparison though. We all realize a different drummer may hit slightly different, but not enough to make this an invalid comparison. But yes, I agree...to do a 100% bullet proof blind test, same player plays both. Since it was a collab, we bent the rules.
Throw some nice heads on a cheap snare and your golden
I like sound 50$ snare
CAN I GET A HEART...SIR
LOVE FROM INDIA...
❤
Thanks for watching my friend!
cheapo snare kills actually. thanks!
I like playing cheap gear to prove the point that the tone is really a result of the the person- how they tune to how they play to how they EQ, ultimately I think a bigger percentage of the sound is because of the person and context than the quality of the instrument a lot of the time. If it’s doesn’t go out of tune then almost anything is usable. This logic also is convenient being broke as hell
I wold buy the cheap drum just because its name ist Lexington Steel snare drum.
Both sounds same even before head change
i think there's a level of diminishing returns for quality. over about 300 bucks for any one drum is a bit much IMO. same with pedals and hardware. after that it's more about appearance and specific features.
Somethings wrong why David didn't try the 500$ dollar snaire???
In 1974 I was ten years old. My Grandparent's bought me a brand new "Ludwig" chrome superphonic snare drum for $75.00 at "Sam Ash" the one "John Bonham" played. I had it for over fourty years and it sounded great!
Lucky you! Supraphonic now cost a lot! 😅
$75!
2 yrs ago I sold a 1969 blue olive badge, 6.5" supra for almost $1k to a guy in Japan. It sold in less than an hour on Ebay.
My uncle got a Ludwig acrolite for free like 15 years ago. It sounds so good.
Yeah I bought a Ludwig Black Magic for around 300 and it's absolute garbage... times have changed😥
The cheap snare definitely has a bunch of extra top end ring, and a bit of a thinner mid-range., but totally usable. After doing some shopping for lugs, throw-offs, and snare strainer butt plates - I'm not entirely surprised that the hardware is super solid and slick on the Yamaha snare. The hardware portion of expensive drums make up like 75-90% of the cost of the drum.
True, them damn lugs n such!
Over about 50 years of drumming, I have owned dozens of snares and presently have 4. One of my favorites is a cheap lightweight 13" Yamaha Rydeen. I used to be kinda embarrassed to use it but dam it sounds really good. My main snare is a Ludwig Supraphonic. Its super solid and heavy, all the workings and mechanistic features are precise and reliable. Regardless of sound quality, being reliable is what , for me, substantiates the price.
I own a Ludwig Classic Maple, Gretsch Bell Brass and a Supraphonic. I prefer my Supraphonic the majority of the time.
Rydeen Snares have a great cross-stick sound!
I love the ring tone. Gives a snare an organic sound vs. a boring cliche "studio" sound. To me, the best snare sound was the $50 mid-tune. Sounds a lot like my 1980's TAMA steel snare. Great video!
DrumFactoryDirect also has a variety of affordable throw-offs in the $10-$20 range, including Ludwig P85 style. Assuming the holes line up, that would also be an economical upgrade. $50 drum + $28 in hoops + $15 throw-off = $93 snare drum that sounds great. PLUS, add $1 in cotton balls to quiet the springs in the lugs.
Ludwig p87 throw off arm? I literally can’t find it anywhere, ghost part
@@ryangroom2959, The actual part number is P-88. It's Ludwig's newest throw-off design. I have one on my Classic Maple snare & I'd highly recommend it!
@@alexvanbergeijk609 no not the p88 I’m looking for the throw off arm for a p87, I have a 1958 Ludwig super classic snare with a transition badge but I can’t turn the snare on and off, they’re either always on, or always off
For $50 dollars, that’s a great sounding snare! I think I’m gonna buy it lol
Plus ~$100 in new heads and snare wires ?
@@DrRusty5 Better than $500 for a drum that's sounds exactly the same or worse imo.
Also why the hell are you paying $100 for heads and wires? At most that's $50. You're getting ripped off lol.
@@mpk6664 OK, well I was making a quick estimate from prices from my head in £(UK).
Looking closer at the heads they used in £ and the snare wires that cost in the region of £50 (note UK so this inc Taxes). That currently converts to ~$66 (which is more than the $40 you suggest). The UK night well be a "rip off" if in the US you can get it all for $40 (~£30).
So ok not quite $100 but doubling the price of the cheap snare.
@@DrRusty5 Does the UK have physical music stores like the US's guitar center? If so, you might be able to cut a few quid(is that right? Lol) off.
@@mpk6664 I strongly expect that wouldn't be the case, for the same heads - online prices are usually better or equal to in store prices in the UK. Of course there might be cheaper heads available but how cheap do you go before it isn't worth replacing the naff stock heads?
Great video. I constantly change the tension depending on the venue and even change it in the middle of a set for certain songs. I was surprised at how much better the cheap snare sounded at different ranges and I think I might be buying one (with new heads and strainer) just to try it out. Also, I was disappointed at how sloppy the Yamaha sounded at times. The over tones sounded a bit weird to me.
I was surprised how good the 50 quid drum sounded. That being said. When you guys started the 500 one.. The sound body is like damn... Way different. It sounded way better at any stages. But I can say the 50 is way cooler than anyone could think I guess.
It almost seems half the problem is that drums always ship with less than ideal heads. It would be great if you could say get the bare shell a little cheaper knowing you will have to add your own preferred heads and perhaps snare wires. Of course for the manufacturers the cost of heads etc. is probably very little to the overall cost and makes little sense for the $50 snare.
Only an idiot plays with shipped heads.
I immediately get a Remo ps3 or 4
Standard heads are garbage
There are so many other aspects to consider. Does it stay in tune? Does the snare make noise when you are not playing but other instruments are? Does the throw break well? If you want a lot of ring or snap buy a piccolo snare and not one that deep. A lot of personal preference here. Also, a mic’d snare on a recording sounds totally different than a live one. However, loved this comparison side by side. Just like golf clubs don’t make the game better. Either you know how to play and tune one or you don’t. I’ve seen awesome guitar players make a $10 guitar sound awesome.
Loved it and enjoyed the comradery! Lots of excellent points made in the comparison.
Great comparison! The $50 held its own pretty well. But I know the pain of horrible throw-off hardware and fighting wire tension xP so definitely not a drum for me lol
That cheap snare actually sounds pretty damn good 😲