I don't know much about the newer models. I'm a big fan of the 60s and 70s Zildjians though.

For recording ..soft,quick,smaller cymbals can help in controlling the transients....for live, it all depends on who you're trying to deafen....the band or the audience.

Davedog wrote: For recording ..soft,quick,smaller cymbals can help in controlling the transients....for live, it all depends on who you're trying to deafen....the band or the audience.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

If you vote please explain why you think either way.

I vote Sabian.
The next time you are in a music store, look for the 16 & 18 inch Sabian AAX Dark Crash. Hit that compared to ANY Zildjian and you will see my point. Sabian cymbals are also cheaper, their cheaper cymbals are much better than than Zildjians too.

Any engineer or drummer should check these out. The Paiste Sound Edge hi-hats are by far the best hats I have ever heard. They do run at $422 a pair at Sam Ash, but they have the best sound of any hi hats ever in my opinion.

I picked sabian's because I wanted bright sound with a quick decay. My favorite cymbal on my kit though is a Istanbol 20" ride. I picked up used. It looks like crap but it sounds amazing, IMO. I try and pick a peice of my kit on sound and not who makes it. It just happened the sabian makes a cymbal with the sound I want.
Andrew

george745 wrote: I try and pick a peice of my kit on sound and not who makes it. It just happened the sabian makes a cymbal with the sound I want.
Andrew

Ditto. I have Zildjian Avedis 13" New Beat Hats (2 bottoms), an A-Custom 14" Fast Crash, a K-Custom 16" Studio Crash, and a 17" K Thin Crash (along with a 8" A and a 10" K Splash). I also have a Sabian 21" AA Rock Ride, or a Paiste 20" Sound Formula "Full Ride", or an old-school Avedis Zildjian 20" Medium Ride depending on my mood for the day :) . I also have a 22" Paiste 2002 China Type.

No rhyme or reason to my brand choices - I just go to the Cymbal Room at my local GC, and go at it until I hear something I like. I obvioulsy end up with more Zildjians, but I notice that like 50% of the Zildjians I hit sound "bad" to me? The ones that sound good are usually great, and I snap them up. If I can't find one I like (It has happened), I'll wait until the next shippment comes in, or ask to peek at the back-stock. If you are a regular customer, they should cater to you.

I also like Paiste's brightness, but I go through them too quickly. They can be a bit too "sizzly" at times.

PS - I also buy the $20 "Extended Warranty" from GC. This pretty much guaruntees that I will get a free cymbal every 18 months of so (I routinely crack my thin crashes in less than 24 months, but more than the Zildjian factory 1-year warrantry period). You simply drop off the cymbal at your local Mailboxes ETC/UPS Store, and the Warranty Company handles the packaging, shipping, and cuts you a refund check for exactly what you paid (minus the $20 warranty fee). Once you get the warranty check, Off to GC, and buy another cymbal (and add $20 for a new Extended Warranty). I have 1 or 2 cymbals that "rotate" in my setup to cover the downtime between dropping off the cymbal, and receiving the check in the mail. Probably saved myself about $500 so far, and I have 2 more Crashes waiting to be dropped off. PS - I'm a hard hitter - can you tell? I also play my kit about ~8-12 hours a week - so it sees a lot of use (also add other people play my kit at times).

:cool:

Zidjian Custom dark K's

I love the full sound of these cymbals

I have two, and am going to add a third

Sabian all the way.

I'm from New Brunswick, Canada and the worldwide factory is here! I was lucky enough to get a tour and go pick out some cymbals in the vault for winning a drum award, and man did I learn a lot.

First of all, the Sabian factory used to be a Zildjian one. This is where all the talented Zildjian people worked, and when the brothers split up and one incorporated the Sabian company.... all the workers stayed in New Brunswick and started working for Sabian! We're talking about people with 15, 20 and even 30 years of cymbal making experience. Zildjian had to go hire people off the street and train them after this. I believe, and logic also suggests that Sabians are made much better and the quality control is second to none.

Secondly, I was an avid Zildjian supporter until I put my A Customs up against the set of sonically matched ones I got at the Sabian vault. Wow. 20 A Custom ride... gonzos, insert 21" Hand Hammered Raw Bell Dry Ride, smile. :) 16" A Custom Crash...gonzos, insert 16" HHX Evolution! Etc, etc. The new cymbals sounded so much better. Got some AAX Fast hats as well, really changed the sound from the 70's Zildjian A's I had.

I found these cymbals actually make my kit sound nicer. I'm very happy with them, and the people that run the company are amazing. Overall, couldn't be happier that I'm a Sabian lover now. :)

A Zildjians rock

Still my favorite, after all these years. The A Zildjian line!!! I have tried a wide variety of cymbals over the years, but I have never had a bad Zildjian. I have had some good Paiste's (I use an old 20" Rude ride for recording sometimes), a few decent Sabians...but the Sabians don't hold up as well for me. Which is funny because my friend had the opposite happening! Sabians lasted, Zildjians broke! Go figure!!! An interesting side note...I read an article a few years ago about hearing loss in drummers. They found that more hearing loss occured in drummers using Sabians. I can say, the Sabians I've owned seemed to be more "cutting" in the high freq's. The cymbals that contributed least to hearing loss were hand hammered Zildjians...the K series I believe.

:D I'm glad to see this isn't completely Zildjian winning here. I voted Sabian myself, but I really like both. I use Zildjian hats just because I don't like the sound of ANY of the Sabian hats. I use Wuhan chinas and if you say they suck i'll break your hand. The only other China I've heard that sounds half good besides 18" wuhan chinas is the Zildjian oriental trash. On recordings Wuhans rule, and mine has lasted me a year now without cracking mostly because it's on a cymbal spring, and I don't really play that hard although it has getting worked pretty hard by other people. Every other china I've heard besides 18" wuhans and the zildjian oriental trash, has so many overtones and isn't musical at all.

Crashes, rides, and splashes I have to give it to sabian though. Except maybe for the Zildjian ping ride with the huge bell, that ride I love.

wuhan drumset cymbals

Has anyone tried wuhan's line of "drumset" cymbals? They make crashes, rides, hats, etc now...including a hand hammered line for ridiculous prices. I want to try them, but I'm scared they won't be durable, i.e. a waste of money! They sell a set of hand hammered, I think its 14" hats, 16" crash and 20" ride all together with a cymbal bag for like $320!!!

My current setup is perfect for me.

I have:

Zildjian A Custom Mastersound Hi-hats-in my opinion these are the best hi-hats on the market

Zildjian K Custom Dry Ride-OOOH SOOO GOOD.

Both of my crashes are Sabian AAXplosions-these are better than any crashes Zildjian puts out.

Someone mentioned 18" AAX Sabian dark crash as being killer - which is funny as that's the same one I picked from demoing all of their crashes on the Sabian web site... Of course I will have to see if it sounds that good in the store.

I use Zildjan A's (70's vintage) on my Rodgers or Ludwig kits which have a nice softer edge to them..

and Sabian AA on my Yamaha Recording Customs. They're all good - but I must say the AA's have a great focused, clean sound; the ride & HH's are just great. A few AAX splashes that are nice also..

Zildjian vs. Sabian

I really like my cymbals. I only have 1 set but I've gone through a few to get here.

Hats - (which I only like somewhat) - Sabian 13" AA Flat Hats brill.
Crash - 16" A Zildjian Thin (90s) brill.
Ride - 20" A Zildjian Medium-Thin (60s-70s) traditional.
Splash - 10" Sabian AA Splash (80s) brill.
China - 17" Zildjian K Custom China (00s)

I went through 3 crashes (by zildjian and sabian) several rides (by zildjian and sabian) 3 splashes (both brands) to find ones I am happy with and I had NEVER heard a china i liked until I struck this one at the music store.

I think the moral here is that a brand will not tell you which is better. I can tell you that Sabian cymbals are very well made and there are many that sound great. But there are also many (used) zildjian cymbals which sound excellent. I would recommend you go to every used music store you can and hit all their cymbals until you find some you like. They are all different. Zildjians of the same model and size can range from overly clangy to overly washy.. it completely variable.

Just listen! For the record I voted Zidjian since in general I find the sabians to be a little bit too "focused" for my liking - I'm all about the smooth wash.

Mike

I broke down and bought a Paiste Signature 18" Fast Crash last week. I went to my local GC, and I just couldn't find any Zildjian or Sabians that spoke to me (a first for me). I was close to buying a weird 16" Sabian crash that I had not heard of before, but it didn't happen.

This is my first Paiste purchase in ages, and I paid dearly for it (almost $300 worth :eek: ). It still has the Signature Paiste "brightness", but has enough "meat" to balance it out IMO. I think it will record nicely, and mix well with the K Custom's and A Custom's it is paired with. I also got the extended warranty, as I KNOW I will crack this bad boy soon enough :) . I know this cymbal will come off my kit when I'm not around (others use my kit at times).

:cool: