[gyutae]

What are the main differences between the two? Im thinking of getting a new cymbal pack and would like your opinion on the two. comparisons and contrasts? I'm especially interested in the differences between A Series New Beat HiHats vs A Custom Series MasterSound HiHats. I play mostly alternative, rock, and some gospel.

the As are great cymbals that are very versatile... the A Customs are also nice but not as versatile, given their very bright glassy sound..

i think the biggest difference lies in the hi hats.. the New Beats offer a solid tight chick sound which IMO are awesome.. the Mastersounds are more sloshy and bigger sounding which would probaly be better in a heavy rock/metal setting ..

[full metal]

I went got me a set of the Z customs about 7 months ago and I have to say I love those things and have had the notion of replacing most of them with the Z's.
I guess it really comes downt to what you are wanting to play, but the HH are great. I play in a band that right now that plays a little of every thing and they seem to blend in nicely unless you are using an open close sound on them and trying to play soft then they come out a little loud but other than that I love them.
When I was trying to choose what I wanted I looked in the zildjian book that is usealy right in front of the cymbals in a music store and found some of my favoret bands and looked at there set ups to see what they had that I liked to hear in their music and I basicly just mis matched from there.

	Zildjian Cymbals Shop for Zildjian Cymbals at Musician's Friend

[gyutae]

Zs are defnitely quality cymbals, especially for anything heavy that needs to cut through the music. For my style though, I prefer the A or A Customs as they are more subtle. I'd definitely consider adding a Z or 2 for variety tho

Originally Posted by full metal

I went got me a set of the Z customs about 7 months ago and I have to say I love those things and have had the notion of replacing most of them with the Z's.
I guess it really comes downt to what you are wanting to play, but the HH are great. I play in a band that right now that plays a little of every thing and they seem to blend in nicely unless you are using an open close sound on them and trying to play soft then they come out a little loud but other than that I love them.
When I was trying to choose what I wanted I looked in the zildjian book that is usealy right in front of the cymbals in a music store and found some of my favoret bands and looked at there set ups to see what they had that I liked to hear in their music and I basicly just mis matched from there.

gottta be careful with choosing cymbals based on audio recordings tho as I've found that cymbals used for recording and for live playing can sound quite different

	Zildjian Cymbals Shop for Zildjian Cymbals at Musician's Friend

[full metal]

I know what you mean about not just going off of a recording but sometimes I think that it helps.
It can be hard sometimes to find just that right sound in a store sometimes unless you know what you are going in there to get.
I guess I have been very lucky in one I got but sometimes Im not to happy with my A's but they do serve their purpose.
when ever I get my rack I might get some more Z customs. They just seem to have a very nice bright sound to them that just cuts thru the music and can be clearly heard over the guitars, which were I prctice with my band is a good thing.

Do you think it's possible for Z Customs to be too loud? Esp if i'm playing in an acoustic setting. I've never heard them before in a loud setting.

I also remember when Sabian had sound clips of their cymbals on their website for sampling. it was actually quite helpful in noting differences in sound.

	Sabian Cymbals Shop for Sabian Cymbals at Musician's Friend

[full metal]

Yea I always thought that they would be to loud in an acustis setting but I really try and stay away from those bands just for a prerence reson because I love to play rock.

Im not sure if they are doing it any more but musicans freind used to let you hear a sound bit on most of there cymbals but some times it wasnt as helpful as it could have been.