So i am going to be recording my band soon and my drummer has some sabian stuff i wanted your opinion on. He has a sabian aax stage crash 16'', aax stage ride 20'', aax stage hat 14'', and my guitarist has an aa crash/ride 18'' that my drummer is going to borrow. I just wanted to know if these (or any one of them) can sound professional, because i have never recorded these specific cymbals before. Any clips you guys have of these or suggestions for overheads? i was thinking about trying to borrow a pair of c214s.
Have you used these cymbals? and overhead suggestions
- Thread starter tk7261
- Start date
Sure, those are professional series cymbals. The AAX would be most equivalent to Zildjian A Custom and the AA to the Avedis line. I haven't specifically tried that ride but you might want to spot mic it if your drummer plays on it a lot. The A Custom rides tend to get buried in a mix when the crashes are being hit in the same measure. I'd imagine the AAX line would be similar, but I could be wrong. I've only used AAX crashes and chinas.
FrankTheSmith
Member
- Apr 20, 2013
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What kind of music is it? Just my opinion but 16" crashes are just too small to be consistently crashed on. Sabian's aren't my cup of tea, but the AAX line sound pretty good.
RedDog
Humanoid typhoon
Huge cymbals 20 and above sound shit to me in the room, but I suppose that's the room you want to worry about.
EDIT: Borrow son NT5s.
EDIT: Borrow son NT5s.
DullElysium
Member
I love my aax sabians. I don't know why but i rather use my 14" crash than my 16".. Maybe I'm insane?
Anyways, good cymbals. Atleast pleasing to my ears that is.
Anyways, good cymbals. Atleast pleasing to my ears that is.
I love 16" crashes. I've tried to replace it multiple times, but the 16" A Custom has remained the main crash on my set for ~4 years. I can't go any smaller than that though, everything I've owned at 15" or lower was just way too thin and high pitched to be used for anything more than something I'd hit at the end of a fill.
MatrixClaw- thanks for the info ill definitely keep that in mind. and the one cymbal is a crash/ride so if the aax is getting too buried we can try the aa out and see how that works.
FrankTheSmith- we are playing hardcore with other stuff mixed in. high gain most of the time. some of my mixing/production insparation is killswitch engage and defeater. and the aa crash/ride is 18'' if that would maybe work better.
how do the nt5s compare to the c214s and c414s? ive used c214s many times and was very pleased in the past, but that was mainly for indie stuff and this is going to be really high gain and in drop C.
should i try to borrow someone elses crash just in case neither of the two we have work? im mostly worried that when there is a part with consistent crashing there will be no definition between hits and they will all wash together with no attack. but i have heard that the aax 16 stage crash die down pretty quickly after they are hit.
FrankTheSmith- we are playing hardcore with other stuff mixed in. high gain most of the time. some of my mixing/production insparation is killswitch engage and defeater. and the aa crash/ride is 18'' if that would maybe work better.
how do the nt5s compare to the c214s and c414s? ive used c214s many times and was very pleased in the past, but that was mainly for indie stuff and this is going to be really high gain and in drop C.
should i try to borrow someone elses crash just in case neither of the two we have work? im mostly worried that when there is a part with consistent crashing there will be no definition between hits and they will all wash together with no attack. but i have heard that the aax 16 stage crash die down pretty quickly after they are hit.
Loren Littlejohn
Lover of all boobage.
AAX cymbals: good.
Size: fine.
AKG C214: excellent.
Also: no idea how others feel about this but Wuhan chinas are actually fantastic. The rest of the stuff they make is garbage though, I don't think I have ever heard a crash that lacked any sort of notable attack in my life before. haha
I would personally prefer another 18" crash myself in that setup, but if it works for what you are doing then go with it.
Size: fine.
AKG C214: excellent.
Also: no idea how others feel about this but Wuhan chinas are actually fantastic. The rest of the stuff they make is garbage though, I don't think I have ever heard a crash that lacked any sort of notable attack in my life before. haha
I would personally prefer another 18" crash myself in that setup, but if it works for what you are doing then go with it.
The StabbinCabin
Member
AA is not the equivalent to Avedis at all. Avedis and A series (not custom) are badass. AAX will be brighter than the AA but it depends on the application. If your drummer crashes on his ride, I'd try either of them out and use what sounds best to you. The only thing I wasn't a fan of (for recording) were the hats and the standard rides. Only exaggerated way I can put it is that they sound like nicer heavier B8s. Just weird overtones on the ride. Crashes and chinas sounded fine. I've gotten great results with a SM58 spot micing XS cymbals on hat and ride so yeah.
^Wut? The Sabian AA line is the closest in sound to the A series, just like AAX is similar to A Custom. Obviously the two lines have differences, but for the most part, you could replace a standard version of a Zildjian A 18" crash with a standard 18" Sabian AA crash and get pretty close. The place where the AA line outshines the A series is in their Raw Bell Dry Ride. Probably one of the best rides ever made IMO, though Zildjian has them beat on hihats with their New Beat line and others, which can be picked up dirt cheap used.
Strachan of D
resident dyslexic
Russtopher
Member
AAX cymbals are fine, I've used them live and recorded for years with no issues. I will say, though, that the AAX Stage hats can sound a little "clanky", for lack of a better phrase. For me, I'm with MatrixClaw - nothing can top a pair of Zildjian New Beats.
I also agree on the comment about the ride being washy, if you want a nice dry "ping" out of it, experiment with very small strips of electrical tape underneath. Just enough to pull back some of the ringing overtones you'll get out of it.
I also agree on the comment about the ride being washy, if you want a nice dry "ping" out of it, experiment with very small strips of electrical tape underneath. Just enough to pull back some of the ringing overtones you'll get out of it.
The StabbinCabin
Member
Fuck typing on cellphones jfc
AA, Avedis and A series all sound and play different ime. Obviously similar but still different, to me at least.
But I do agree the AA dry bell it badass
AA, Avedis and A series all sound and play different ime. Obviously similar but still different, to me at least.
But I do agree the AA dry bell it badass
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