Snare Drumhead Comparison | Finding Your Own Drum Sound 

What’s your favorite drumhead on your Snare 🥁?

If Remo had explained it like you guys just did, their sales would increased 3 times or more. This is a great explanation for both new and seasoned drummers… thank you

7:03 Ambassador 7:09 Ambassador Clear 7:15 Emperor 7:22 Controlled Sound (Dot) 7:28 Powerstroke 3 7:34 Pinstripe

I just love the Controlled Sound so much, even on a entry level matching snare, with the right tuning, it can make wonders.

You guys consistently have high quality, well produced content. Well done

This video is quite honestly the best I’ve seen in snare drum head comparison’s. They were all put onto an aluminum drum. It would be nice to see this done on a wooden snare, as well if that hasn’t been done yet. Thanks for posting!

recently switched over to ambassadors on my toms, and the difference is just night and day. with those heads you can almost make toms sound like timpani. just a wide open, massive sound

Very very helpful! Thank you for the video. I like how well organized and clear it explains the differences.

Powerstroke3 has been my go-to snare batter for many years. Die cast hoops and Masshoff tuning method for the ability to go from low to high and ringy to dry with a few turns of a tuning key.

Just came across your channel. Thank you for the time you put into this. As a new drummer, but also very snobby guitarist.. this is EXACTLY what I needed.

Great video! The Ambassador (the coated / single ply one) sounds like butter. I also like the dotted one.

Best video about drum heads i’ve ever seen. Very interesting features. You guys should make a video like this one with evans drum heads as well! Great job!

My personal favorite snare top head is the powerstroke 77. You should definitely include it in a video in the future because it has a very unique timbre.

Right now I'm working with a power stroke on a 6.5 deep snare. Was working with a clear pinstripe on a 5" deep snare. Taking some getting used to that deep powerful sound. Plus the 5 is metal and the 6.5 is Maple. Both sound good to me. Just real different. Thinking about using both by putting one or the other to the left of the high hat.

For my low volume jazz playing which includes lighter weight sticks and brushes, I use the Remo Ambassador Renaissance batter and resonant heads on my 5" x 14" mahogany shell snare drum (Gretsch 30" bearing edge). These heads are excellent for light and distinct brush sounds. For my higher volume playing jazz and light pop and classic rock playing which includes heavier sticks and brushes, I use Ambassador coated batter head and Ambassador clear/hazy snare head on my 6" x 14" maple shell snare drum (Gretsch 30" bearing edge). These heads are also great for brushes but work better in bigger venues. Obviously, the size, type of shell and bearing edges affect my choice for each type of venue. Wonderful description. I wish your info was available back when I started out as a professional jazz drummer back in the early 70's.

Searched this kind of video for a long time. Thx

Great video which I found really helpful, think you've sold me on the emperor double ply. Love that crisp sound, and favouring hard rock/metal drumming myself the added durability is very welcome!

thanks for showing love to the clear ambassador. Not many people know the clear ambassador for the snare gives the snare so much crack tuned high , its the best snare head ive use. couldnt be any happier! great review

May sounds weird but every snare as is own best drumhead, my go to is the Remo ambassador coated , but sometime, it's a Remo CS, a emperror , a Evans G1 or a Ludwig weathermaster medium. Depends on the shell material, tickness and depth. Usually i go trough 5 snare head with various tuning to find the sweetspot ! Great demo guys.

Great video. I learned a lot from this. Thanks for sharing this

Great idea ! Very educational. Keep up the awesomeness.

Great explanation of each and well done with the structure too (meaning tuning each to the same level and having each played after their explanations and then also having the direct comparisons)! I use Evans myself and specifically use hydraulic heads for my toms. Just to experiment I tried a hydraulic head on my DW Edge snare drum. It was quite different from the coated heads and predampened (reverse power dot) type heads I've tried in the past. Fun experiment and good sound but not nearly as versatile as actual snare heads.

Great stuff - love the direct comparison demo! The classic Ambassador then the Powerstroke to my ears 👏

AOD, terrific video and content description of various REMO batter heads for Snares. I'm a 71 yo, resurrected drummer, playing again after 50 years[1969]. I play for retirement enjoyment / hobby at home , no Gigs (yet!!). I have a DW Design Series 14 X 6.5 Nickel over Brass Snare drum and a PDP Concept Maple 14 X 5.5 Snare (part of my PDP 6 drim Kit). The DW was purchased USED an it came form the previous owner with a HD Dry batter head. It sounded great, right out of the delivery box. A few months ago, I replaced the HD dry with anew HD dry head. I cannot achieve the same sound, either too "cracky" or too choked. I re-installed the reso head, re-installed the snare wires, and re-installd the Batter heads. Tuned and re-Tuned. CI tried a UV1 and a UV2 - NG. I did stumble upon a "weird" hack. I placed the DW snare on top of my 16" Floor Tom one day to get the drum out of the way. Doing a fill, I hit the DW snare - and Bingo !! That was the Ludwig Supraphonic - John Bonham sound. Take the drum off the Tom, not the same. If I play the DW in the snare stand, it is not the same sound. I posted this on various drum forums, and posters have responded by saying I'm palying two drums simultaneously or I may have invented a new Snare Stand!!. I'm tempted to try the Remo Emperor head? BTW, it was the same response on the PDP Maple snare too. Any thoughts??

Depends on the drum. Still love the regular old coated Ambassador. Also love the Fiberskyn Diplomat. Coated CS is great, as well.

You forget the Emperor X. This is my favorite for now. Not a long time ago my fav was Pinstripe. But with metal snare it’s too high

Controlled sound sounds absolutely amazing I’m real life. If your going for the perfect amount of overtones with excellent tones with (arguably the best durability).

Excellent explanations !! Great video. Thank you !

Awesome video, great comparisons 🤙🏻

Remo definitely has to owe you guys royalties for the sheer number of heads potentially sold due to the expert presentation, high production value and amazing drumming in this video. Hands down, the best product demo/comparison vid i've seen...youtube or otherwise!

Very informative thank you great sounding demo! Nice Job!!!

I'm not a drummer but I'm an aspiring producer. For the 80s inspired sound I'm going for I liked the Empreor the most! Not much ring if not at all and letting the reverb do the sustain. For stuff like alt rock or math rock I loved the Ambassador Clear, and for most metal I think the Pinstripe will work well :)

Great vid . i liked The coated pinstripe and that groove !!

Remo Coated CS is how I roll. Very versatile snare head✌

I have tweaked on bottom and top head brands on every part of a drum kit. Remo is All around the best with Sounds, Tuning, Durability and taking Abuse if you are the "Brick Layer" type drummer. And Evans has a few good all-around tasty ones too. But Remos never disappointed me once.

Thank you for this. So informative for snare batter head shopping. My favourite has always been the Coated Ambassador. When I say always I mean over 40 years. It's been the industry go to but there are so many choices now. I still use the Ambassador but I add the Evans rings to dampen the sustain for playing in pubs.

Well done as always! Thanks and Blessings!

Awesome thx man! Now it will be easier to decide what snare head to purchase!

Very interesting..most useful to have a direct comparison on the same drum at same tuning. My favorite of this group is the Emperor. One type of snare drum batter head not reviewed is the 'faux calf' type heads..like Remo Fiberskyn and Evans '56 Calftone. I have an Evans '56 Calftone head on a wood shell 5 x 14" snare drum and it is perfect the venue I use it in..a church praise band. Great for jazz too.

I love the coated ambassador X, classic warm sound with more durability. Also love the coated cs real crisp with just enough overtones, I hated the pinstripe I bought once years ago, only good thing that lifeless head had was durability. That's it. I have never played an emperor snare head and I am curious to try it out. I also read of a great drummer who records rock with super thin diplomat heads, just plays one song and replaces them every studio day!

He Looks like a captain from the German soccer team!...and for sure he knows how to tune a snare drum!!! Great video, helped a ton!

I like the coated pinstripe on that drum

Thank you. Great video. Love mine Coated Emperors on all drums for that nice vintage sound.

Excellent, thousands of thanks for this work !

My personal favorite is the ambassador coated or an Evans G1 coated. With these heads I can get the wide open sound or if I want a more focused sound I can use Drum Dots or Drum Rings depending on the room or the amount of muffling I need.

I love this videos, they’re super useful!

Most appreciated. This video is all in all very helpful. I never know what heads to get.

This is the best comparison video I've seen!

I think my favorite drum shell for both live and recording, has to be the aluminum shell. I've heard many different brands and even though there are obvious differences between different depths, they all sound great for their respective sizes. For me, the perfect head for snare is the controlled sound coated black dot..This snare with the black dot coated is a perfect, all around and versatile snare sound.

excelent, clear and simple , you roll!

I'm quite a hard hitting drummer and I absolutely love the coated ambassador! Every time I try something else I go back to it, I just love it's throaty crack LOL Best head in my opinion

Great video comparison-I like the CS and ambassador-that slick bass drum, though!👍

Thanks for the comparison. I am starting my study on drums, and I want to understand the difference between all the drum set elements to take the best step in buying my first one. I will keep an eye on your channel because it looks exactly what I want. Thanks!!!

Well done! Remo Ambassador coated here!

Thanks for this really useful video.

I mentioned this on another of your videos but man, I changed the way I hear snare drum sounds as I played longer. I used to hate the overtones from the snare but now I absolutely love hearing the difference of my steel Sensitone snare vs my 12 ply Maple Masters Custom snare. When I get a bronze or brass shell, I think my snare drum collection will be complete. (Until I want aluminum or titanium! Lol)

This is the best video ever. Thank you very much dude!!!

The single ply coated Ambassador all the way (for my toms too)! Have tried many heads in the past on my Sonor Champion (+ Sonor snare 5x14 and my Supra 6.5x14), but kept coming back to it... since some 20 years now I have stuck with it and have never looked back. I love the way it sounds and how it plays... the way the sticks feel when I play Ambassadors - the responsiveness. I like the openess and I love the ring and when it's too much for the occasion there's nothing a piece of tape or my wallet or hanky can't fix. Great video, as usual!

Thank you very much for that great comparison of REMO snare drumheads. Please do another with EVANS drumheads and at last a comparison with snare drumheads from both manufacturers. Thank you! With regards from Germany!

this is very helpful, thanks!

Really enjoyed the vid. Im looking to change heads on my snares, this really helped. Keep up the good work 👍👍👍👍

Really helpful. Thank you.

Great and very informative

I have a coated hydraulic snare head (that is a 2 ply with mineral oil sandwiched between the layers) that I really love for rock. Then I have an extra thick single ply I use for jazz. Both are Evans.

Great informative video!

Perfect explanation thank you

Love the controlled sound. Have you tried the Evans Genera HD Dry Drumhead? I want to try this next.

I’m liking the coated, pre-dampened Power Stroke 3!

Very good in my boxes, I've already used emperror skyntone controlled sound ambassador

Dude. So good. Ty!!

I found the Power Stroke 3 a good option if you intend to play a wide variety of styles. As a single ply the overtones are close to the classic Ambassador, but the added damping around the edge means you can get much more controlled sound with lower tunings etc.

this video is the perfect format of a comparison, my only observation is that on the overhead takes, tue use of ring shot accentuates more the shell and makes it hard to tell the difference between them

Great video. Thanks!

I hope you are getting free drum heads for life from REMO. You deserve that for this great informative video.

best video about remo snare drumheads.. i prefer the controlled sound coated..;)... it's good at funk, reggae even in hardcore..

Best drum video of all time.

I've been playing with the same snare head for at least 4 years now, still sounds good

Emperor coated or controlled sound is the way to go thanks for sharing this video

I never understood the differences of these drumheads and I just knew I like remo over evans. This helped so much you explained it really well.

Very Well Instructed!!!!

Saludos desde México 🇲🇽 el controlled sound es mi favorito 👍🏼

Thanks, great tips

This came just in time cuz I'm planning to change mine

Waw, I love the double drum heads, it's gives nice sounds

I put a PowerStroke 3 in my snare and with just tunning it sounds great, didn't have to put any muffle

Good content, I'm sending this video to my drummer

very good comparison.thank you.

Great very useful, thanks

Nice info. You guys should make a video on how the bottom (response) head of a snare drum can change all those factors too. I used to place an ambassador coated for an open tone paired with a thicker response head. It controled the excesses very well without having to use muffles or special top heads.

Liked most - emperor; disliked - pinstripe. Really great videos, guys! Thanx so much!

that emperor coated sounds really great😋

Great video

It’s a case of which is best for you, so there’s a spectrum of appeal, maybe demonstrate or mention ghost notes in a similar way to brushes, subtler techniques might fail on an inappropriate drumhead. I use a coated Ambassador for its response and feel, that is without compression into a triggered sound-alike, tonal envelope.

evans hd dry is definitely my favorite snare head same with the evans hybrid

As far as your test goes. i liked the 1st and last. Ambasador and pinstripe. But i also like clear for toms.

I noticed that you didn't talk about the powerstroke 4. Because I have have one for my '13 soundpercussion snare drum and it's great. Even though right now two of the lugs on the snare are broken but it makes a nice really low old school snare drum sound

Different heads for different drums and uses. For my very "standard" 5x14 maple, I go with a very "standard" ambassador. For my 6.5x14 steel snare, I use a powerstroke to tame the overtones a bit. For my 5.5x14 hammered steel drum, I use an ambassador X which gives it a little more durability and slightly dryer sound than a standard ambassador. I generally advise people to consider the ambassador as a benchmark and then decide how much and what type of overtone control and durability they need, and go heavier accordingly.

Ive been using a genera dry on my snare and it cuts out a lot fo the ring its pretty sick for recording loud snares that ring too much!

You make great videos 👍

Nothing beats the coated ambassador for any type of music.