Evans Hydraulic Drum Heads - B14HBG - Drum Head with Layer of Oil - Supresses Unwanted Overtones - Ideal for Rock, Metal, & Funk - Black, 14 Inch

Review of the Evans Hydraulic B14HBG The Evans Hydraulic B14HBG offers a notably fat and deep tone right out of the box. With two plies of film and a thin layer of oil sandwiched between them, the head suppresses unwanted overtones and sustain, which means you get a tighter, more controlled sound. It works especially well for rock, funk or any style where you want punch and clarity rather than long, ringing sustain. Many drummers say it’s ideal for setups where excess ring or ambient noise is a problem. In terms of sound quality, this head delivers a strong attack and focused mid-low frequencies. The short decay means your hits are defined and crisp, making it great for live settings or recording where you want the snare to sit well in the mix without bleeding too much. Because the overtones are suppressed, the sound is less “washy” and more direct. If you tune it slightly higher you can still get a good crack, and if you tune lower you’ll lean into the fatness of the tone. On the flip side, if you prefer a very open, ringing, ambient snare sound (as you might for jazz or more experimental styles), you might find this head a little restrictive. When it comes to ease of use, this head is pretty straightforward. The construction helps you get a usable tone faster than some more finicky heads. Because it’s designed to dampen things internally (with that oil layer), you don’t always need extra external muffling or dampeners unless you want extra control. It holds its tuning reasonably well and is durable. That said, some users mention that tuning it on the very low end of the tension scale requires a bit more effort to avoid it sounding “dead” or too muffled — so you’ll want to spend a little time finding the sweet spot for your shell and resonant head combo. On build and durability, the head is solid. The double-ply film gives it tougher durability than single-ply heads, and the coating helps with both tone and wear. For heavier players or for rigs that see regular gigging, this is a plus. One small caveat though: because part of the sound comes from that oil layer, some drummers suggest the character can fade if the head gets very worn or heavily dented — so keeping an eye on batter wear matters. Overall, my verdict is that the Evans Hydraulic B14HBG is a very strong choice for drummers who want a snare head with punch, focus and minimal unwanted ring. If your kit has a snare that tends to ring out too much, or you’re doing recording/live work where control matters, this head will serve you well. For your own gear setup (since I know you’re into audio gear and recording) this would be a worthwhile upgrade if you want more definition and less ambient fuss.

Got for my piccolo snare, love it so far, taking a beating and still sounded great for slam/nintendocore

Out the door, I just want to state I am not a professional drummer. This is a hobby, it’s fun. So I don’t really know HOW “GOOD” this head is. You can read lots of different stuff online and folks will argue about it for days on end… I’ve been playing with this for about two weeks now. I replaced a stock Ludwig coated snare batter head with it. This seems rock solid. The color is beautiful, was torn between the black and red but opted for red on the snare. I still have my Ludwig stock resonant head on the bottom, using a drum dial I’m at like ~90 on top, ~80 on the bottom. There’s definitely some overtones but this thing has a serious crack to it. It sounds way better than the stock head did, and honestly, less overtones. I’m muffling with either a microfiber cloth or a big fat snare drum donut depending on the song I’m playing (some 70’s stuff calls for an insane dead snare). If you’re worried about whether or not it’s “too dead”, I can assure you it’s not. I think if I knew really what I was doing with tuning I could make it sound super dead, but to my ears, the way I have this set I like. Will definitely be replacing all heads down the road with more hydraulics (batters at least, unsure on reso heads). They fit amazingly and I think the price is pretty fair considering I likely won’t need to change them out too frequently, they are really tough.

This is one of Evans' best products. The concept of dampening built into the head itself is genius. The matte finish is so badass. It tunes very easily, and produces incredible sound. This head was made for heavy hitters and will stand up to a beating. It contains Evans 360 ring technology to ensure evenness of tuning, which makes a big difference especially on older drums that may be slightly warped. I'm still getting a bit too much ring and more overtones than desired, but that's because of the drum itself, not because of the head. This head doesNOT need more external dampening. Any more and it would completely deaden the sound and tone completely. My poplar 14x5.5 drum is 13 years old, and has always been stubborn to tune and get the right sound from no matter what different heads I've used. This head is brilliant, and I highly recommend it. 5/5

This has been one of the best ones I’ve used. I play between medium and hard and this has lasted me more than 3 months so I’ll be keeping this one as my everyday.

Updated 17Jul15: I have a great sound coming from this head now. So good I documented everything. My hope is that when this head is used up I can recreate the same sound. I added a PureSound Super 30 snare wire to the snare and used 2 moon gel dampers to remove the resonant overtone (see below) that was annoying and this head is perfect as of today. Another improvement in addition to the sound, is the playing area with consistent sound is almost 9 inches now and does not vary with the velocity of the hit (see below). So in summary, personally, I could not get the sound I wanted without additional "things" and effort. But now I have that sound, and consistency with it I am happy. I will add too that the head is solid and feels good to play loud or soft. For rim clicks/cross sticking make sure you get the end of the stick 2-3 inches past the rim. The thickness/fluid of the hydraulic head can muffle the sound some (vs. a clear or coated head). Previous:There's a lot to like, not sure about love yet. For me I am finding this head is most responsive and sounds great when you play in the center 4 inches at moderate to loud strikes. When I drop the volume it sounds "ok" but it has some "odd" over tones that are not consistent across the playing area. The center 4 inches of the head is where the sound is tight and consistent, if you drift out of that area, I hear the sound thin out and the snare wires rattle a bit more (not as tight sounding). Now, this may just be my in my head (pun intended) as this is my first hydraulic head. So I like it but I am not sure yet if it is the "one snare head to rule them all". I have played it enough to re-tune it twice so I can say it is not still "breaking in" or loose. I may update this review if something changes as I play it longer.

I have tried all the usual choice for heads, Remo Ambassadors, Emporers, EC2 pin stripes, G2 clears etc.. on my Gretsch Cat Maples and found them all just a bit to resonate, finally found some heads to take that down a notch. Paired these 2 ply hydraulics with 10 mil G1 clears on reso and really like what I'm hearing, nice tone on easy hits and nice solid projecting clack when hit harder, makes for some very versatile play options. Was thinking of buying a tulipwood set to get the warmer tone I was wanting but may have accomplished this with heads. Put these on my Superphonic and Trackmaster snare as well, do not need Gel pads anymore, very pure controlled sound, very tuneable as well, high tuning will crack like a rifle if you like that, tuned more mid for me like 82 on a drum dial and 75 for low. These are definitely worth trying if you are looking for a different sound from your set. I play alot of 70's and really feel more dialed in now. Bought whole set 6,8,10,12,14,16 and coated 14snare, might get the 22 later but like my EMAD the way it is, for now, sure curiosity will get me though. Drum ON !

Excelente