Evans Evans HD Dry Drumhead - 14 inch Reviews

I found my new "go to" snare head. I mounted this Evans Genera HD Dry drumhead on a 6 1/2" X 14" Pork Pie Rosewood/Zebrawood Snare with an Aquarian Hi-Performance Resonant Head and Pure Sound 20 Strand Blaster Snare Wires. Tuned the batter head on the high side, 3rd octave A with a Tune-Bot, and gradually dialed in the snare wires and what I get is a deep, warm tone from the drum with the perfect amount of crack when hit hard to produce a tremendous attack! With no dampening, the drum is able to resonate freely but has literally zero overtones and just the right amount of sustain to cut through any mix. If you want to get a drier, fatter sound out of it, dropping a little or a lot of dampening with an M80 Snare Weight or Big Fat Snare Donut gives you an incredibly versatile snare drum especially, if like me, you are playing a wide range of musical genres. You will love this drumhead!

It is so easy to tune and sounds good in just about all tunings.

This was an experiment with a new Evans HD Snare Batter and it passed with flying colors. I'm a hard-hitting snare guy who has been rocking for over 50 years and the blend of the two-ply along with the perimeter vents gives you a beautiful crack every time. Just get one, it will not disappoint.

I have a 6.5x14 ludwig supraphonic. Ive used all sorts of heads on it and everything made it sound like a normal snare drum. When I bought this head I put it on, my supraphonic came to life. The crack my snare make when i hit it cuts through the room and is the first thing that anyone notices. Im never using any other head on my supraphonic other than this one

One of my absolute favorite heads. It's a fantastic head and gives me exactly what I want to hear out of a snare. A nice dry, cracky, pop that carries through the room. My Pearl Session Studio Select snare loves this head. My Tama SLP Backbeat, not so much unfortunately. For the Tama, the single ply Genera Dry or the Power Center works the best. But every other snare I have ever tried the HD Dry on sounded fantastic. Especially on metal snares.

Without a doubt the BEST snare head I've ever tried. Easy to tune and sounds absolutely phenomenal. Nice, crisp, snappy snare sound that isn't too ringy or dead either. Sounds great when played at both low and high volumes as well. On top of all this, it sounds great no matter where you hit the snare. No matter the genre you play, you CAN NOT go wrong with this!

This snare head is great for controlling unwanted overtones in your snare. Depending on your music style. If your looking for a snare that lingers on in resonances, this isnt the one. Its labeled dry for reason. It has a fast dry sound with a quick attack and resonance. Great for metal, classic rock, and faster rock! This snare is loud if your a heavy hitter. And is very strong to take whatever you dish out to it! Ty Sweetwater! Very fast shipping!

This has been my go to batter head for years. It really cuts the overtones, and is great for rock drummers. It is reasonably priced, and grips the shell perfectly. You just can't improve upon perfection.

I never liked snare heads with control rings because while they eliminate excessive over-ring they make the head feel stiff. And they don't sound good near the rim. I assumed it would be the same with the Evans HD Dry head.

I'm pleasantly surprised this is NOT true. After almost giving up on a snare drum that never gave me a sound I like, I finally tried the HD Dry. The annoying ringing is gone and the head feels great to play all over. Most of my snare drums are fine with a single ply coated head: a little bit of ring is part of the sound. But for this one problem snare, the HD Dry is the answer. No wonder so many drummers recommend it.

I've been playing a really, really long time. Everybody else does the really technical reviews and I'm…go for it, but I've been using the HD Dry on my Ludwig 400s and DW Brass and for ME!!! Spot on! If there was. Perfect head for ME!!!! This is it. Cuts the overtones, tames the brass and I still get excellent brush response when I need it.
There is a special as I write for a 300 snare resonant so I'm stocking up. I think the 200 is better for orchestra as the sympathetic overtones pick up too easily…more sensitive.

This snare head has a very good attack and tone. I recommend this for anyone who plays rock or a live gig.

I'm a rock drummer and one of my favorite snares is a 6.5 black nickel over brass snare drum because of projection & attack and overall cut on stage. I know alot of us drummers has had to deal with huge metallic overtones that's sustained and can be made worse with microphones! Usually when trying to dull that unwanted over tone you give up a deal of sensitivity around the edge & overall good response you were trying to accomplish from your batter & snare side head.Your left with a chose to settle or spend more money and start over again and take a 50/50 chance on it being better or worse than the time before, does this sound like you? (Your not alone) This HD DRY drum head is great for getting rid of nasty unwanted overtones with excellent response across the drum head with a nice crack with the snare wires tight and nice big fat volume with the snare wires slightly loosened. I found one of my perfect sounds tuned at 82 snare side bottom & 85 to 86 top batter with this Evans Genera HD Dry Drumhead tuned on a drum dial! I just wish I had tried this head several heads earlier because I'm 100% satisfied with the sound from my Dw bnob snare! I hope this helps and saves my drum brother's alot of money and time because this just might be the only snare head you'll want for your snare from here on out!

I've been playing Evans heads for nearly 20 years and this has been my go to snare head for most of that time. No matter what snare I use this on it sounds fantastic. Evans crushes the drumhead game with all of their products.

A couple months ago I bought a Tama Big Black Snare drum. This is the first time I have ever had a steel snare drum in all my life. The heads that came with it was terrible heads so, I bought a Remo Powerstroke 77 and the snare had the crack but still sounded bad, had lot'a of ring in it. So then I bout an Aquarian performance II and it rang even more. I purchased this EvansGenera HD Dry head and WOW, what a difference. My snare now sounds incredible. So, if you have a steel snare drum and it rings to beat the band then, this is the head you need. The snare side head is a Evens Genera 300 mil. head. together they produce the sound I have been searching for. And I got my head from Sweetwater in 3 days... Good job James.

As a 20+ year professional drummer, I've used a LOT of snare heads over the years. The Evans HD Dry is by far my favorite. I currently own 4 radically different snare drums and this head is on each of them. The coating makes brush work sound beautiful. The air-relief holes around the perimeter of the head allow me to really dig in to a rock track without stressing the head too much. This drum head just works in so many applications across so many styles. I'll be hard pressed to even consider something different.

I've been using these snare heads for over 10 years now. I am currently using this head on a pearl maple 6.5x14 free-float snare.

These heads are some of the easiest to tune. I especially like the sound of these on a MIC"D snare! You can get a really great FAT snare sound. I usually used only a E-ring for a more muffled fat sound when close-micing. For a bit more lively sound (but not too much ring), just remove the E-ring. I've never felt a need for moon gels or any other additional ring control. These heads make snare tuning a breeze.

I would recommend these heads for just about anything other than jazz. Do yourself a favor and try one. Chances are you'll never using anything else on your snare!

This head just sounds amazing. Hands down. With a little tuning and a moongel or two, this will make any quality of snare drum sound amazing. Very good for the low, low price. Who would buy a $35 head when you have this thing?! I put this head on a snare from a $600 drum kit and people have said that it sounds like it costs 2-3 times as much. 10/10 would recommend.

This is the best recording snare head I've use so far. The over ring is minimal great for recording, yet the head is clear sounding and very precise it captures every nuance whether hit with power or finesse. Minimal effort to keep tuned.

Delivery was ahead, the snare gave a new kick pop to the sound, adjusted a bit, than blam can take it to, raggae tone to rock tone awesome head to work with no problems and easy to tune highly recommend sweet water their products and mailing time is on point i would buy again and found my permanent drum shop to order than any other price can beat.

I had purchased a pearl kit and the snare sounded awful after trying everything to get it sounding right. So I decided to give this thing a try and boy did it work!!!

I decided to give this one a try because I like the idea of an "internal" overtone control. I slapped this on my 14x6 7-ply Maple snare, and was stunned by the tonal quality!

Tones tend to get muted or choked out entirely when the drum has to be tamed by some sort of muffling material. The Overtone Control Ring on the underside of the head does exactly that, leaving you with a nice attack, ring, and overall sound.

Easy to tune and sound quality is top shelf. A very nice job by Evans on this one.

This head performs well. A great fat sound in the studio or live.
The only head I'll put on my 6.5 X14 Snare.

I'd have given this 5 stars instead of a 4 and a half, but I like the sound of the Genera Dry slightly better -- and that's a 5, IMO.
However, I went with this 2-ply HD version of the Dry instead, for the harder hitting of prog metal. This HD Dry may have a slightly darker sound than the Genera Dry, but the 2-ply makes it worth it, IMO.
I chose to experiment a bit, as I knew the exact sound I was looking for in my head. I wanted the "pop" & "crack" of a piccolo, but with a slightly punchier, drier attack. Choosing this head was a perfect choice. Hardly ANY overtones whatsoever.
What's more, seeing as a piccolo gets a higher ended "crack," and maple produces a warmer low end, this is nearly the sound I was looking for -- the best of both worlds. It's doing a great job on the recording of our CD, so now I just have to hope it cuts through live.
I may also try the Genera Dry, but seeing as that's single ply, I'm a bit worried about hitting it too hard & not lasting.
I'll try it once, however.

So I got this cute little entry level Ludwig kit and its heads are like 15 years old -- thing sounds like trash. Like, generally out of tune and heads worn to death.

First thing I did was change out the snare head to this thing here. Dude. This thing is legit. I may not have a breadth of XP for sampling heads but as a mild audiophile and lifelong music lover, I hate things that sound bad and I feel confident that I know what may sound good -- this thing does. Love it. Loved it even more when I figured out how to tune it better.

IMO, it has a good balance of resonance and attack. Cuts through fairly well and doesn't seem harsh. Sticks respond fairly smoothly.

So, yeah. It's good. Drum heads seem like a fairly subjective thing because of all the varying characteristics and flavors, so just figure out what you like.

Put this on my 14x5.5 stock PDP FS Birch snare. Gives a crisp, fat tone. I didn't even need to put on a muffling ring or moon gel because the holes on the side do help.