I know what heads you talk about. I've seen 'em on other entry level congas and in my Aspire bongos, but not in Aspire congas.

It is a very thin material and breaks very easilly, specially if get wet. I think that still buffalo, but from a different body area. Usually the skin from the belly is much thiner.

Don't judge the skin by its color. As Cali Rivera of JCR says -
"the uglier they are, the better they sound!" The white ones have
been treated in a kind of bleach that makes them clean & light,
and also breaks them in a bit and "drys" the sound, (however this shortens their longevity).
This process can be done to water buffalo, or cow, or mule.
Cow and Mule are a definite upgrade to the stock water buffalo hides,
which are today too thin for the correct tones.
Mule allows for more articulation and distinct tones.
Listen to some of the congas in Colombian or Venezuelan Salsa,
you're likely hearing mule. Prices are comparable to the costs
of commercially available skins. Contact me by emai or
tel. 732-236-8148 (cell).

~ ISAAC ~
funkytradfition@yahoo.com

maybe I am imagining this...I can't say for sure but, I treated one of my worst sounding buffalo heads with a heavy dose of 100% lanolin and I could almost swear that it sounds a lot better.

I didn't treat it to improve the sound.  I treated it to keep it from getting too dried out while it was just sitting around in my closet as a spare.  But, unexpectedly, I had to re-mount it less than a week later and it didn't sound as bad as I remembered.  It's a lot warmer sounding and the open tones are almost just what I want - not quite but almost.

I'm just saying...

something I've started doing with all my heads - even before I mount them but only plan to do it once every 2-3 years (don't want to over-do it).  

I get 100% pure natural lanolin from a health food store.
I put a generous coating on the inside (underside) of the head (off the drum, of course) and let it sit overnight to soak in a bit.
Then, I vigorously and repeatedly wipe off all the excess with a clean rag until the head is not "greasy" feeling - no noticeable lanolin comes off on my fingers.
Then, I either store it (for a spare) or mount it if it's a new head.

The theory is that the curing and forming process (especially the soaking) takes all the natural oils out of the skin so, I'm just putting some back in.

I didn't really invent any of this process - it's something I've gleaned from talking to lots of other, more experienced, players and drum makers.

Now, let me qualify this by saying that I like a warmer sound on my congas and bongos.  If you like a drier sound (like a djembe), I don't think this is the way to go.   Some folks want drier, some like warmer.  So, I'm guessing that a drier skin makes a drier sound.

I stand in full recognition that I could, in fact, be full of beans on all of this.  I'm just reporting what I did and what results I observed.  

Very interesting advise from you, Al. Can you give a more detailed description of the process

I've been playing congas for over ten years with a friend who is a master Afro-Cuban Conguero. We are both frustrated with LP water buffalo skins especially on the Macho Quinto. Typical LP water buffalo skins are too thin and sound like a tin cans when tuned high with rining overtones. I've tried mitigating this problem by placing gel pads on the heads. Although this gell removes some of the overtone ringing with minimal success,  it is far better to have a good thick head on a Maco Quinto.

Over the years I've observed that  experienced congueros playing traditional non microphoned rhumba, often choose a conga with thicker skin, regardless of size, to tune highest as the macho quinto. This just happened at our Sunday Rhumba session when we played Columbia and Guan-Guan-Co.  Available were several wood conga drums size 11" to 12"+ including an expensive LP Giovonni 11"quinto with a thin water buffalo head. The master, along with other proficient percussionists in our group, picked a less expensive 11-3/4" size Matador conga to play as a quinto noting how it had been reskinned with a thicker unlabeled head (can't decipher which species of beast).  The group chose not play this expensive LP Giovonni 11"quinto because of it's thin LP water buffalo head nor did they choose to play two other LP congas with thin heads and I agreed.  

I have observed this distaste of thin LP water buffalo and preferece for thicker skins of better suited beast species, especially on Macho Quinto, amongst many Congueros playing Afro-Cuban.

MOONGEL damper pads by RTOM

I bought these 4 little purple pads in a small 2" diameter plastic case at Guitar Center for about 7 bucks.

I have only played on rawhide skins so I don't know what they would be like on synthetic.

They clean up with soap and water and stick to drumskins, bells, etc to dampen that ring.  

On Congas I've experimented with them on the top only with one pad by moving it around different areas of the drum.  They can conflict with the players hands especially a smaller quinto.  I suppose if it really worked on a drum well in one spot it could be placed on the bottom and maybe taped to ensure that it stayed there.

I've had very good success placing one inside my Bongo Bell which was wraped up with tape.

For a top sounding Quinto,
I recommend and have a good supply
of mule skins (18") in thick and medium weights.
The medium is already thicker than any
commercial head made of Asian water Bufallo
which is too porous and weak. Mule is long lasting,
strong and a nice feel on your hands.

Everybody who tries mule has good things
to say about it.

for more info:
funkytradition@yahoo.com