Any of those heads would be good ... except for the hydraulics (IMO). Also check out the AQUARIAN Double Thins which sound very close to a single-ply head, the closest I've ever heard ... and yet have the strength of a two-ply. Aquarian also has the Performance II (designed for loose tuning) or the Response 2 (which is the like the Pinstripe or G2).

I obviously prefer the Aquarian heads, but Evans is a good head as well. To me, the Remo heads are NOT consistent, especially when it comes to the Pinstripes.

The Aquarian drumheads will last you MUCH longer!

No heat here man ... we need to talk about this stuff ... even if we disagree ... it's all opinions anyway ... right?

To me, REMO drumheads in general are inconsistent. I think they sound just fine ... and so do countless drummers ... professionals to novice. My only beef with REMO is how inconsistent they are; sound, quality, fit, etc. Actually there are some other things that bug me about REMO, but I don't need to go there since it's even more subjective than what I've already mentioned.

As just one example, Pinstripe heads, by nature, are a two-ply drumhead with the discolored band around the side being where the two pieces of Mylar are glued together. This is what gives the Pinstripes their unique sound. REMO, I feel, is very careless with how these heads are made. When they glue the two plies together they don't make sure that free flowing middle sections lay properly. If you use a loose tuning, or even a medium tension (sometimes), you get REALLY bad wrinkles and a unpleasant sound. This is just one example mind you; there's plenty more.

Being a former owner of a drum shop and a professional player since 1980, I've seen and gone through a LOT of drumheads. I can say, coincidentally, that REMO drumheads are good only 40% of the time. For those that are bad with math (actually I'm just wanting to drive the point home a little more), that's less than half the time!!! When you get a good REMO head, they sound great ... no doubt about it. But man, after time goes by, you start noticing the inconsistencies of the product ... and it gets very frustrating. Since 1990 I've been using AQUARIAN drumheads exclusively ... but prior to that ... I was using REMO ... with a short transition time between the two in which I used EVANS (which makes some very nice drumheads).

Many customers used to bring back defective REMO heads to my shop. For a number of years ... up until I closed my drumshop, I was changing out drumheads EVERY DAY ... for my own drums as well as drums of clients who hired me to tune or maintain their instruments. All of this to say ... I've had an ear-full and feel like I have enough comparative research to make some sort of an educated assessment. Of course, it's still my opinion ... but I wanted you to know that it's not personal or without some factual (long term) experience to back up my claims.

I don't expect everyone to agree with my conclusions, and that's fine of course. If you only change out drumheads once or twice a year ... it's unlikely that you will hear the difference from head to head. The old heads sound terrible ... the new heads sound better; that's all that matters. But if you change out heads on a regular basis ... or perhaps put 5 brand new batter heads on your snare drum collection (as an example), you would find that only 2 or 3 sound good ... forcing you to make strange adjustments (perhaps even use a hairdryer?   ) ... or simply replace the head with yet another drumhead. This was common place for me ... and I know of a number household name pros who feel the same way, but they continue to use REMO because they like the sound.  

Don't get me wrong ... REMO heads sound great ... IF you get a good drumhead. How many of you can afford to by a case of drumheads and only have 40% of them sound worth a darn? It's a rhetorical question: Not Many Of You! Young players or drummers who have entry level drumkits more than likely will not hear a difference. You'll think I'm totally out of my gourd and need to give it a rest. But for many of you, it's time to take the red pill andawaken from your fairy-tale dream.   (just a little Matrix humor).

I can count on one hand the times I ever had to return a defective drumhead made by EVANS or AQUARIAN.

EVANS drumheads cost a little more, AQUARIAN drumheads even more! But ... remember back when your daddy told you that you always get what you pay for? Well ... he was right!

_{Who's your daddy? LOL}

I just went out and got the G2's and when I put them on my toms, I found out they gave me some killer sustain  , great tone and really fatten the tone (I love my export again). Next up is my bass I guess, for which I think I'll get Evans EMAD, but I don't know yet. Evans opened my eyes! I have a powerstroke 3 on my snare and after a week or so, the coating already came off, does Evans or Aquarian have a snare head with internal muffle ring like the powerstroke 3?

Just went out last night and bought the Aquarian Hi-Energy Snare Head w/ Power Dot.  WOW!!  This is a GREAT Drum head!!  I really like the sound that I'm getting from my toms with the Clear Pinstripe, but I'd like something with a coating on it, for tonality, and after getting that snare head, I would like to go with Aquarian.  Bart, any suggestions?

What about Evans G2??

It all depends on the sound that you are trying to get. I myself use AQuarian Performance II's on my toms because i like the deep fat sound that they give me. I have tried all of the Evans heads and though i must admit they are good heads, they are too high pitched for "my" ear.

The last time I used PII's was about 3 years ago and well, they were too dead for my taste.

Remo CS dots

What I would recommend is buy various types of heads for just one drum. This way you can try them out without having to invest into an entire set for your kit ... and then wind up hating them.

Also, you can always make a one-ply head sound darker, but you can't get a two-ply head to sound brighter. It's kind of of like being an engineer; cutting is usually preferred over boosting ... whenever possible.

For two-ply heads, I like the Aquarian Double Thins.

It's all subjective and what our ears like to hear. Descriptions can help you and give some direction, but the only way you'll REALLY know is to try some different heads.

hey i prefer the evans hydraulic for the top and a evans resant for the bottoms. or i like to use a ludwig rocker if u can find em any more its kinda hard.