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16" AAX recording crash: a beautiful medium pitched crash. Pretty thin and a very dampened raw bell. Blends very nicely with my Wuhan splashes. Has a nice long sustain.

18" AAX xplosion crash: Very loud and takes very little effort to open up. High pitched bell, and is the perfect match with the recording crash. Not too much of a contrast in pitch. As most of you know I had an issue with the warranty of this cymbal. Long story short, I got the 16" Xplosion for free.

16" AAX Xplosion crash: claaaang! I don't really hear the cymbal open up. At least not as easy as the recording crash or the 18" Xplosion. Pretty big difference in pitch from th 18". A pretty thick crash that's loud, but just doesn't have that crash characteristic I like. It doesn't really blend well with the rest of my cymbals.

Overall the AAX are great for rock. Bright, but not too bright. The brilliant finish is beautiful when clean. I wipe any smudges off with a soft microfibre cloth. I'm considering selling the 16" Xplosion and getting a pair of either Paragon hats, or AAX stage hats.