Got an Evans UV1

[Natman]

I had good success in moving from a EMAD2 to a Calftone EMAD on my bass drum, so I thought I might try a single ply head on my snare just to see. My wood shell is nothing special so I felt the snare could use some help at sounding a bit more lively. I contemplated a metal shell until I realized I was using one of the driest heads available and it makes more sense to try a single ply head without holes in it first. I'm glad I did, the result is quite pleasing.

Until now I had only used 2 heads in my 6 whole months of playing: the stock (Remo) head and Genera HD Dry. I normally do as much homework as possible before making a purchase but I decided on the UV1 because it was in stock at my local store, not realizing that it has only been out for a couple of months.

I tuned up the head and set my android phone to record in high quality WAV about 6 feet in front of my kit so I could hear the change. My reason was to try and get the pitch the same as the HD Dry but also to compare the two.

As expected there is more ring and sustain, it also appears louder (though less attack), definitely more touch sensitive. I was prepared to use moongels as needed to tame the ring but really I find it's not needed. Maybe I did a better job of tuning than the past, but I find the overtones quite musical. Hitting in the center vs. sides really has a more pronounced difference in terms of bringing out overtones than the HD Dry (which hardly has any). Overall it offers up a broader spectrum of sounds than the HD Dry and the lighter feel is more to my liking.

The interesting part came when I listened to the recordings back to back (which I did half a dozen times to make sure I wasn't imagining things). The two do not really sound all that dramatically different. Both are really great sounds IMO, the HD Dry is just shorter/quicker with few overtones obviously and more attack. Even describing it with so many words makes it sound like more of a big deal than it really is. It's subtle enough that I would be perfectly happy with either one. Subjective is probably the best term here as I am a newb and I know there are connaisseurs who are obsessed with snares. I don't understand how the UV1 is full of overtones but manages to avoid unpleasant ones. Must be how I tuned it?

Anyway there's my initial review for what it's worth.

[N2Bluz]

Proper tuning can eliminate pretty much all the nasty overtones from any drum, still leaving a nice sustain and ring. The nasty tones are a result of uneven tension around the drum. Some drums are easier to tune evenly than others, but the more you tune, the better your ear and technique become. I recently found that using 2 keys at once (directly across from each other) allow you to feel the difference in tensions. Seems to make it a lot easier and cut down on the issue of chasing pitches around the drum. Especially when trying to keep the tension and pitch low. The "360" collar design of the Evans may have helped you get a more even tuning over the Remo.

I have the Genera HD dry on a steel snare and really like it. I just tried a Genera Dry (single ply version of the HD) on a wood snare. Haven't decided if I like it yet. It sounds great if hit dead center, but off center hits make the snare wires sound sloppy. With the snare wires turned off, however, it sounds great.

[davewilson]

I got a UV1 snare head with my last head purchase ( a new set of skins for my Gretsch Renowns) and I installed it on my Ludwig snare (pictured here on the kit)... I'm really liking it on this kit so far