5 Best Evans Snare Drumheads

Evans Genera HD Dry Review

The Evans Genera HD Dry is one of Evans’ most loved snare drumheads. I’d say it’s the best modern snare drum head to get for great sound quality and plenty of versatility. 

I love how powerful rimshots are with this head, and I always get a great snare drum sound in live venues when using it. 

It’s called a dry snare head because it has minimal overtones, thanks to the perimeter air vents and the 2-mil control ring. 

This means that you don’t really need to use muffling to get a pleasant sound. If you still get a few overtones that you don’t want to hear, you can use just a bit of muffling to calm those down. 

The focused sound means that all your subtle ghost notes can be very distinctly heard. This makes drum grooves sound incredibly tight and focused, which drummers who play busy patterns love. 

It’s 12.5-mil thick, meaning it’s extremely durable as well. The outer ply is 7.5-mil while the inner is 5-mil.

If you need a snare drumhead that can work in all kinds of musical settings, the Genera HD Dry is a great option to choose. The downside of it is that it may be too controlled for certain drummers. If you’re looking for an extended snare ring, you won’t get it with this drumhead.

Evans EC Reverse Dot Review

The Evans EC Reverse Dot is a great drumhead for punk, rock, and metal drummers. Its key characteristic is volume, and it offers plenty of it. The Reverse Dot in the center is what accents the attack of your strokes, making them louder and punchier. 

I’ve used this head for several recordings that I’ve done over the years with various metal and rock bands, and it always sounds amazing. 

The rings that you see around the head are Evans’ Edge Control technology. They act as muffling tools that suppress unwanted frequencies in the midrange. 

These rings stop you from needing to add muffling to your snare. With this head, I don’t think you should add muffling anyway, as it gives your snare a really nice and powerful ring.

This two-ply head is 17-mil thick, with the inner ply being 10-mil and the outer ply being 7-mil. It’s a drumhead designed for hard hitters, as the thickness is what keeps it so durable. 

You’ll get the most response from this head when hitting the center, and your strokes will sound a bit weaker when hitting the outer parts. This means that it isn’t the best head to use brushes with. 

It’s also a bit too loud for quiet environments. If you play drums in venues like pubs or restaurants, you’ll need a quieter snare head to use.

Evans Hybrid Coated Review

The Evans Hybrid snare drumhead is a premium option that shines in the area of durability. It’s specially made with fiber-weave material that takes influence from marching snare drumheads. The coating is wear-resistant, meaning this snare drumhead lasts a lot longer than most. 

I find this head surprisingly easy to tune when using it, but I notice that it sounds the best in lower tunings. 

On top of that, the dark grey coating looks incredible when paired with a snare drum. 

The tones it produces are very focused, with minimal overtones being heard thanks to the thickness of the head. 

It’s very expensive compared to most other snare drumheads, but the longer lifespan makes up for the higher price tag. You won’t need to replace your snare drumhead nearly as often as with most other types of heads. 

That’s the beauty of the material being so thick. However, you also won’t be able to get natural snare tones that ring musically. So, this isn’t what I’d call a versatile drumhead. 

Evans G1 Coated Review

The Evans G1 Coated gives you the most natural sound from your snare drum out of all the options listed here. It’s a one-ply head, with the single-ply being 10-mil. 

This option is Evans’ answer to the famous Ambassador drumhead from Remo. It performs very similarly. 

The great thing about the G1 Coated drumhead is that you don’t get too many overtones when striking the center of the snare drum. They come out more when hitting near the edges.

I played on a vintage kit for a session once, and the studio engineer had this head on the snare. It sounded so natural and open, which translated brilliantly through microphones. 

Brushes work amazingly with this head, which is why it’s one of the best Evans drumheads for jazz drummers. The thinner ply just means it is not as durable as the other heads on the list, but that won’t be an issue if you’re not a heavy hitter. 

If you own a really high-end snare drum, this is the kind of head that I’d highly suggest using. It gives you the purest tones from your snare shell, meaning you’ll hear all the high-quality tones from that shell. 

If you own a lower-end snare, you’re going to hear plenty of nasty overtones that sound quite harsh, so it would be better to use a thicker head with more control for that.

Evans Hydraulic Review

The Evans Hydraulic snare drumhead is a unique option to pick. Not only sonically but also aesthetically as you can choose from a variety of colors, including black, red, blue, and glass.

The Hydraulic head utilizes two plies of the synthetic film with a thin layer of oil in between. This oil layer adds durability and controls the overtones of your snare drum a significant amount. Compared to standard two-ply heads, the hydraulic head sounds more controlled. 

This head sounds the best when tuned low, as you get a deep thuddy sound that resembles vintage snare drums from years ago. 

I’ve mostly seen worship drummers using this snare head, as it caters really well to the classic fat snare drum sound that is so popular in that setting. 

This is a great head to use on a deep snare drum. It’s also ideal for snare drums that double up as floor toms, which have become increasingly more popular in recent years. 

It can be challenging to tune nicely, so keep that in mind when using a Hydraulic drumhead. However, it sounds really sweet once you get the tuning right, so it’s worth pushing through to get the best sounds possible.