What an excellent video--thank you for this. No talking, just cymbals...this makes its point perfectly, which is a true comparison between the hi hats. And my choice is definitely the Fat Hats!
This is probably the best comparison video of this nature that I’ve seen; thank you for making this. I was a fan of the K Sweets before..: and now I wish I could go back in time to get those 70’s New Beats.
I have to agree with you Mikas ,the sound recording of these awesome Zildjian hats is also complimented by a tastefull but straight groove. We'll executed my friend 😀. I'm in the process of buying my ultimate Zildjian set up,the full works,this has now thrown me into getting the 15"loving the fat K's. Oh darn it,start over again,cheers fella😊😊😉
Great comparison video, only thing missing was the foot chick of each pair. Loved that you included the weights (I know it can vary from cymbal to cymbal, but it gives you an approximation). No extraneous banter, just good solid playing… one of the best comparison videos I’ve watched, it helped me make up my mind on a new pair. Thank you, great work!
Came for the hats, which are all great btw, but stayed for the Longo! You are the gear guru - Always the best sound possible! What an arsenal! Love your covers too!
They all sound great. I listened blind while I worked on my other monitor and found myself turn my head twice when the quickbeats came on, so those are my favorites.
Thanks for the video. I currently have the 14" New Beat but am looking for some new 15" Zildjian hi-hats and so this video is very helpful. For me: #1 Fat Hats #2 K Thin
K lights always sound the most classic sloshing with shoulder of stick without being annoying. K sweets are too tinny and fat hats are too heavy and loud. Many hats sound good opening and closing and the sound is usually song dependent as to whether 14s work better too but sloshing is where 15s beat 14s and the k lights just sit in the mix well. Another great hihat overall is the Paiste Modern Essentials 15”. They have a silvery crispness comparable to New Beats in mix that records well without being annoying and can slosh as well as the k lights just with a more clean articulate sound but also more smoothly than New Beats.
Probably the best comparison I've seen, so thank you. I have the 15" Keropes and can't speak highly enough of them. My only other pair of hats is a 14" mix of a New Beat top over a K Light bottom. I experimented for ages to come to that conclusion. I love the brightness of the New Beat top (latest, thinner version), but the extra thick, bright bottom cymbal just makes the New Beats too harsh in my view. By using a K Light bottom, the darker tone and lighter weight tames the sound just enough. As a suggestion for another video, have you considered mixing them up? I think it would be very interesting to hear everyone's views and you don't need to invest in any new gear. Just a thought, thanks again for a great video.
I own both the 15” K Fat’s and the 15” K Lights. For my ears, I prefer the K Fat Hi-Hats as they have a more full bodied sound & better stick definition. The K Light’s are great in their own way, but they sound a bit too thin and “tin-y.” Have you tried combining the two like a K Fat Top and K Light Bottom and or vice versa? Curious to hear your thoughts on that as it was a unique sound to my ears when I did that. Amazing quality video man! I can only imagine how long this took you to make. Kudos!
Awesome comparison I am in between these 2 and I think the fats have a more full richer sound IMO. Lights are great but they do sound somewhat “Tin-y”. If y’all can upload a simple video with that combo you mentioned it would be greatly appreciated!
@@sergiobecerra9505 I tried this combo (K Fat with K Light) and it doesn’t work as well as I expected bc the K Fat’s are 15-1/8”s larger than the standard 15” hats
New Beats, today, are so underrated. Funny that they started out as a bottom hat only that could be paired with any other top hat cymbal. That being said, the 70s A Zildjians have a different sound to them and I really prefer the 70s 15" New Beats in this video. All the other hats are also great and you can't go wrong with any of them, except maybe the Quick Beats (which are still nice). They're not your typical 15" hi-hat as they are really heavy and higher pitched, so much so that they sound somehow smaller until you lay into them.
It's quite strange they don't offer a 15" model of the regular K hats. I think that if they did, it would be very close to the fat hats in sound, but who knows...
Thanks for the great demo! I am looking into new hats and this is comparison is perfect. I did have a question as it seems people prefer the 14" over the 15" fat hats and was curious how the 15 fat hat top would sound with different bottoms. Have you tried mixing them up? I was thinking a 15 Sweet bottom with the 15 Fat top for some Sweet Fat Hats and any of the other bottoms as well :)
I thought this as well, but the K Fat hats are 1/8” larger than normal 14/15’s so they wouldn’t be an exact fit to the cymbal combination you’re speaking of.
To my ears, '70s New Beats sound absolutely the best. Those are lighter than the newer ones, but still they sound very crisp and projecting - and never harsh. I own 2 pairs of 15" NB's, one is around 20 years old (year 2005, weight 1237/1695), the other is just over 40 years old (a "hollow logo", so around 1978÷1982, weight 1315/1660), both beautiful - powerful and musical at the same time. New Beats require no effort to get the sound(s) and dynamics you hear "in your head", while other hihats are often too "sloppy" and weak (Keropes are the worst in this regard), requiring too much effort to get a (good, full, projecting, articulate) sound from them. My opinion, of course 😅
That´s a nice collection of great sounding cymbals, each serves it´s purpose. The only "meh"-moment for me was the A New Beat. Not much into A´s meself. My favs with this recording and my impaired hearing abilities is the Fat and the Sweet but it´s a tight race. Kerope and the 70`s New Beat sure sounds nice and buttery. Of the more cutting ones I prefer the Quick Beat. Just my two cents...
Man do I love 15” Lights (Gavin Harrison, Matt Cameron). Also, didn’t know 70’s New Beats were lighter than the modern ones. I owned the latter, they were quite chunky :) And the Quick Beats - are those the one where the bottom has cutouts? They sound too crisp, almost like a 13”. Great video man! Keep them coming
Thanks Vladislav! I think there are many different weights for the New Beats through the years. Yes, Quick Beats have a kind of flat-ride bottom cymbal (without a bell) with 4 holes. I think JR Robinson and many others used those during 80's.
back in the the late 90's & early 2000's times I had a pair of the quick beat hi hats 15's and they always worked out just great everytime I performed with them
Täytyy myötäillä mieltymystäsi: Fat Hats kuulostaa jotenkin "oikealta". Sweet on toinen suosikkini. New Beat on tutun ja turvallisen oloinen, mutta minulle siitä puuttuu täysin uutuudenviehätys. Se on vähän kuin Yamaha saksofoneissa - laatua mutta ei luonnetta... Fat Hats on siis tämän viikkokilpailun voittaja!
I think for me it's the 70s New Beats, followed by maybe the Fat Hats and K Lights. The Keropes have a hip, vintage wispy quality about them. For my tastes, there's too much of a weight difference between the tops and bottoms of the K Sweets and new New Beats, and the Quick Beats are just too heavy. It sure would be fun to mix and match 'em all. I'm reminded of that KC Special Dry/K Light Top combo you demoed a few years ago - those were cool.
Thanks for the vid!, I've been lookin into the Zildjian 15" hat line. I'm liking the Fat Hats and the Sweet's. Funny question...Do those big hammer marks feel like they throw off your stick control at all?.
They all sound good, they all sound different. But what is important is not what the drummer prefers. As different as they sound, they will all have exactly the same effect on the listener. So it does not matter one whit which you decide to use, regardless of genre, regardless of style, bc the only thing that is important is what the listener hears and responds to. They will not hear the difference, even though there is a difference. They will not respond differently to one over the other. This is a splitting of hairs that does not need to be considered, bc the outcome, the effect on the listener, will be the same, regardless. They just could not give two shits about this, even though drummers typically do. And any of them can be EQ-ed, enveloped, and compressed to sound pretty much like any of the others, anyway.
Different cymbals inspire different playing and when doing live gigs, the volume is also one factor and you can't eq/compress as well as in the studio.
@@KaitsuDrumsyes the things & points that you've brought up about the characteristics for recording in the studio and live recording work I would be in agreement with you 100 %
@@KaitsuDrumsactually the things that you've brought up in your comment are exactly why my favorite things to do with hi hat cymbals is to mix / mate different tops / bottoms together / for unique sounds..... bottoms on top and tops on the bottom
Fat hats sounds freaking great!!!
K Fat are great but be careful, they sound a bit more darker and hi mid that the demo shows. And beware of the SPL, those are real power hi-hats ;0)
@@jean-lucemanuele7095 I use K 14" hats with K Custom Dark 20" crash and a K light 24' ride...they all play "nice" together!
K Lights for me. I play classic rock/pop covers from 50s-90's era and they are right for almost every occasion.
Agree!
I like all of these! But I've been using the 15" K Lights for a few years and they're still probably my favourite hi-hats, so I'd opt for those.
One of the best Zildjian made
I have 15" K sweet set and recently bought a 15 K light bottom and it's been a game changer. One of the best hihat combination so far.
What an excellent video--thank you for this. No talking, just cymbals...this makes its point perfectly, which is a true comparison between the hi hats. And my choice is definitely the Fat Hats!
I’ve always played 14 new beats or 14 k’s but those 15 K lights sound amazing!
This is probably the best comparison video of this nature that I’ve seen; thank you for making this. I was a fan of the K Sweets before..: and now I wish I could go back in time to get those 70’s New Beats.
Thanks Jon! There are many 70's New Beats in the used market, just search from Reverb listings.
Yeah, I might even get some lmao.
Your drum mix is so good and your playing is even better. So clean, tasteful and moving
Thank you Mikas :))))
I have to agree with you Mikas ,the sound recording of these awesome Zildjian hats is also complimented by a tastefull but straight groove. We'll executed my friend 😀. I'm in the process of buying my ultimate Zildjian set up,the full works,this has now thrown me into getting the 15"loving the fat K's. Oh darn it,start over again,cheers fella😊😊😉
@@michaelbrown1895 Thanks!! Yes, these 15" Fat Hats are great :)
@@KaitsuDrums I would like to ask in base of your experience for worship, CCM and power ballad which all of these would be the best one / versatile ?
I have 15" Light, 15" New Beat Hi-Hats and they sound very good. Same here, but the 'old -70' New Beats you played sounds better in my taste!
Great comparison video, only thing missing was the foot chick of each pair. Loved that you included the weights (I know it can vary from cymbal to cymbal, but it gives you an approximation). No extraneous banter, just good solid playing… one of the best comparison videos I’ve watched, it helped me make up my mind on a new pair. Thank you, great work!
70’s new beats win by a long way for me!
Actually they do sound really good. I like the second ones. But really all these sound killer. Just some dark some bright.
those fat hats and kerope really sound so dope to me
Came for the hats, which are all great btw, but stayed for the Longo! You are the gear guru - Always the best sound possible! What an arsenal! Love your covers too!
Thanks very much! Yes, I'm a gear hoarder :)
All around, I still like the new "New Beats" - very versatile.
They all sound great. I listened blind while I worked on my other monitor and found myself turn my head twice when the quickbeats came on, so those are my favorites.
Very, very nice demo!
Going back over them a second time made it even more obvious that the Fathats were just IT for me.
Thank you for this amazing comparison. All sound amazing. If I had to choose the OG would do it for me - New Beat Hats.
The quick beats are amazing. I couldn't find them on their website.
They all sound so good, it's hard to choose. Some darker some brighter.. i guess it's good to have a set of both really.
Fat hats sounds like heaven
The Fat Hats and the 70's New Beats. Both are fantastic!
I have the Sweets HH. Lots of compliments on them.
I dig the Lights though.
They all sound so good, I play the 15” K lights and am considering the new beats as a compliment
man, those fat hats are sick but it's so hard to beat New Beats. although the original K hh are sweet too.
I love the Fat hats.
Thanks for the video. I currently have the 14" New Beat but am looking for some new 15" Zildjian hi-hats and so this video is very helpful. For me: #1 Fat Hats #2 K Thin
I like the second and third ones for sure.. plan to get some soon.
Thanks for your videos! You are the best drummer on here in my opinion. I think my favorite hats are the sweet ones.
Thanks very much Paul!
The Fat Hats sound like they're singing. Gotta get a pair
K lights always sound the most classic sloshing with shoulder of stick without being annoying. K sweets are too tinny and fat hats are too heavy and loud. Many hats sound good opening and closing and the sound is usually song dependent as to whether 14s work better too but sloshing is where 15s beat 14s and the k lights just sit in the mix well. Another great hihat overall is the Paiste Modern Essentials 15”. They have a silvery crispness comparable to New Beats in mix that records well without being annoying and can slosh as well as the k lights just with a more clean articulate sound but also more smoothly than New Beats.
Probably the best comparison I've seen, so thank you. I have the 15" Keropes and can't speak highly enough of them. My only other pair of hats is a 14" mix of a New Beat top over a K Light bottom. I experimented for ages to come to that conclusion. I love the brightness of the New Beat top (latest, thinner version), but the extra thick, bright bottom cymbal just makes the New Beats too harsh in my view. By using a K Light bottom, the darker tone and lighter weight tames the sound just enough. As a suggestion for another video, have you considered mixing them up? I think it would be very interesting to hear everyone's views and you don't need to invest in any new gear. Just a thought, thanks again for a great video.
Thanks very much Matt! I haven't used your New Beat / K Light combination but I like the 14" K Light Top / 14 K Bottom hybrid very much :)
I own 15” K lights and love them!
Always wanted a pair
I own both the 15” K Fat’s and the 15” K Lights. For my ears, I prefer the K Fat Hi-Hats as they have a more full bodied sound & better stick definition. The K Light’s are great in their own way, but they sound a bit too thin and “tin-y.”
Have you tried combining the two like a K Fat Top and K Light Bottom and or vice versa? Curious to hear your thoughts on that as it was a unique sound to my ears when I did that.
Amazing quality video man! I can only imagine how long this took you to make. Kudos!
Thanks Matthew! I haven't mixed Fat's and Lights yet, but I'll try that soon. I have the same thoughts as you about the K Lights.
Fat hats 15 sound like ur standard 14” new beats w a little of that 15” washy
Awesome comparison I am in between these 2 and I think the fats have a more full richer sound IMO. Lights are great but they do sound somewhat “Tin-y”. If y’all can upload a simple video with that combo you mentioned it would be greatly appreciated!
@@sergiobecerra9505 I tried this combo (K Fat with K Light) and it doesn’t work as well as I expected bc the K Fat’s are 15-1/8”s larger than the standard 15” hats
I love quick beats. I have the 14” but really liked these 15”
New Beats, today, are so underrated. Funny that they started out as a bottom hat only that could be paired with any other top hat cymbal. That being said, the 70s A Zildjians have a different sound to them and I really prefer the 70s 15" New Beats in this video. All the other hats are also great and you can't go wrong with any of them, except maybe the Quick Beats (which are still nice). They're not your typical 15" hi-hat as they are really heavy and higher pitched, so much so that they sound somehow smaller until you lay into them.
Excellent demo! Thank you!
It's quite strange they don't offer a 15" model of the regular K hats. I think that if they did, it would be very close to the fat hats in sound, but who knows...
Thanks for the great demo! I am looking into new hats and this is comparison is perfect. I did have a question as it seems people prefer the 14" over the 15" fat hats and was curious how the 15 fat hat top would sound with different bottoms. Have you tried mixing them up? I was thinking a 15 Sweet bottom with the 15 Fat top for some Sweet Fat Hats and any of the other bottoms as well :)
I thought this as well, but the K Fat hats are 1/8” larger than normal 14/15’s so they wouldn’t be an exact fit to the cymbal combination you’re speaking of.
Great comparison. Thanks for doing this.
Useful! 🙏
K light +1
Yup they just sit in the mix perfectly
K light are the best, great soft sound
Fats great comparison video, no nonsense focus on sound of hats great
Those A's bleed nice. You're timing is great btw!
To my ears, '70s New Beats sound absolutely the best. Those are lighter than the newer ones, but still they sound very crisp and projecting - and never harsh. I own 2 pairs of 15" NB's, one is around 20 years old (year 2005, weight 1237/1695), the other is just over 40 years old (a "hollow logo", so around 1978÷1982, weight 1315/1660), both beautiful - powerful and musical at the same time. New Beats require no effort to get the sound(s) and dynamics you hear "in your head", while other hihats are often too "sloppy" and weak (Keropes are the worst in this regard), requiring too much effort to get a (good, full, projecting, articulate) sound from them. My opinion, of course 😅
That´s a nice collection of great sounding cymbals, each serves it´s purpose. The only "meh"-moment for me was the A New Beat. Not much into A´s meself. My favs with this recording and my impaired hearing abilities is the Fat and the Sweet but it´s a tight race. Kerope and the 70`s New Beat sure sounds nice and buttery. Of the more cutting ones I prefer the Quick Beat. Just my two cents...
Man do I love 15” Lights (Gavin Harrison, Matt Cameron). Also, didn’t know 70’s New Beats were lighter than the modern ones. I owned the latter, they were quite chunky :) And the Quick Beats - are those the one where the bottom has cutouts? They sound too crisp, almost like a 13”.
Great video man! Keep them coming
Thanks Vladislav! I think there are many different weights for the New Beats through the years. Yes, Quick Beats have a kind of flat-ride bottom cymbal (without a bell) with 4 holes. I think JR Robinson and many others used those during 80's.
Delicious thanks
Sweet is Very Very good!
The quick beats played wide open sounded best to my ears
back in the the late 90's & early 2000's times I had a pair of the quick beat hi hats 15's and they always worked out just great everytime I performed with them
the pair were made sometime in the 1980's time period
The fat hats sounded the best to me
Täytyy myötäillä mieltymystäsi: Fat Hats kuulostaa jotenkin "oikealta". Sweet on toinen suosikkini. New Beat on tutun ja turvallisen oloinen, mutta minulle siitä puuttuu täysin uutuudenviehätys. Se on vähän kuin Yamaha saksofoneissa - laatua mutta ei luonnetta...
Fat Hats on siis tämän viikkokilpailun voittaja!
No 15" A Custom Mastersounds?
Lovely! Good Job! Thanks!
I think for me it's the 70s New Beats, followed by maybe the Fat Hats and K Lights.
The Keropes have a hip, vintage wispy quality about them.
For my tastes, there's too much of a weight difference between the tops and bottoms of the K Sweets and new New Beats, and the Quick Beats are just too heavy.
It sure would be fun to mix and match 'em all.
I'm reminded of that KC Special Dry/K Light Top combo you demoed a few years ago - those were cool.
K Sweet!
Thanks for the great video.
Thanks for the vid!, I've been lookin into the Zildjian 15" hat line.
I'm liking the Fat Hats and the Sweet's.
Funny question...Do those big hammer marks feel like they throw off your stick control at all?.
Thanks BoomStick! Those Fat Hats hammer marks feel just like other hats, so no change for the stick feel.
We can hear the open voicing really well, the sticking probably needs more attack to be heard.
Kerope for me
K lights 👈 crispy
I'D LIKE TO HEAR THE K CUSTOM HYBRID HATS...
Harry, sorry but I don't have those and I believe they don't make 15" Hybrid hats?
New Beats 👍
The 70s New Beat and K Light sound almost identical.
I really miss the A 15" Rock Hi-Hats.....
Hmmm...if I had to pick only one, it would be the Sweet Hats.
I received nice compliments on mine from excellent live sound engineers.
what I’d do for the K Lights and the Kerope
what mics were you using? Ohs, and were you using a main hit mic? seems like the snare had some verb on it, but not that hats, good choice btw
I had Neumann KM184 as a hi-hat mic and AKG C414 XLS stereo pair for overheads. Then a little bit of reverb for the snare. Thanks for checking!
Вэри гуд!
Well... my choice is very simple and easy: I take them ALL!
That's the Right choice :)
Like the Cookie Monster 👹
In terms of versatility, you can’t beat the New Beats.
They all sound good, they all sound different. But what is important is not what the drummer prefers. As different as they sound, they will all have exactly the same effect on the listener.
So it does not matter one whit which you decide to use, regardless of genre, regardless of style, bc the only thing that is important is what the listener hears and responds to. They will not hear the difference, even though there is a difference. They will not respond differently to one over the other.
This is a splitting of hairs that does not need to be considered, bc the outcome, the effect on the listener, will be the same, regardless. They just could not give two shits about this, even though drummers typically do. And any of them can be EQ-ed, enveloped, and compressed to sound pretty much like any of the others, anyway.
Different cymbals inspire different playing and when doing live gigs, the volume is also one factor and you can't eq/compress as well as in the studio.
@@KaitsuDrumsyes the things & points that you've brought up about the characteristics for recording in the studio and live recording work I would be in agreement with you 100 %
@@KaitsuDrumsactually the things that you've brought up in your comment are exactly why my favorite things to do with hi hat cymbals is to mix / mate different tops / bottoms together / for unique sounds..... bottoms on top and tops on the bottom
1. New A’s. 2. K Light’s 3. 70’s A’s
FAT HATS...NEW BEATS...K SWEETS..
GOT SOME MEAT IN THERE BONES 😊
Do you have a personal favorite?
Fat Hats & New Beats for most stuff.
Not a big fan of the k kerope
Awesome mix, definitely the fat hats for me ,,,
What about the A master Sound.