Evans Hydraulic Drum Heads - B14HB - Drum Head with Layer of Oil - Supresses Unwanted Overtones - Ideal for Rock, Metal, & Funk - Blue, 14 Inch

Review of the Evans Hydraulic B14HBG The Evans Hydraulic B14HBG offers a notably fat and deep tone right out of the box. With two plies of film and a thin layer of oil sandwiched between them, the head suppresses unwanted overtones and sustain, which means you get a tighter, more controlled sound. It works especially well for rock, funk or any style where you want punch and clarity rather than long, ringing sustain. Many drummers say it’s ideal for setups where excess ring or ambient noise is a problem. In terms of sound quality, this head delivers a strong attack and focused mid-low frequencies. The short decay means your hits are defined and crisp, making it great for live settings or recording where you want the snare to sit well in the mix without bleeding too much. Because the overtones are suppressed, the sound is less “washy” and more direct. If you tune it slightly higher you can still get a good crack, and if you tune lower you’ll lean into the fatness of the tone. On the flip side, if you prefer a very open, ringing, ambient snare sound (as you might for jazz or more experimental styles), you might find this head a little restrictive. When it comes to ease of use, this head is pretty straightforward. The construction helps you get a usable tone faster than some more finicky heads. Because it’s designed to dampen things internally (with that oil layer), you don’t always need extra external muffling or dampeners unless you want extra control. It holds its tuning reasonably well and is durable. That said, some users mention that tuning it on the very low end of the tension scale requires a bit more effort to avoid it sounding “dead” or too muffled — so you’ll want to spend a little time finding the sweet spot for your shell and resonant head combo. On build and durability, the head is solid. The double-ply film gives it tougher durability than single-ply heads, and the coating helps with both tone and wear. For heavier players or for rigs that see regular gigging, this is a plus. One small caveat though: because part of the sound comes from that oil layer, some drummers suggest the character can fade if the head gets very worn or heavily dented — so keeping an eye on batter wear matters. Overall, my verdict is that the Evans Hydraulic B14HBG is a very strong choice for drummers who want a snare head with punch, focus and minimal unwanted ring. If your kit has a snare that tends to ring out too much, or you’re doing recording/live work where control matters, this head will serve you well. For your own gear setup (since I know you’re into audio gear and recording) this would be a worthwhile upgrade if you want more definition and less ambient fuss.

Got for my piccolo snare, love it so far, taking a beating and still sounded great for slam/nintendocore

Out the door, I just want to state I am not a professional drummer. This is a hobby, it’s fun. So I don’t really know HOW “GOOD” this head is. You can read lots of different stuff online and folks will argue about it for days on end… I’ve been playing with this for about two weeks now. I replaced a stock Ludwig coated snare batter head with it. This seems rock solid. The color is beautiful, was torn between the black and red but opted for red on the snare. I still have my Ludwig stock resonant head on the bottom, using a drum dial I’m at like ~90 on top, ~80 on the bottom. There’s definitely some overtones but this thing has a serious crack to it. It sounds way better than the stock head did, and honestly, less overtones. I’m muffling with either a microfiber cloth or a big fat snare drum donut depending on the song I’m playing (some 70’s stuff calls for an insane dead snare). If you’re worried about whether or not it’s “too dead”, I can assure you it’s not. I think if I knew really what I was doing with tuning I could make it sound super dead, but to my ears, the way I have this set I like. Will definitely be replacing all heads down the road with more hydraulics (batters at least, unsure on reso heads). They fit amazingly and I think the price is pretty fair considering I likely won’t need to change them out too frequently, they are really tough.

This is one of Evans' best products. The concept of dampening built into the head itself is genius. The matte finish is so badass. It tunes very easily, and produces incredible sound. This head was made for heavy hitters and will stand up to a beating. It contains Evans 360 ring technology to ensure evenness of tuning, which makes a big difference especially on older drums that may be slightly warped. I'm still getting a bit too much ring and more overtones than desired, but that's because of the drum itself, not because of the head. This head doesNOT need more external dampening. Any more and it would completely deaden the sound and tone completely. My poplar 14x5.5 drum is 13 years old, and has always been stubborn to tune and get the right sound from no matter what different heads I've used. This head is brilliant, and I highly recommend it. 5/5

This has been one of the best ones I’ve used. I play between medium and hard and this has lasted me more than 3 months so I’ll be keeping this one as my everyday.

The sound of this head was really great. I've only played about 5 hours since getting it a month ago. It still sounds better than my last head, but I'm disappointed it didn't last longer. There are mixed reviews so maybe I just got a defective one, but I won't be trying these heads out again on my snare, maybe the toms.

Ottimo prodotto. Ho risolto i miei problemi legati agli armonici fastidiosi amplificati dalla stanza. Ho cambiato diverse pelli (dalle mono alle bistrato, anche con suono controllato) ma ottenendo solo leggeri miglioramenti (rullante in legno 14" x 5,5") Otiima per bacchette e rods; per una buona risposta nell'uso delle spazzole (con fili in metallo), basta usarla un pò ( a me dopo 4-5 gg. scivolavano bene); per le spazzole con fili di nylon, invece, tutto bene sin dall'inizio. Ben impressionato dalla risposta del prodotto, ho acquistato anche le altre nelle dimensioni 10" - 12"- 14" per toms e timpano. Come sempre ottimo il servizio Amazon (confezione e tempi di consegna). Soddisfatto.

I got this as i read a lot of good reviews and needed a new snare head , I liked the other hydrolic heads so got this to go with my Tom's. It sounds great , tunes well on my pearl export snare, definately reccomend.

Muy contento con la compra. Es un parche que me gusta bastante. El rojo le da un tono distintivo a la caja y además es rugoso dándole un poco más de vida útil a la larga. Mi caja tenía el parche aún de serie y estaba ya bastante desgastado. Al ponerle este he notado un cambio importante. Lo recomiendo. Ahora quiero cambiar los parches de los toms y ponerles también un juego de Evans.

Muy buen parche para caja, buen sonido, aunque ha llegado muy tarde.