Hihat Question

And the Acoustic Zen are very hard to beat without spending crazy ( as some would even say essential) money $$$$$$

Thanks everybody. I’ll check those recordings out in the next few days. 

The Patricia Barber (A Fortnight in France) disc I own sounds great, drums and all.

I’ll gut check my speaker positioning and listening distance as well to insure I’m not sacrificing treble detail for bass, etc.

Also, I have some various cables to experiment with, nothing exotic, but at least different.

Thanks again for your thoughtful comments and guidance.

Kind regards-

You need a great tube preamp with the right tube. Anthem is good but the hihat will be buried in most mixes because most pop/rock producers feel that a hi-hat is an irritant. Jazz, reggae, funk and disco will have more hi-hat because it fits those genres well.

I am a drummer and I use a McIntosh C2600 with a 12AX7 RCA Long Black Plate from about 1957 in the line stage. This particular tube has the magic you need. I can hear hi-hat detail on everything with this setup.

The hi-hat tends to get buried in rock and pop as there is a lot going on in the mid range with vocals and a couple of guitars. Stuart Copeland’s work with The Police is a rare example where the hi-hat isn’t buried.

The trick with a tube is that it adds harmonics. The hi-hat overtones like most cymbals are not related to the fundamental (they don’t have a pitch or tone). The tube if chosen correctly will add a bit of harmonic overtones to the hi-hat. It is amazing but your ear will hear the fundamental more clearly when you get just a little extra harmonic overtones.

I probably shouldn’t share this trick - it was like a trade secret of Doug Sax at Sheffield Labs. Listen to his remaster of Toys in the Attic and compare it to the original! Doug’s brother built his tube preamplifier.

i can hear the beginings of the AFB..audiogon forum band...

I call dibs on the board...probably have to fight ieales for it...
maybe I can just be the roadie..ha

My Infinity Monitors with Walsh tweeters sounded astonishingly real with cymbals and high hats! Same for my Walsh Sound Cylinders!