5 Best Ride Cymbals for Metal

52.38% of users selected Sabian 20" SBr Ride SBR2012, 19.05% selected Zildjian L80 Low Volume 20" Ride, 19.05% selected Zildjian Planet Z Ride ZP20R, 4.76% selected Zildjian K Custom 20" Dark Ride and 4.76% selected Meinl 8" High Bell C8BH Classics. Every month we analyze your answers and change our rating.

Best Ride Cymbals for Metal – Buyer’s Guide

Here we present our ride cymbals for metal review. It shows our fine selection of offers that we found in various online mail-order companies. We weighed exactly 5 Ride Cymbals on the gold scale for you. We estimated 18 hours for the evaluation, during which our team filtered out models with excellent quality and a very good price. For this purpose, the statements of 1601 customers were semantically parsed, and the exact product data of all five models were compared in detail. The meta-analysis conclusion: We have included those products with excellent quality and an outstanding price/performance ratio in our comparison table. In the upper rows, you will find our comparison winner. The online products that have been rated as very good can be taken from the comparison table immediately afterward. One piece of advice from us: Don’t let the comparison winner fall by the wayside! The quality of this model was particularly convincing.

On the other hand, the price-performance winner depends on two factors: High quality at a great price. But see for yourself!

External reviews at a glance

When dealing with reviews on different platforms, people often mean that they cannot be believed. Making it quite so easy for yourself and simply dismissing valuable customer opinions – you shouldn’t do that – we think – and take a closer look. If an external review seems unusual to us, such as an overly high award of stars in combination with many very bad reviews, we order the product and subject it to an internal test, a laboratory test, or an external practical test. We do not publish products in our comparison table behind which we suspect purchased reviews. The number of reviews left on Amazon and eBay has multiple significance for us.

For the evaluation of our preference matrix, we assume the following conditions: 1. the more reviews, the more popular the manufacturer brand 2., the more reviews, the better known the individual product While we have dealt with the level of awareness of a make in more detail in the first third of this text, we would like to take a closer look at the makes in detail in the following. Taking our assumptions into account, how popular is which model?

As the interested reader already knows, we look at the quantity as well as the value of the statements in the consumer reviews. Further up in the text, you will find a list of brands and the overall rating. Here we will now look at the star ratings of individual products together.

Manufacturer brands: An analysis

Currently, our comparison table contains two different manufacturer brands. Specifically, the following are in it:

• Sabian
• Zildjian

Strong brands Incidentally, the brand that is present in the table with the most items is Sabian – it appears four times. The makes are called: 12249B, 22172X, and 22214XB. Collect and evaluate product data of fundamental importance. If you look closely, you will discover the features that are particularly different from other models. The first feature here is the price: the cheapest brand is Zildjian.

According to this, Zildjian cymbals seem to be especially popular. If following current trends is important to you, you should consider buying Zildjian ride cymbals. These were our findings from analyzing external factors.

What do ride cymbals tell you about the material?

Ride cymbals are made of two main materials. You can choose between a brass or bronze ride cymbal. The material gives the cymbal, also called a ride cymbal or accent cymbal, its characteristic golden color and has an impact on the sound of the cymbal. Suppose you want to create a darker and fuller tone. In that case, it is recommended to choose a model made of bronze in our crash cymbal comparison, which, as highlighted in various ride cymbal tests on the Internet, has a higher quality.

Can multiple ride cymbals be combined?

Sound plates are an essential accessory for any drum set. You can combine a variable number of cymbals and choose different types. Some manufacturers also offer ride cymbals as a set of several copies.

How much money should I spend?

If you are planning to start drumming or have only been playing for a few weeks, there is nothing to be said against a very inexpensive starter set between 100 and 200 dollars. You probably lack the experience and, therefore, the comparability, and you just want to play (at home). Maybe you don’t know yet if playing drums is something for you in the long run. If you realize after some time that you play a lot, have a band, and develop clear ideas about your cymbals’ sound, you can also gradually exchange individual instruments. 

It’s a little different if you’ve been enthusiastically playing for a while, maybe have a band and drummer idols (with great-sounding cymbals), and now want to take the next step. In such a case, it is definitely worth investing in higher quality instruments because anything else can become a motivation killer. Depending on your budget, we recommend a price range starting at 250 dollars for a set with the hi-hat, crash and ride, and in the 350 dollars range, you can already get handmade sets made of B20 bronze. If you want a set from one of the big manufacturers, you’re looking at a good 600 dollars. Such sets have the potential to accompany you for many years. 

What are the advantages over cymbals purchased separately?

A very clear advantage is the price because it is usually significantly lower than that of separately purchased instruments. Depending on the manufacturer, cymbal sets are also pre-selected at the factory to ensure that the included cymbals sound good individually and harmonize with each other. Last but not least, the purchase of a set also represents a significant time saving because each cymbal does not have to be individually selected, possibly paid for separately and delivered. 

What is actually included in such a cymbal set?

Under the term cymbal set (often also called cymbal set or cymbal pack), music stores sell ready-made cymbal combinations. In the entry-level range, three models of common sizes are included by default, including a 14 hi-hat, a crash in 16 inches, and a ride in 20 inches. Such configurations are usually available from the factory from the well-known cymbal manufacturers, but some dealers also put together their own sets, often from instruments of their own brands. However, there are also deviations from the standard composition, for example, another crash cymbal or also effect cymbals such as chinas, splashes, or perforated models.

Machine production vs. hand-hammering

In addition to the question of what material cymbals are made of, drummers are naturally also concerned with the manufacturing methods. Hand hammering is considered the supreme discipline, so you’ll rarely find instruments made accordingly in the lowest price segment. Instead, less expensive cymbals are usually “pressed,” which means that a computer-controlled press brings the cut plates into shape. Here, however, it is also important to note where the cymbals were manufactured. For example, you’ll notice that entry-level cymbal sets from American and European manufacturers are exclusively machine-made, while Turkish instruments, even in the mid-price range, may well be hand-hammered. This is simply due to the fact that automated production is cheaper in Western industrialized countries, and in Turkey, the production by hand also has a long tradition. Which sounds better may be called a matter of taste, but objectively the machine production provides a higher consistency. However, you should not attach too much importance to this question; in the end, it simply comes down to which set appeals to you the most in terms of sound. 

Useful Video: 5 Awesome Rock Rides – Which Is Best For You?

Final thoughts on the ride cymbals for metal

On the whole, we want to state that due to the high price difference, and likewise due to the significant assessment differences of previous consumers, not least also due to the heterogeneous assessments of our editorial team, an exact comparison is essential even before ordering. The good news here is that you can save yourself all the comparative work with just one look at the comparison table. You can conveniently use the results of our comparison work in our popular table for free. You can find the comparison table at the top of this page. With this link, you can easily get back to the top: to the comparison table. For savers, by the way, we recommend the manufacturer brand Zildjian and the product L80, which promises a particularly good deal. Quality-conscious consumers who do not shy away from upscale prices take a look at the cymbals from Sabian.

On the other hand, those who want to track down the trendy product will be in good hands with the Zildjian brand’s ride cymbals. Last but not least, we would like to point out that we have already tested and compared far more than 1,000 product categories in addition to ride cymbals. For example, you can also look at drums for metal, amps, and guitars to find the best product for your needs at the best price.