Sonor Momentum Review: Maple vs Birch vs Beech – Full Sound Comparison!

[Jules]

HERE WE GO!!!

[Jules]

Early reply (I am only 3 minutes in) seems like doing a comparison and only one of the shell materials is testing with a wrap creates a little bit of an unlevel playing field. How can having plastic glued to the shell NOT measurable impact the resonance/sustain/tone? Maybe on day we can get some experiments going.

Secondly, it's not a level playing field when using different sized drums. I think the comparison gives us the flavor of the different options, but we can't do a 1:1 analysis.

Before I get into my take on the different shells it's important to know that I am going into this with a bias. I THINK I prefer Birch across the board as I start this video. Can I be objective (maybe someone will do a blind, evenly matched A/B/C video soon.

Maple: Great 'round' tone. Wet, melodic and snappy with nice even sustain. Great impact on the bass drum.

Birch: slightly drier but still pretty melodic.

Beech: More snap on the front end, but maybe less melodic through the decay

I could live with any of these. If I had to pick a prepack - I would probably go with Maple, with Birch as a secondary choice if my finish/configuration wasn't in stock in Maple. (I am surprised, actually)

If I were going to order individual drums, I would go with:
Maple Toms
Birch Bass Drum
Beech snare

BUT, I haven't chosen all three for the sake of choosing all three. I liked the melody of the Maple Toms, The punch of the Birch bass drum (it's a 24" so this is where a comparison of similar set ups could be a game changer. And the Beech snare just had more front end snap and while I tend to favor metal snares, I would certainly be happy with the Beech snare drum.

Patting myself on the back: I think I was able to be objective listening to this comparison despite the fact I assumed the Birch was going to win out!