I would like to share my experience with the big three brands of heads: (1) Remo, (2) Evans and (3) Aquarian. Hopefully makatulong ito sa ibang drummers. Please take note that there is no such thing as a "better brand drum head". It is all PREFERENCE.
I will only be reviewing the single ply 10mm heads coated/clear for the three bands. Para hindi malito ang iba, these are the equivalents of the single ply 10mm heads for each brand:
1. Coated Single Ply
(1.a) Remo Coated Ambassador
(1.b) Evans G1 Coated
(1.c) Aquarian Texture Coated
2. Clear Single Ply
(2.a) Remo Clear Ambassador
(2.b) Evans G1 Clear
(2.c) Aquarian Classic Clear
Review Clear Heads
For the clear heads, I find aquarian and remo clear heads sound very close. The evans clear sounds a bit more "plasticky" for me. In terms of tuning, I find the new evans 360 easier to tune, while the aquarian classic clear sounds better for very low tuning. Overall, I prefer clear remo and aquarian heads for my rack toms and the aquarian clear heads for the floor tom.
Review Coated Heads
This is where it becomes interesting. I find that there is a bigger sound difference among the three brands for the coated heads compared to the clear heads. Unfortunately, I also did not like the Evans G1 coated. The coated Evans sounds more muted than the remo and aquarian counterparts. I have nothing against Evans but I just find Remo and Aquarian single ply coated heads more musical.
Now, the Aquarian and Remo single ply coated sound similar but at the same time different. Let me explain by reviewing the two heads for each drum:
(a) Snare (medium to high tuning) - remo coated ambassador wins over the aquarian. I find the aquarian textured coated mutes the snare drum more than the Remo. Furthermore, I find the coated ambassadors produces a more musical "overtones" on the snare drum. The aquarian texture coated was more focused.
(b) Rack Toms (medium tuning) - remo coated ambassador wins over the aquarian. Similar to the snare, the aquarian texture coated produces a more muted but focused sound compared to the remo. Both sounds very full, however, the remo coated ambassadors has a more "musical overtone".
(c) Floor toms (low tuning) - aquarian textured coated wins over remo coated ambassador. The aquarian is REALLY good on the floor toms. You can tune the floor tom low and it will produce a good sound. The aquarian sounds "fatter" and handles lower tuning better. The aquarian head is more controlled than the remo.
Anyway, I hope this helps! I will try to review bass drum heads next time.