Review: Evans dB Zero Low Volume Mesh Drum Heads

How Do They Sound?

First things first, let’s take a look at how these drum heads sound. We have a good demo video that shows the difference in sound characteristics and sound levels when compared to traditional mylar drum heads. In this video we compare a traditional volume kit with Evans dB Zero mesh heads and Evans dB One low volume cymbals.

Tuning & Tone

These drum heads are made from single ply mesh with no other features to affect the tone, so they tend to be absent of tone themselves. They can’t really be tuned to affect drum tone either due to their lack of resonance, so you’ll mostly be focusing on adjusting the tension to affect the way they feel rather than the way they sound. If you leave the resonant heads on your drums like I do, the tone of the drums can still be tweaked via the resonant heads.

The snare head doesn’t have any built-in snare features like the dB One heads do, so you’ll need to leave the snare wires activated on your snare drum to get that snare sound.

The kick drum is similar to the toms in that it relies on the resonant head to create any tone. I tend to leave the outer head on my kick drum on when using the dB Zero heads to get a little bit more of a natural kick drum sound even though it’s much more quiet.

Volume Reduction

The volume reduction capabilities of the dB Zero heads are their strongest point. These are much like the Remo Silentstroke heads in that they will offer the most volume reduction in sacrifice of tone and resonance. If you’re trying to make your drum kit as quiet as possible, these single ply mesh drum heads will be your best option to get there.

To get the most volume reduction from these, you’ll want to remove the resonant heads from your drums. But you probably will need to leave the resonant head on your snare since there is no built-in snare feature on the 14 inch snare head like the dB One heads offer.

You can also leave the resonant heads on your drums to get a little more resonance and tone, but the volume will be louder. Either way, you have some options with these heads.

Feel & Playability

These drum heads are made from a single ply mesh and they can feel a little more bouncy in terms of rebound depending on how you dial in the tension. I’ve been able to adjust the tension to get them feeling very similar to mylar drum heads, so I like that.

Playing on these feels very natural and I don’t find much of a major difference between these and mylar heads in terms of what I can do with them. Rolls, double strokes and all kinds of techniques feel good on these heads. After playing on these for a while it’s pretty easy to transition back to traditional mylar heads without any sort of shock in terms of feel.

Durability

These heads are made with Evans single ply ShockWeave mesh. I haven’t been able to find much technical detail about ShockWeave mesh, but in practice it looks good and works great. In terms of durability these heads feel at least as durable as a mylar drum head and I’ve never been able to wear them out personally.

Due to the simple design and build, there’s not really much that can go wrong with these unless you manage to wear out the mesh somehow. Using damaged drum sticks could likely wear out the mesh more quickly, but as long as your using sticks that are free of burrs and splinters you should be able to expect good life out of the mesh.

Installation

These are easy to install and there isn’t anything special that needs to be done when compared to traditional drum heads. You’ll want to spend some time dialing in your preferred tension for each drum, but you don’t really need to worry about tuning them, so that can make them a little easier to work with during installation.

What Drum Head Sizes Are Available?

These drum heads are available in a large range of sizes, so they can be a good option for drummers who have larger drum kits or a more unconventional mix of drum sizes around the kit.

Bass Drum Head Sizes

18″
20″
22″
24″

Where Can You Buy Evans dB Zero Heads?

Many drum shops have them in stock if they carry other Evans drum gear. I’ve also seen these labeled and sold as Evans SoundOff drum heads. You can find Evans SoundOff drum heads at Amazon and Guitar Center.

The Verdict

The Evans dB Zero drum heads are a good option for drummers looking for the highest levels of volume reduction and a simple single ply mesh design.

These will work well for low volume practice at home, in apartments or anywhere else. They also pair up nicely with the Evans dB One cymbals, and those are worth looking into if you want matching low volume cymbals.