Paiste 16″ Signature Fast Crash Cymbal

The Paiste Signatures are a superb line of cymbals. This one is their 16″ Fast Crash. It’s fast, bold, and beautiful.

The pitch of the 16″ vs. the 17″ Signature Fast Crash cymbals is obviously different, but the tonality is similar because they are of the same alloy, lathing, and hammering process. However, they are also somewhat darker than other crashes of the same size, but different model. They don’t have a trashy wash, but, rather, the wash is very clean and bright. In my opinion, the Signature line is one of Paiste’s best.

The cymbal has a very bright finish, but is not what would be classified as the “Brilliant” finish, because that particular finish involves the use of abrasives, which smoothes out the lathing, and the lathing here definitely stands out. I would classify this more as a “Buffed” finish. This cymbal is made from Paiste’s proprietary B15 bronze, and I have to say that I love the sound.

The frequency response at the initial crash rolls off a bit lower in frequency than the 17″ crash (compare the region between 10 kHz and 20 kHz, and between 90 dB and 100 dB), but decays more slowly.

The peak of the crash occurs at 0.12 seconds and has a moderate sustain.

Click HERE to listen to an audio sample, which will include crash (when appropriate), ride, and bell sounds (these are 24 bit, 176.4 kHz wav files, so be sure your sound card is capable of handling these high resolution sound files).

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