Sabian 18″ HHX Manhattan Jazz Crash Cymbal

Sabian’s HHX series is specified as “Modern Dark . . . drier, dirtier, funkier”. The word “Dark” translates to lots of low frequency undertones, and I think, after having analyzed quite a few cymbals, “dirtier” means more midrange wash . . . more “SHHHHH” to the sound. The current review is of their 18″ HHX Manhattan Jazz, which is classified as crash cymbal. Its medium thin weight delivers a bright, but not too bright, sound. It is suited for riding the body as well as the bell.

In the close-up photo, you can see that the entire cymbal has medium sized lathing lines from the bell to the outer edge. Hammering is more clearly seen in the main photo above, and it appears that the hammer strokes are large, and deepest at the middle, while more shallow towards the center and towards the outer edge. It’s a unique profile.

The cymbal crashes easily because of its weight, and the sustain is medium. As I mentioned, you can ride the body and the bell of this cymbal, both of which sound very good.

The crash spectrum shows peaks at 140 Hz, 220 Hz, 470 Hz, 900 Hz, 1.4 kHz, 1.8 kHz, and a very high peak at 3.8 kHz. The sound then trails off to 60 kHz.

The peak of the crash occurs at 0.12 seconds with a medium speed decay.

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).

If your sound card cannot play the high resolution file, click HERE to listen to an MP3 sound file.

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