If you’ve been playing drums for a while, you would have come across the Evans brand fairly often. Along with Remo, Evans is the top drumhead company, supplying high-quality drumheads to players from all over the world.
One of the brand’s most popular drumheads is the EC2. EC2s are easily identifiable by the black rings around the edges and the slight shine to them thanks to the dual plies.
In this review, we’re going to look at the EC2 Tom Packs that the Evans company offers.
You have the option of 3 packs in the EC2 line. They all have varying sizes, so make sure to get the appropriate sizes for the toms on your drum set. Here are the options:
Option 1
10”
12”
14”
Option 2
10”
12”
16”
Option 3
12”
13”
16”
The most common choice is option 2 as most drum sets have those tom sizes. Option 1 is for a smaller floor tom and option 3 caters to older sets that used to have 13-inch middle toms. You don’t see those too often anymore, but it’s great to know that you can get that size head if you do have a larger tom.
The EC2 drumheads aren’t the most versatile choice in the world. If you’re looking for versatility, it would be better to get a set of coated heads. Coated heads offer warmth along with surfaces that interact better with brushes and other specialty drum sticks.
Evans gives you the option of getting frosted EC2s, but they’re not as warm or versatile as pure coated heads.
So, the clear EC2s score fairly low in the versatility section. However, these heads thrive with heavier styles of drumming. If you’re someone who plays hard and wants quick tones, these are what you need.
The Evans EC2s are top-quality drumheads. If you have a drum set with stock drum heads that came with the purchase of the kit, you’ll be amazed by the difference these heads make when you put them on the toms.
Evans uses specific sound shaping technology to make these heads reduce the high overtones of the toms while enhancing the low-end. They give your drums an incredible punchy sound. They don’t need much muffling, but the toms will get even punchier as you apply muffling.
That punchiness also has plenty of warmth behind it. This is why the EC2s sound so good when you tune your toms quite low.
The EC2s are two-ply heads, meaning they’re incredibly durable. Each ply has a 7-mil film, meaning you get 14-mils in total. This creates a thick drumhead that can easily withstand many beatings.
Heavy drummers love these heads as they last so long after constant hard playing. What’s even better is that they tend to stay in tune for extended periods.
Even if you’re not a rock or metal drummer, you should consider getting these if you don’t want to replace your drumheads often. Their extended lifespan will save you a bit of money in the long run.
The internal dampening ring around the heads tends to help with a bit of stiffness as well.
You’re going to be paying around $50 for this pack which is fairly standard for any pro set of drumheads.
If you’ve never bought drumheads before, you may be tempted to buy a cheaper set of them. We strongly advise against that as a cheap set of heads will be no better than the stock heads that came with your drum set.
You should always aim to get a professional set of heads from Remo, Evans, or Aquarian. And these Evans EC2 Clears are one of the best and safest options.
Something interesting about them is that they tend to make toms from cheaper kits sound much better. The internal muffling along with the switch from cheap stock heads will improve the sound quality drastically.
While these heads will make a drum kit sound decent in any setting, we’d only recommend using them in a studio for rock and metal recordings. Their warmth and punchiness will push through a studio mix quite easily.
They may be a bit too aggressive for other styles, making them harder to mix after the song has been recorded. Coated heads would be a better option in that case as their warmer tone is easier to work with.
It’s a different story in live settings as these heads thrive on stages. Their extended aggressive touch is perfect for live energy levels, even if you’re playing music that isn’t rock or metal. If you’re not using brushes, they’re an ideal option for live gigs.
Also, their durability is another benefiting factor for live settings. You want to be sure that your gear won’t let you down, and the durability of these 2-ply heads will give you peace of mind in all the gigs you play.
The fact that they stay in tune for a decent amount of time is also a big plus.
If you’ve never gotten new heads before, it can be a bit daunting. We recommend the EC2 Clears as they’re one of the safest options to get. They’ll make your toms sound incredible, no matter how high-quality your drum kit is.
They’ll last long, ensuring you don’t need to replace your heads too often. They’ll also stop you from needing to do too much dampening to your drums.
We love the look of the black rings around the heads, and we’re sure you will love them too. Overall, the Evans EC2 Clears are ideal heads for rock, metal, and anyone wanting some long-lasting skins for their toms.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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