Evans SoundOff Fusion Mute Set Review:
What To Expect from This set
Quality
The sound quality you get from these mutes isn’t anything exciting. They deaden the sounds of your drums and cymbals, so they’re not designed to make your kit sound nice while you practice.
However, they do a fantastic job of maintaining the physical aspect of playing. When they’re placed over the drums, you still get the same responsiveness from each shell.
The cymbals feel different, though. Since the mutes are fairly heavy, you don’t get a lot of give from the cymbals. They tend to feel stiff, which takes a bit of getting used to.
Construction
These mutes are made from a dense rubber material that keeps them as durable as possible. They’ve been around for decades, and we know many drummers that own them and claim that they’ve maintained their quality.
We’re particularly impressed by the pad that attaches to your bass drum. All the other pads simply rest on top of drums and cymbals.
The bass drum pad has a special design where you clamp it onto the rim. It’s designed so that it can fit on any bass drum, no matter how big or small it is. So, it’s quite versatile.
Just note that this is the fusion version of the set, so it comes with a floor tom dampener for 14” floor toms. If you have a 16” floor tom, the mute won’t fill the whole drumhead space.
Performance
These mutes don’t make the drums feel the same to play, but they do a fairly decent job. The mutes for the drums are particularly great in how they feel.
They’re a bit thicker than drumheads, so you naturally get less rebound. That’s actually a good thing, as it helps you strengthen your wrist strength.
In terms of volume, these mutes only produce a fraction of what you get from a standard drum set. You can happily play them at all hours of the night, and no neighbors will hear what you’re doing.
You can even crash on your cymbals, and the mutes will cut out all the resonance.
Price Value Ratio
This set costs around the same price as a set of low-volume drumheads. The value is around the same, as those heads aim to do the same thing with your drum set.
However, the included cymbal mutes allow you to play your cymbals without making any noise, while low-volume cymbals cost a few hundred dollars.
So, we think the price is excellent for the amount of value you get.