I first recall coming across the HHX line many years ago when someone I knew was playing them. I liked them immediately because of both their sound and their cool look.
Sabian recently sent us a few examples of their fairly new Complex line to try out – 14” medium hi hats, 18” thin crash and a 22” medium ride.
The Complex line have raw heavily hammered bells, lots of small hammering and thin lathing over the top and bottom.
14” Medium Hi hats
In all of the years I’ve been doing these reviews, there’s definitely been times when it’s been painful to say goodbye to things when I have to give them back. This is another one of these times.
It’s not that I didn’t particularly enjoy all three examples of the Complex line because I did – and I would have loved to have kept all of them – but these hi hats are going to be especially hard to give back.
For me, these hi hats are almost perfect: they’re comfortable to play – meaning they’re not too heavy or clunky – they have a lovely, gentle, ‘fits right into the track’ sound which blends in without the need to really EQ it. They just work. I think these are some of my favourite hi hats of the last few years and given how these sound, I would have loved to have also tried the 15s with a slightly lower pitch.
These B20 hi hats are available in 14 and 15” sizes.
https://sabian.com/product/14-inch-hhx-complex-medium-hats/
18” Complex thin crash
Thin, dark and responsive are three of the main characteristics of this crash. It explodes quickly and then dies away with a soft decay. Weight-wise, the cymbal isn’t too heavy.
The thin crashes are available in sizes 16”, 17”, 18”, 19”, 20” & 22”.
22” Complex medium ride
The 22” Complex medium ride is thin and dark, and has a medium-sized bell.
I like a ride cymbal that has a nice defined bow/ride sound, clear bell and can be crashed, and this cymbal has all of these features.
The bow sound is clear and precise, the bell is clear and very useable and the cymbal is very crashable, with that crash being quite full sounding. In addition, if you want to go for that big bow/edge wash sound, this will deliver that as well.
For me, this is a great general purpose ride and because that crash sound is so nice, I’d be very happy to loose a regular crash cymbal in favour of these one on a gig.
The Complex medium ride is available in 20, 21, 22, & 23” sizes.
https://sabian.com/product/12212xcn-22-inch-hhx-complex-medium-ride/
As I said, I’d be very happy to own any of these cymbals, but the hi hats really were my favourites. I’d be looking to use these for anything other than really heavy music or playing.
More overall at www.sabian.com
David Bateman
September 2020
