I'm curious about this question. It seems that the more people I ask, the more I realize that no two drummers 'hear' drums the same way. Some swear by Gretsch. But not just any Gretsch. Some say it has to be 3ply, some say it's the Jasper multiply. Then we have the Ludwig group. It must the the old 'WFL' or before. We even have some guys saying that Ludwig lost that vintage tone when they adjusted the pressure rollers by 1970. Slingerland drummers weigh in on the RadioKing vs 3ply vs 5ply. Rogers shout similar arguments. On and on it goes.
My question is this...Is there a BEST? It seems to me that we all have opinions and they are very different. I have a 6ply Ludwig kit that I've posted on YouTube. I get gobs of comments (most of which I've deleted) that talk about how wonderful the old vintage Luddies sound. They speak of the 3ply wonders. I haven't the heart to tell them these are the dreaded 6ply shells that everyone shuns like the plague. These aren't supposed to sound good. Even Ringo called them a "bad run". Fact is, they sound great.
Again, I ask...do we know what sounds good?
My gut tells me that there are about three types of drum sounds that we hear. A warm calfskin drum, a warm vintage drum with mylar, and a modern cutting drum. There are variations on these, but that seems to be about it. I've 'a-b' toms from different manufacturers (more modern) and asked several drummers to identify them. They couldn't with any consistency. I've done the same test with vintage drums. Similar results. It's not a very scientific test (I'm a middle school teacher by trade) but it did demonstrate my point. I did this in Florida while teaching at Resurrection Drums. Lots of room for error, but close enough for government work.
I'm not sure there is a marked difference (a volatile statement). Don't get me wrong. I can hear the tiny variations but not anything serious. Head choice and tensioning seems to make more of a difference than brand.
Please weigh in on this. I'm curious to hear what you think.