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Edge hits were comparable to the edges of all other cymbals not covered in rubber: expect the same SPL levels when doing edge hits on a Kit-Toys, Surge, Hart or Pintech PC cymbal. The tones differ slightly, which might determine how much any given sound “cuts through” the rest. Rebound was on par with the Surges.
Pintech PC & Visulite Like the Harts, both Pintech lines have a rubber strike pad on the bow. However, these are made of a soft foam material not unlike the Zildjian mutes used as an experiment on the Surges. As a result, they were the quietest cymbals at all testing ranges under controlled hits. However, as mentioned earlier, because the foam is very soft, it compresses easily under full hits and as a result, SPL levels increased significantly. Furthermore, the Visulite ride’s rubber strike pad didn’t seem to make any difference in dampening stick noise and the entire cymbal gave off a very distinct deep pitch when struck hard on the bow. It’s impossible to say if that sound contributed to the SPL level but it was the only cymbal that generated a unique tone of its own when struck in that manner. The cymbals are made of entirely different materials, the PC line being a relatively thin plastic while the Visulites are a much thicker acrylic. The construction had a significant relative effect on stick noise because the Visulites at 5’ under controlled hits were by far the quietest cymbals, even though we were conducting such hits on identical foam surfaces. Furthermore, even at full hits, the interaction between the soft foam and the thicker acrylic composition of the Visulite gave it SPL levels on par with the all-rubber cymbals. The tone generated by the PC cymbals was a very low pitch, high in terms of SPL level but probably as far from bright-sounding as one could get. Also, the PC cymbals showed the most variety of SPL levels and tone depending on where the
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