Beatit Test: Meinl HCS Trash Stacks

Effect cymbals are very popular nowadays. Many companies are inventing really crazy stuff to impress drummers. We have all that we can dream of: cymbals with holes, mini and maxi chinas, uneven shapes etc. Every year brings something new into that matter. But there is also a trend coming with cymbals in general- combinig them into effect sets called stacks. Stacks are two (or more) cymbals put on eachother and there is no rule about it. You can put small china on big crash, destroyed o-zone on brand new ride- creativity will drive you through this. Final effect is sometimes very original and great sounding. Most of stacks fade very quick, so these are great cymbals for fast accents. They are great for hip-hop as well as for metal. Today we will present to you our test of the “ready to go” stacks by Meinl. Let’s hear and see some Meinl HCS Trash Stack cymbals in sizes 12″ and 18″!

We are testing Meinl HCS Trash Stacks

Package

Cymbals are packed in standard and durable plastic bags with Meinl logo and website adress on it. Every set is connected with a plastic screw which keeps the cymbals together- it’s great idea because nobody knows what can happen during shipping or transportation.

2. Product

These stacks looks very interesting. Every set contains a china with holes and crash with wide cuts. Both are same size. HCS Trash Stacks are made of brass. For some people (and for us) these cymbals are some kind of eye candy. It’s surely caused by this briliant finish! As we wrote earlier, we have two sets of stacks- 12″ and 18″.

3. Testing

Meinl HCS Trash Stack cymbals were tested in studio contitions. We used a Sonor Ascent drum kit with coated drumheads by Remo. Skins that were used in the video: Remo Ambassador on toms (resonant heads:) Remo Ambassador Clear), Remo Ambassador Coated on snare drum(Remo Clear Snare as the resonant head) oraz Remo Powerstroke 3 Coated on bass drum (Powerstroke 3 Ebony as the resonant one).

Microphones that were used during the recording:

overheads: Proel DMH3 (2 pcs.)
ROLAND R-26 audio recorder (4 pcs.).

We used the 18″ stack as our “main” one for crashing and imitating hi-hat. The 12″ was a typical effect stack. Music used in this video was composed by Kuba Leciej.

4. Our Impressions

Meinl HCS Trash Stack sounds really nice and interesting. When we will screw them to a stand little bit softer they will have a lot of sand and washiness. They also fade longer. It’s perfect for crashing actions. When they are a bit loosen they are also more difficult to control. When you hit them with a small amount of power there is an unpleasant sound coming out of the stack, it’s more like annoying noise. Fortunately enough when you will screw them tight they are just perfect! Stacks are cutting through and sounds just right. Bell doesn’t matter here, but if you try you can get some cool pingy sound of it. We have to admit that we had a great fun testing these goodies!

5. Summary

Meinl HCS Trash Stack series can be used by people who like new and strange sounds. When you will learn how to control them you will get great sound out of it. Unfortunately these stacks are made of brass and are more susceptible to break. That means no ultra hard hitting! That also means that you can’t control them at every dynamic range because when you hit it too soft there is only annoying noise coming out. HCS series is dedicated to the beginners. We are pretty sure that more advanced players will make a good use of them. Especially because of their size option (a lot of sizes to choose). 18″ stack costs about 130 Euros, the 12″ one costs about 60 Euros.

6. Basic Data