Compare all your favorite cymbals at home with Thomann’s Cymbot
Test play cymbals with your mouse!
5,0 / 5,0 | 
Cymbals…. don’t we just love to endlessly discuss the best hi-hat, the washiest crash, and the jazziest ride? In the end, all that matters are your ears. But how can you tell without ordering ten different cymbals to select one? Now, there is Cymbot from Thomann. With this new feature as part of Thomann’s vast cymbal selection, you get a much better first impression.
Cymbot lets you play your favorite cymbals
Sure, there are sound examples, YouTube reviews, and all your drummer friends badgering you about that one crash ride you just need to complete your set. But actually playing a cymbal is a very different story. Hitting it at different spots with different velocities actually reveals a cymbal’s character.
With Cymbot, you can now compare* many cymbals in Thomann’s catalog with your mouse. In the process of creating the tool, Thomann’s audio engineers meticulously sampled hundreds of cymbals, from hi-hats to rides to a huge variety of crashes. To ensure a constant velocity for each hit (that way, different cymbals are easier to compare), they built an actual cymbal robot.
Cymbot was born. Each cymbal was recorded in the same soundproofed recording booth with high-quality microphones.
Easily compare cymbals
Cymbot has a drumstick mounted to it. It hit each cymbal with three different velocities. For crash cymbals, the bot plays the cymbal at the rim. For rides and hihats, different positions at different velocities were recorded.
And now, you can load up Cymbot for any cymbal in Thomann’s catalog, where sounds have already been recorded, and play the cymbal with your mouse! Whenever you see the button “To the Cymbot”, you can load up the tool and test the cymbal yourself.
Select between three different impact strengths. And then, just click the selected cymbal to hear how it sounds. You can also mute a cymbal you just played, but clicking the little hand symbol next to it – neat! At the time of writing, this new tool* is available for a select group of the most popular crashes and rides in Thomann’s catalog. But over time, more and more cymbals will be added. This ties in with useful tools like “Cable Guy”* for finding the right cable you’re looking for or “StompenbergFX” for comparing guitar pedals*.
The five best ride cymbals for beginners on Cymbot
To get you started with this new tool, we’ve selected five ride cymbals for beginners. You can try out Cymbot on the respective product pages for each product. Ready, set, rock!
Paiste PST3 20″ Ride
This ride is part of Paiste’s proprietary “Paiste Sound Technology Series”. It’s 20″ in size and brings a pretty wide range of sounds to the table. The PST3’s bell is on the brighter side, making this ride a perfect entry* into Fazz, Fusion and Rock.
Meinl 20″ HCS Ride – With Cymbot!
Meinl’s HCS series is also aimed at beginners. With this 20″ model, you get a pretty wide range of sounds and a bell that sounds a bit darker than Paiste’s model. That makes this ride a perfect entry* for the Rockers and Stoners about to start drumming.
Sabian 18″ B8X Crash Ride – Best of both worlds
There are two types of drummers – those who need a clear separation of crash and ride duties and those who have seen (and heard) the light. You’ll save so much space! And for most crashing and riding duties, cambals like the B8X Crash Ride *from Sabian sound great. Hear for yourself with Cymbot!
Zultan 22″ Caz Ride – Hand hammered bronze
Now, we’re getting into mid-priced territory. And the Zultan’s 22″ Caz Ride*, you can’t really go wrong, especially if you’re a Jazz or Fusion type of person. So, its bell is on the brighter side of things, and it doesn’t sound as assertive as other rides. But in terms of dynamics, the Caz Ride isn’t far off the big, much more expensive rides.
Istanbul 19″ Xist Dry Dark Ride – Compare it with Cymbot!
If you’re on the darker side of drums (in terms of sound, that is), this Dry Dark Ride* from Istanbul’s Xist series is where it’s at. Hand-hammered, made from B20 Bronze, this ride brings a huge range of tonal nuance. If you do compare it through Cymbot, listen closely how different this Dark Ride sounds at different velocities
More on Cymbot and Thomann
* This post contains affiliate links and/or widgets. When you buy a product via our affiliate partner, we receive a small commission that helps support what we do. Don’t worry, you pay the same price. Thanks for your support!
- Cymbot lets you compare cymbals at home!: Thomann
- Look for this symbol on a cymbal's product page : Thomann
- A selection of Cymbot-ready cymbals: Thomann
- Compare all your favorite cymbals at home with Thomann's Cymbot: Thomann
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One response to “Compare all your favorite cymbals at home with Thomann’s Cymbot”
great idea