Z3 16" Medium Crash

Group: Crash
Type: Medium Crash
Size: 16 Inch
Series: Z3
Weight: ?g
Years of production: 2009 - 2013
Sound file: Z3 16" Medium Crash
Zildjian's Description: <<< - >>>
Review: "The 16″, 17″, and 18″ exemplify the Z3 difference. The Z3 look is a crazy-good mirror-buffed finish over wide lathing and bulging hammer marks. The Z3 sound is glassy but thick, very robust, insensitive to polite nudging, and ripe with shimmering highs.

The 16″ is short but strong; the 18″ full and with a bright spread. Consistently, the Rock crashes registered a higher pitch and a good bit more brashness. The Medium crashes sounded less specialized, and closer to “normal.”

Crashes are a personal choice, and I stayed true to my own history and dug the 17″ Medium the most. But it was a hard call — the 16″s and 18″s were also quite excellent. But at the 19″, things shift a bit."

Review written by John Nyman ("Zildjian Z3 Cymbals Reviewed!", Drum! Magazine Link)

Review: "Next up was a trio of crashes in 16", 17" and 18" diameters. High frequencies dominated the 16" Medium crash, but the silvery quality found in the splash was evident as well. Again, it was incongruously loud and its very tuning encouraged it to slice across playing situations."

Review written by Adam Jones ("Zildjian Z3 Cymbals review", Musicradar.com, August 11, 2009)

Review: "The sound threshold of cymbals is controlled by the size of the cup, so to obtain maximum protection, the 16" ($335), 17" ($369), 18" ($396), and 19" ($427) crashes all have an oversize bell. Yet they remained musical. The Z3 line offers two weights of crashes, medium and rock-the latter for really heavy hitters.

Across the board, the Z3 medium crashes were faster and edgier than the rock crashes. The rock crashes had more body with a bit more high end coming through in the overtones. Both of the 16" models were the fastest and brightest of the bunch. As the sizes increased, the quickness of the attack gave way to fuller sustain.

I compared the 16" medium Z3 with a 16" A Custom medium crash. This test presented a window through which I saw that some characteristics of the A Customs were present in the Z3s. The feel was not far off, considering that the Z3 is a thicker cymbal. But what was missing from the Z3 was the warmth and buttery feel of the A Custom.

The 18" and 19" medium crashes were very appealing, since they felt great when hit and had a richer timbre than the 16" and 17" mediums. Their larger sizes allowed them to breathe a bit more and express themselves in colorful bursts. The rock crashes were slightly more metallic, higher pitched, and sturdier feeling than the mediums. I brought various sizes of both medium and rock crashes to a gig and found that the rock crashes didn't have the dynamic range needed for a set that bounced from Top 40 to hard rock. The medium Z3 crashes were more appropriate in this particular setting. But overall, these crashes might be overpowering if the rest of the band isn't cranking out a lot of sound.

The 20" medium crash ($453) proved to be more versatile than I expected, since it worked nicely as a ride during soft to medium-volume sections. Crashing on this big cymbal created a huge wash that dissipated fast enough to retain ride articulation, which would be great in situations where you want to limit your setup to one cymbal. The 20" Z3 medium crash had a slightly larger bell than the 19". A 20" rock version is not offered."

Review written by David Ciauro ("Zildjian Z3 Series Cymbals", Modern Drummer, August 2009, p. 37)

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