Meinl Byzance Extra Dry 14" Medium Hihat

Group: Hi-Hats
Type: Medium Hihat
Size: 14 Inch
Series: Byzance Extra Dry
Weight: Top: 857g / Bottom: 1413g

Top: 860g / Bottom: 1384g

Top: 870g / Bottom: 1379g

Years of production: 2007 - Present
Sound file: Byzance Extra Dry 14" Medium Hihat
Byzance Extra Dry 14" Medium Hihat
Byzance Extra Dry 14" Medium Hihat
Meinl's Description: <<< - >>>
Review: "The main sound quality you get from these hi-hats are dry tones. This means that when you strike them, you get a somewhat low-pitched sound that doesn’t resonate for very long.

The sound gets out of the way very quickly, meaning the hats never sound too overwhelming or loud.

This is fantastic for drummers who want plenty of wash without a lot of impact. And it’s why the hats work so well in jazz and low-volume settings.

This just comes with the sacrifice of articulation, meaning you don’t distinctly hear every single note that you play on the hi-hats. They tend to blend into each other more than you hear on traditional hi-hats.

The B20 alloy used for these hi-hats makes them incredibly musical. They’re highly responsive to varying levels of dynamics, so you get full playability from each strike.

But the main construction feature to focus on is the unlathed top hi-hat cymbal. Since this cymbal has a raw surface, it produces very raw and earthy tones.

Not every drummer is a fan of these sounds, but they sound incredibly unique and diverse. The brilliant bottom hi-hat cymbal evens out the sounds a bit, making the hi-hat pair more versatile than if both cymbals were to have unlathed designs.

The bell of the top cymbal is also unlathed, so it has a very earthy tone when you strike it.

Overall, we’d say that these hi-hats work best in jazz settings. The sounds they produce cater most to that sort of musical environment.

As a drummer, you can hit these hi-hats really hard. They’ll sound forceful and effective, but they’ll never produce overwhelmingly loud tones. This makes them perfect for high-energy parts of songs that still need to have some sort of restraint.

These hats are too soft for rock, punk, and metal settings, though. Since they aren’t very articulate, the sounds blend into the music instead of cutting through. And in those louder settings, you want hi-hats that cut.

So, we wouldn’t say that these are too versatile.

High-end hi-hats can be quite expensive, and it’s no different with these 14” Extra Dry Byzance hats.

However, we can confidently say that the price tag is worth the performance quality that they offer.

If you’re a fan of dry cymbals, you’ll love these hi-hats. They’re undoubtedly one of the best pairs of dry hats on the market, so the price-to-value is very high."

Review written by thedrumninja.com (retrieved May 18, 2025)

Artist/song where it can be heard: unknown