S-Hoop SH148 14" Drumhoop 8-hole

Bought this with main goal to lower stick chipping from the hoop. Does great in that regard, but I was also pleased how the response of the snare changed, in a good way and the sound become more focused. Much more consistent and powerful cross stick action as well. Looks cool too. Im diggin it and think it worth it.

I used these as a replacement to the thin triple-flange hoops of my Gretsch Club set.
PROS:
- it now looks nice and a bit more high-end
- muffling o-rings stay in place and don't fly away on stage
- sound is a bit more focused, not a major change
CONS:
- playing staccato patterns on just the tom rims sounds really bad now, I had to eliminate those passages from the songs
- expensive.

I purchased S-hoops for all my toms, changed from 1.6 to these S-hoops, it totally changed the sound making it more focused and decreased unwanted overtones which helped a lot in recording drums

I use these on my 7 ply birch 14" x 5" snare drum.
This hoop acts as a snare sound equalizer - it attenuates higher frequencies in favour of mid and low-mid range. It gives some extra bite to your rim shots. I would say something similar as putting Remo's Ring Control on your snare drum, but without choking the sound that much.
S-hoop build quality is superb.

stronger and more rigid than triple flange drum hoops but cheeper and less damaging to drumsticks than diecast drum hoops.
they help focus the sound of an drum head and help give the drum a more balanced, rounded sound.