The cymbal has a clear stick definition and a pleasant dark sound that turns into a nice, musical wash when hitting harder. The bell sound in my individual isn't quite as clear and bright as the samples led to believe, which was slightly disappointing to me personally, but I still think this is a very good all-round ride in pop/rock context. Another minor complaint is that my cymbal arrived with a tiny dent on the edge, but it's unclear if it was there already at the factory or appeared during transportation. The dent is so miniscule that it probably won't cause any problems, but I take off one star of the quality because of it.