Okay. Big long list of preferences..

OUTDOOR

Snare:
Pearl
Yamaha
Dynasty

Quads
Dynasty
Yamaha
Pearl

Bass
Yamaha
Dynasty
Pearl

Cymbals:
Sabian
Zildjian
Paiste

Summary: Pearl: The best reason to play Snare. The other two just demolish because, call me crazy, I don't like the big, fat, wet sound. I'm a dry kind of guy, and Dynasty delivers. Especially in durability. I'm sure that in the future, Dynasty will be the drum found way back in the closet that has their colors faded with those old kevlar heads on them.

INDOOR

Snare:
Dynasty
Pearl
Yamaha

Quads:
Dynasty
Pearl
Yamaha

Bass:
Dynasty
Yamaha
Pearl

Cymbals:
Sabian
Zildjian
Paiste

Summary: Dynasty: Simply the best (indoors). Their nice dry sound cuts PERFECTLY through any stadium. And that's how I likes it.

Zildjian cymbals are much too dark for either arena. They are easily my first pick for drum set, but for marching percussion, Sabian's got that down to an art, which is why you'll see more lines with Sabian than Zildjian in the forecoming years.

The funny thing about brands is that I can think of lines using just about any brand you want to throw out there that have sounded good...I think it has a lot more to do with the tuning than the brand. Scott Johnson is a great example of this...when he was at SCV, they used Pearl, and they sounded great. When he first went to BD, they used Yamaha and they sounded great. Now they use Dynasty, and they sound great.

I can say that in my experience Yamaha drums have been more durable than Pearls (not by a ton, mind you.) I have never used Dynasty, but I have friends who say their hardware is bad, and other friends who swear by them. Go figure.

Im gonna hafta go with:

Pearl Snares - very nice, rich, articulate, and unique snare sound
Dynasty Tenors - very articulate, not too resonant and skanky
Yamaha Bass - sound great at high and low dynamic ranges

Id have to say that all around, id go with yamaha. The drums are durable and not extrememly heavy; The set at my HS has been there since 1997, and with proper care, they can last a LONG time. We just got new squints this past year, but the snares an basses are still doing just fine. And as far as mallets, i believe that yamaha produces the best sound available.

i would have to rank it like this:

snare
1)Pearl
2)Yamaha
3)Dyansty
4)Premier

Tenors
1)Dynasty
2)Pearl
3)Yamaha
4)Premier

Basses
1)Dynasty
2)pearl
3)premier
4)Yamaha

The new line I am playing on uses Dynasty drums. My old line uses Yamaha. I really liked the Yamaha drums better. Of course, I only played on the snares.

Snare: Pearl. Yamaha. Then Dynasty.
Tenors: Dynasty. Pearl. Then Yamaha.
Bass: Pearl. Dynasty. Then Yamaha.

SNARE:
Yamaha

Tenors:
Yamaha

Bass:
Pearl

Not too many people mentioned the kind of heads, as they bring out different sounds. Remo heads just seem to be the best out of all of them. Although they take a while to tune... we cranked all of them at the Raiders this weekend and 6 of them popped by the end of the day. but anyway!

Snare- Yamaha sfz. Can't beat the double timbre.
tenors- tie between dynasty and pearl with remo emperor heads.
bass- pearl championship series. they just plain sound better

Okay, I definately don't like Dynasty snares.

Yamaha Snares
Dynasty Tenors
Yamaha Basses

I hear Pearl is really good, but I don't know for myself so I left them out.