I was never a big fan of the original DW plastic/felt beaters as I've used Danmar red hardwoods for almost my entire playing career. I tried the Tama Speed Cobra beaters, but don't like the clear rubber tips, feel like they can get hung up on the head for a millisecond. While I love the Danmars, I wanted to find something lighter to experiment with. I felt these beater on a DW 2000 (they came standard) and they felt really good. I bought a pair for my DW 5000 Accelerator and Turbos. I used them (on the red side, taking off the weights on each beater) for one rehearsal and then on my NYE gig. I found they felt really good and sounded great on the playback videos. I'm going to continue experimenting with them!