If you’ve ever recorded drums – or watched an engineer wrestle with a drum mix – you know one of the most hard-fought battles is microphone bleed. One particularly common occurrence is the hi-hat cymbals bleeding into the snare mic. Engineers try to squash it with mic placement, drummers adjust their technique, and in the end, everyone accepts a little bleed as “just part of it.” That’s the problem that HHHusher is trying to solve. For this month’s Product Close-Up, we’ll put the HHHusher to the test.  What’s in the Box  Inside the box, the HHHusher comes ready to integrate into a wide range of hi-hat and mic setups. You’ll find the main HHHusher isolation unit, built around its rigid shell and internal sound-absorbing materials, along with a set of interchangeable neoprene “lip” extensions that let you fine-tune coverage based on cymbal size, mic placement, and playing style. Mounting hardware for attaching the unit securely to a standard hi-hat stand is included, as well as simple setup instructions to get you up and running quickly without guesswork.  The Set Up  Being a left-handed drummer, my hi-hat lives on the right. At the time of this writing, the company does not offer a left-handed version […]

February 2026 Issue