A lot of good points have been made about Neil's drum sound. It is a shame that the best drummer on Earth is victim to bad mixing.
One thing that influences what we hear/don't hear is something called "gate". Gate really limits room noise. So a snare that rings may sound dead. Cymbals don't ring as loudly.
Notice how you can BARELY hear Neil's hi-hats or ride cymbals lately? Too much gate, and probably too much compression, too.
That, and 80 layers of guitar and other instruments hurt the sound.
The brand of drums Neil plays probably have little to do with the final sound.
Whoever mixed the R30 DVD should be in charge of mixing/engineering their next project. His drums were great on that DVD.
