The Meinl Byzance Medium Crash 18" is an awesome cymbal that is to be used with a full drum set. This is great either as your main crash simple or in compliment with another one. I've only had the chance to use this crash cymbal a few times, mostly just messing around. While I'm not a drummer, a good friend of mine has this at his band's practice space where we play sometimes. He also has a ride cymbal from this series of Meinl Byzance cymbals, and the two work great together. I don't know exactly what this cymbal is made from, but it's definitely well made and should last a lifetime as long as it's not lost or stolen. I don't really know how the sound of this cymbal compares to some of the other crash cymbals in this series, but I'm really a big fan of the way this one does sound. What I mean by that is I'm not sure what other colors they've got, but this one seems very well rounded and great for a variety of purposes. I've only used it for rock purposes, so that's definitely where I see it best fit. It's not the loudest crash cymbal, but definitely can get loud when struck harder. I like the way it sits because it's not overbearing like a lot of crash cymbals are. It's definitely best for the more experienced drummers and professionals since it's not at all cheap and a few cymbals at this price could really add up. Having said this, in all cases you're going to have to pay at least a decent amount to get good sounding cymbals, and you might as well spend it on something of a real high quality like the Meinl Byzance Medium Crash 18". I'd recommend checking out the other crash cymbals that Meinl has to offer, as they have ones of all different sizes and colors...