This applies to guitars as well... I suppose all instruments... but no where near as much as it does to drums.
The sound a drummer hears sitting behind the kit, on the drum stool, is so different to the sound one hears out in front of the drums as to almost not be the same instrument. It is night and day, and I do not exaggerate. And making it worse... if you tune for the sound you want to hear while on the drum stool it ruins what is heard out front, and vice versa.
Although the main reason some drummers wear headphones, or earbuds, is to hear the band it also allows you to hear the sound 'out front'.
This is has come close to driving me insane over the years. I cannot stand 'ring'... sitting behind the kit if your drums are ringing it's all you can hear, and it's horrible. BUT... to get a nice tone out front they must be set up that way... the 'ring' doesn't project out front anywhere NEAR like what you hear behind the kit.
That is what I like MOST about electronics, probably the ONLY thing I like more about electronics than acoustics... the consistent sound/tone... same behind the kit as in front. - JamesJM
