The Sabian Cymbal Company was founded in
1981 in New Brunswick, Canada by Robert
Zildjian, son of Avedis Zildjian III, the head of
the Zildjian Company.

Robert agreed not to use the Zildjian name, so
he formed the word "Sabian" from the first two
letters of the names of his three children, Sally,
Billy and Andy.

The most notable difference between the Zildjian
Cymbal Company and the Sabian Cymbal
Company is, Zildjian uses a softer, mellower
sounding alloy while Sabian uses a more
tin-based alloy.

Some other interesting differentiating
characteristics are, Sabian Cymbals are
relatively thinner for their advertised weight.
They also have longer sustain than Zildjian, with
a few exceptions, but Zildjian Cymbals have a
faster response.

The cymbals of the two companies can be
distinguished by sound fairly easily by anyone
who has played with both of them.