Better Drum Setup?

[acdctom92]

What is a better drum mic setup? SM57s for the snare, rack tom, and floor tom, and a Beta52 for the bass? Or Audix D6 for the bass, and D2 for the snare, and D4s for the toms.

And what are good overhead mics?

[Bang]

I like the i5 a lot on snare. D2s and D4s for toms for sure. Overheads I really love the SCX-25s by Audix, nice and clear and the cymbal attacks are never harsh.

[acdctom92]

Is there a real huge different? Because my guitar teacher absolutely despises the SM57 setup on the drums. He recommended me Audix mics, but they seem to be a bit out of my budget.

[hle144]

Originally Posted by acdctom92

Because my guitar teacher absolutely despises the SM57 setup on the drums. He recommended me Audix mics, but they seem to be a bit out of my budget.

Thats what you get for asking a guitar teacher drum micing techniques.

Sm57 is perfect for snare. If you can't afford Audix mics, getting a good drum sound will be difficult. A good drumset and drummer goes a long way though.

This is the "High End" posting, maybe repost in "Low End Theory"

[Fleaman]

What's 'better'?

What's 'good'?

I myself like the 57 on snare...but that's about it. Although I have obtained great results with 57's on toms in the past....hmm, maybe I should revisit that approach.

I like the SM7 on kick (not in, but just outside the front head), Sen 409 or 421 on toms, GT44's for front/over (I don't usually do real OH's, I tend to do the overs a few feet out front pointing in). If the room is good I'll give Royer 121's a go for the FOK (front of kit) position.

But this is all subjective my friend...you might like the sound of other mics and like different mic positions than I do or different drums/drum heads/cymbals, etc. Not to mention what you're gonna do to the signal after the fact (light compressing, crushing? heavy or light eq'ing?, etc., etc.) This is where engineering meshes with the art of recording. It's sorta like asking a highly respected painter what brushes and paint they use.

BTW, you can get better results with your 1st mic selection over your 2nd mic selections...and vice versa!

[gsqd]

As Steven said above, the Audix mics are very good for pretty much everything on a drum kit. i5 on snare top is really nice and the D6 is simply massive as an "in kick" mic. I'm still stringing 421's all over toms these days and if I need a separate HH and ride mics I will try almost anything as these tend to be the "mix problem" children.

I've never tried the SCX-25's as OH's but I'll be at Steven's place in a few weeks tracking drums so I'll let you know. As of now I'm still loving 451's with really good cymbals and HH's and SM81's for more splashy top sets.

GM

[True North]

An Audix i5 can be purchased for the same price or cheaper than an SM57. I used to use 57's on snare and switched to i5's after comparing. YMMV

[james.ca]

You might give this a go Apexs drum pack II apx 5 bills but a great overall mic deal for kit recordinga s well and can use both live& studio .
.
Sennhiser also and Beyer dynamic has a couple of decent drum pack as well .

james

[Slaytex]

Originally Posted by Blender

I got one of the top three snare tones in history with an Audix i5. Of course you can't have my tallent but you can try to copy the gear I use and maybe you'll be happy.

This should be someone's signature!

Simply classic!