Cheap drum mic kit

[Musepro]

I want to sell my Shure Beta52, Audix D2, Senn 421 and SD condenser mics that I usually use on drums, place the money where it is needed elsewhere and buy an inexpensive mic kit so that I can keep on working in my personal studio.

With that said, I am considering the Shure PGDMK6XLR 6-Mic Pack $400, Audix Fusion 6 Drum Mic Pack $279, Nady DMK7 Drum Mic Pack $170, CAD PMP742C 7-Piece Drum Mic Pack $250, Samson 7 Kit Drum Mic Pack $232 and a friend who is an audio genius and ex-engineer for RCA is currently dealing some Superlux mics that he says are the best of the cheap chinese mics.

Have any of you used any of these sets and if so, what do you think? I need to scale back on commercial recording projects, focus attention elsewhere in the record business, but still want to keep working in my home studio, where this drum mic kit will be used.

Thanks!

[John Suitcase]

I have the Nady kit and it works fine. You may notice some minor loss in quality I suppose, but I use this kit for recording bands all the time, and haven't had any complaints.

You can hear some stuff I've used it for here:

http://suitcaserecordings.com/demoreels.html

Any of the recording near the top use the Nady mics on the drums (though a SM57 on the snare, and GT44s as over heads. But the toms and kick are Nady)

[matt thomas]

The Audix non-fusion ones are really good, an not much more than the ones you list, about $550 from memory.

Nady DMK7 Drum Mic Pack $170

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I was putting a studio together for some friends and they ran out of bones for the project.
They pick one of these Nady drum packs up and we checked ot out 2 nights in a row.
It was the "upgraded" one with the silver condensers. Model? who cares.

It was kinda funny because I had brought a SM81 for the control portion of the A/B and by the end of the night we figured out that we could put the 81 anywhere in the room and it sounded better than anything we tried with the Nadys.

They are super blurry, slow, lack ANY detail.
This was the first time I had heard a mic (mics) that I would consider un-useable.

2 57's on OH and a D112 in the kick will smoke the Nadys any day.


dfegad Nady


IMHO....no offense meant John. We all have different ears.
And I am no elitist, I own plenty of crap.


D

[SometimesY]

I own the Shure PG mic pack and have used it for several drum recordings through the years. It definitely gets the job done, and I have few complaints regarding its quality. As long as you have a good source (i.e. a well-tuned drum kit with a competent individual on the throne) then you should get some good results. Just throw in a 57 for the snare and maybe an extra one (or some cheap boundary mics) for a good room sound, and that should get you by just fine.

Chris

[John Suitcase]

2 57's on OH and a D112 in the kick will smoke the Nadys any day.


dfegad Nady


IMHO....no offense meant John. We all have different ears.
And I am no elitist, I own plenty of crap.


D

None taken, I should note that I often also use an Oktava MK219 outside the kick to fatten it up and give it a little more definition. And you're right to a degree, I always limit the drum mics, and run a tiny bit of tube distortion to get them the "crack" a little more.

Maybe I should look into some other kick and toms mics!

[tINY]

You should consider the Earthworks kit too (unless you do a lot of post-processing and need a bunch of mics).



-tINY

[djavid15]

I would definitely check out the superlux mics. They are so good sounding. Listen to the demo on their page. The sound is very smooth and well worth the price. Not many people are into these mics for some reason. Probably because they aren't well known, and they are a smaller company. I would listen to your friend if I were you.

Superlux Demo

[tINY]

Whoops - looking at low end theory. Nevermind the Earthworks....



-tINY

[djavid15]

Ya I was gonna say...................................

I wish I had the money for an Earthworks kit. By the way, do they live up to the hype? Also, how is the kickpad?

[SoundChances]

I've got the 4 mic Shure PG Kit and it does get the job done.
The 56's sound fine on Toms but don't really cut it on Snare for me.
The kick mic is pretty weak, I don't know if I got a bad one or if they are all like this, but mine just can not handle really loud sounds. Recorded a really rocking tune just a while back and was getting distortion from the mic itself.
I've since learned to pull it back a bit on anything the drummer is really going to stomp the kick on.

Don't have the PG81's in my set so can't comment on those.

[mtstudios@charter]

Originally Posted by Musepro

I want to sell my Shure Beta52, Audix D2, Senn 421 and SD condenser mics that I usually use on drums, place the money where it is needed elsewhere and buy an inexpensive mic kit so that I can keep on working in my personal studio.

With that said, I am considering the Shure PGDMK6XLR 6-Mic Pack $400, Audix Fusion 6 Drum Mic Pack $279, Nady DMK7 Drum Mic Pack $170, CAD PMP742C 7-Piece Drum Mic Pack $250, Samson 7 Kit Drum Mic Pack $232 and a friend who is an audio genius and ex-engineer for RCA is currently dealing some Superlux mics that he says are the best of the cheap chinese mics.

Have any of you used any of these sets and if so, what do you think? I need to scale back on commercial recording projects, focus attention elsewhere in the record business, but still want to keep working in my home studio, where this drum mic kit will be used.

Thanks!

Just get BFD and be done with all of it.
If you do or like to program drums that is.

www.bluethumbproductions.com

[John Suitcase]

I've read of people using two kick shells taped together, with an SM57 in there. I've even used a PZM lying on a blanket in the kick with good results!

I think that experimenting with any of these mics will get you closer to what you want. Just try to get a good kick sound, good snare sound, and passable overheads and toms. I really think that the three keys to a good recording (from a listener's perspective) is having good Kick, Snare, and Vocals. Everything else can sound a little funky and be more colorful. But the kick and snare are what convey the motion of the tune (talking rock here), and the vocals are what gets most of the listener's attention.


On the cheap drum mic thread, does anyone have a small diaphragm condenser that is cheap and rugged enough to pair up with an SM57 on a snare? Jow Chiccarelli uses an AKG 451, but I'm looking for something a little more inexpensive that I wouldn't worry about a drummer smashing!

[tINY]

I haven't used the Earthworks kit, so I have no idea how the pad is (should be fine, not much to screw-up there). The EW mics are definately not low end, though (except that they are very versital, so the value is there). The are phenominal for accurate recordings.

As far as a cheap SDC, the Kel Audo HM-1 looks interesting....



-tINY

[John Suitcase]

Originally Posted by tINY

As far as a cheap SDC, the Kel Audo HM-1 looks interesting....

I hadn't seen those before, but their audio clips sound very nice. Just what they say, not too much hype, and not too boxy, either. Not sure how it'd sound on a snare, but I can imagine it having some nice uses...

[djavid15]

Originally Posted by John Suitcase

I've read of people using two kick shells taped together, with an SM57 in there.

Do you mean, like one bass drum shell is right in front of the other to create a really long bass drum, or did you mean to say bass drum head?

[JackInslee]

i suggest the pgdmk6... i just got it, and it has just about all you'll need. cables included. great price too..

unless you wanna piece it together with a d112 and some 57's with shitty condensors overhead.

which will run you more than 400

[John Suitcase]

Originally Posted by djavid15

Do you mean, like one bass drum shell is right in front of the other to create a really long bass drum, or did you mean to say bass drum head?

Yeah, the theory being that it gives the bass waves more time to develop. It's sort of like the story of Butch Vig using a really long, wide cardboard tube attached to the end of Dave Grohl's Kick drum to get that deep kick sound. That story may be untrue, but I've heard it in a few places.

Here's a pic of the technique being used by Tore Johansen on The Franz Ferdinand album:

Tore Johansen kick cannon

The caption says he has an SM57 in there!

[SometimesY]

The kick mic is pretty weak, I don't know if I got a bad one or if they are all like this, but mine just can not handle really loud sounds. Recorded a really rocking tune just a while back and was getting distortion from the mic itself.
I've since learned to pull it back a bit on anything the drummer is really going to stomp the kick on.

------------------------
The only way that I could get good results out of that PG52 was to position it about 3" outside of the bd, centered with no front head. Then through a quilt over the bd to get rid of some of the cymbal bleeding.

But I agree, it does deliver bad results when placed inside the kick.

[PhilE]

Samson kit sounds really good- fragile and WILL break (i'm down a few mics from mine after about 16 months of solid use)
The 'overheads' are fine for ride and hat but not o/h the toms sound good (esp underneath with a 421 on top for rock) snr is nice under but have a 57 on top still.
Kick is lovely- seriously... I use it on every session as my default these days- its versatile rounder than a 112 more modern than a d12 etc etc.
Oh yeah- these mics have a MAJOR design flaw... they are on fixed clips that leave them in the way of most drummers if you go on top!

[jangoux]

Buy a bunch of used sm57s and a kick mic. The 57s even work as overhead (kinda dark overheads...but i guess better than anything by nady)

[everybody's x]

I agree that you could do everything with 57's, dont like them for OH though.

the audix stuff is the best of what you mentioned originally


2 mxl 990's will cost you $120 and make a fine pair of overheads too
coupled with 2 pzm's you may not need anything else.

[AlexLakis]

I second the MXLs. I've used this budget setup before and gotten great results:

AKG D112: Kick...I'd use a Shure Beta 52 instead, tho, I just think it sounds thicker and juicier for the most part.
SM57: Snare and toms. They won't do you wrong.
MXL 603: Overheads. Sizzle fo chizzle.
MXL 990: Room mic, halfway in the doorway of a bathroom adjoining the recording room.

The bass drum mic is the only mic above $100. I only used this setup for rock, and it always turned out well.

[PhilE]

NO REALLLLLLLYYY!!!!!! Try the samsons- I was given a set and had no need for drum mics- I only have my own mix room and track at studios with 57s 421s re20s U47s 112s 414s etc etc- but I bought a load of stuff and the guy threw in this 7 piece kit and said 'i'd like to know what you think'... and I like em! Of course they are never alone on a kit but they really do get leant on at times! esp.the kick

[captain54]

2 Octava mc 012's as OH's and an Audio Technica pro 25 for kick in a three mic setup...

total cost of all mics picked up used probably less than $250.......