Versatile Room Mic for Drums for around $500?

2A Batterie · 20th December 2010

I'm looking at spending around $500 for a good room mic primarily for room sound on drums, but that will also double on vox and other uses. Would a used 414 be good for this? Any general suggestions?

doulos24 · 20th December 2010

mxl v89 sounds good to me you can check out the drum room mic samples on youtube under mxl's channel here http://www.youtube.com/user/MXLMICS#p/u/3/7PEv9IG4Dmk also the old cad e100-2 which is a very flat mic that goes from 10hz to 18khz

BLUElightCory · 20th December 2010

A 414B-ULS would be pretty excellent for this; I'm sure people will chime in with many other capable mics. I'd probably just go snag the 414 and call it a day, it's a desert island mic.

bensaddiction · 20th December 2010

A ribbon mic on room might be a good idea depending on how it would fit in with your other mics etc

Ribbons as room mics tend to roll of the highs ever so slightly and give a really focused beefy kit sound without exaggerating the hats and cymbals so it makes it a prime candidate for really running it thick through a compressor as it picks up the best bits of a room sound (in my opinion anyway so there is less to do in terms of EQ etc and the lows get picked up rather well for beef which is a good thing if your overheads are small diaphragm)

They are nice for background vocals in a sparse mix IMHO not so great for background vox if you need the background vocals to cut through a dense mix though or they are high pitched vocals. They are particularly great in a room with a lot of natural reverb as once again the lack of hyped highs really suits a roomy sound

Brilliant as a 2nd mic on guitar amps or a room mic on bass/guitar amps so a must if you record lots of guitar

They are a figure 8 pickup pattern so they can exaggerate the room sound a little to your advantage and also it gives you a chance of trying M/S stereo techniques and sometimes the side cancellation on a figure8 is just what you need in a live take.

So a shinnybox or a Cascade ribbon (my favourite) with the nicer transformers might suit and would come in under $500 - maybe try the Cascade Gomez if you have $500

But if your mic locker is lacking a good standard dynamic (not a ribbon dynamic) for other uses then 414 might be a better bet to get now but I like my Cascade fathead for the above uses. If you need room + main vocal more than the above uses then a 414 etc would be a better bet

monkeyxx · 21st December 2010

you might also consider the multi pattern AT4050 and omni only mics like the Avenson STO-2, or EV 635a on the cheap

I don't own the AT4050 yet but the other two have been very nice on room tones for me

oh also, KSM44

ray_subsonic · 21st December 2010

Gotta say it .. Either of an AKG 414B-ULS (or a TLII or XLS) second hand, or an AT4050. I use both of these.
It's Definitely worth considering a half decent Ribbon .. A Beyer 160 or 260 second hand would be good.

lionaudio · 21st December 2010

A Sage Bova Ball.. You can find them used sometimes for under 500.. I think there is one for sale at Tapeop classifieds last time I checked.. It's a great mic, and it's omnidirectional

mattqualls · 21st December 2010

I find that ribbons, especially figure 8 pattern ribbons do extremely awesome things for drum rooms. Also double as guitar mic's and sometimes vocal's. Granted I'm no expert but I love my Cascade fathead sounds awesome as a room and you can get two of them for arond $300 or so.

Also, I dig my blue baby bottle as a room mic, but I more so have been using it as an outside kick and outside/side snare mic. Those run for about $350 used. Just my 2 cents.

Usually my outlook on mic's is getting whatever is a good deal or easy to grab on craigslist/pawn shops/second hand stores, then making it work.

20th December 2010	#1
2A Batterie Gear maniac Joined: Oct 2004 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 179 Thread Starter	Versatile Room Mic for Drums for around $500? I'm looking at spending around $500 for a good room mic primarily for room sound on drums, but that will also double on vox and other uses. Would a used 414 be good for this? Any general suggestions?

20th December 2010	#3
BLUElightCory Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,821	A 414B-ULS would be pretty excellent for this; I'm sure people will chime in with many other capable mics. I'd probably just go snag the 414 and call it a day, it's a desert island mic. __________________ Cory Spotts / BLUElight Audio\|Media bluelightaudio@cox.net http://coryspotts.com

21st December 2010	#5
monkeyxx Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2006 Location: Manassas, VA Posts: 2,099 9 Reviews written	you might also consider the multi pattern AT4050 and omni only mics like the Avenson STO-2, or EV 635a on the cheap I don't own the AT4050 yet but the other two have been very nice on room tones for me oh also, KSM44 __________________ www.myspace.com/danwiley http://soundcloud.com/danwiley DIY 4 lyfe

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20th December 2010	#2
doulos24 Registered User Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 262	mxl v89 sounds good to me you can check out the drum room mic samples on youtube under mxl's channel here http://www.youtube.com/user/MXLMICS#p/u/3/7PEv9IG4Dmk also the old cad e100-2 which is a very flat mic that goes from 10hz to 18khz

20th December 2010	#4
bensaddiction Lives for gear Joined: Feb 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 569	A ribbon mic on room might be a good idea depending on how it would fit in with your other mics etc Ribbons as room mics tend to roll of the highs ever so slightly and give a really focused beefy kit sound without exaggerating the hats and cymbals so it makes it a prime candidate for really running it thick through a compressor as it picks up the best bits of a room sound (in my opinion anyway so there is less to do in terms of EQ etc and the lows get picked up rather well for beef which is a good thing if your overheads are small diaphragm) They are nice for background vocals in a sparse mix IMHO not so great for background vox if you need the background vocals to cut through a dense mix though or they are high pitched vocals. They are particularly great in a room with a lot of natural reverb as once again the lack of hyped highs really suits a roomy sound Brilliant as a 2nd mic on guitar amps or a room mic on bass/guitar amps so a must if you record lots of guitar They are a figure 8 pickup pattern so they can exaggerate the room sound a little to your advantage and also it gives you a chance of trying M/S stereo techniques and sometimes the side cancellation on a figure8 is just what you need in a live take. So a shinnybox or a Cascade ribbon (my favourite) with the nicer transformers might suit and would come in under $500 - maybe try the Cascade Gomez if you have $500 But if your mic locker is lacking a good standard dynamic (not a ribbon dynamic) for other uses then 414 might be a better bet to get now but I like my Cascade fathead for the above uses. If you need room + main vocal more than the above uses then a 414 etc would be a better bet

21st December 2010	#6
ray_subsonic Lives for gear Joined: May 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 1,630	Gotta say it .. Either of an AKG 414B-ULS (or a TLII or XLS) second hand, or an AT4050. I use both of these. It's Definitely worth considering a half decent Ribbon .. A Beyer 160 or 260 second hand would be good.

21st December 2010	#7
lionaudio Gear maniac Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 201	A Sage Bova Ball.. You can find them used sometimes for under 500.. I think there is one for sale at Tapeop classifieds last time I checked.. It's a great mic, and it's omnidirectional

21st December 2010	#8
mattqualls Gear maniac Joined: Nov 2010 Posts: 228 5 Reviews written	I find that ribbons, especially figure 8 pattern ribbons do extremely awesome things for drum rooms. Also double as guitar mic's and sometimes vocal's. Granted I'm no expert but I love my Cascade fathead sounds awesome as a room and you can get two of them for arond $300 or so. Also, I dig my blue baby bottle as a room mic, but I more so have been using it as an outside kick and outside/side snare mic. Those run for about $350 used. Just my 2 cents. Usually my outlook on mic's is getting whatever is a good deal or easy to grab on craigslist/pawn shops/second hand stores, then making it work.