Going to my local audio shop on monday, and the wise folk raised a good point in suggesting i go for a single bass drum mic as opposed to buying a drum mic set.
Im looking around the £150 price point, i already have access to a d112 so it would be nice to have another option to use, at the shop they have:
The Senni 602 can be absolute magic on some bass drums. Depends on the tuning of the drum, but well worth a try. Not a huge fan of the others on your list.
__________________
_______________________________________________
Ed Billeaud - Snowflake Studio
___________________________________________
There is no justification for the exploitation of weaker beings. We cannot advance as a species until we respect the rights of other species. One Earth, all earthlings. http://www.soundclick.com/edbilleaud
The Senni 602 can be absolute magic on some bass drums. Depends on the tuning of the drum, but well worth a try. Not a huge fan of the others on your list.
I was just having a listen online to a few samples and it seems great! I found the beta 52 had that mid range to it im not keen on where as the e602 and d6 seem to cut that out nicely
Soundsfromsound - Ideally im looking for input on the mics i listed so i can actually get more of a feel for them in the shop etc
Oh, sorry. If it were me, I'd go with the D6 for sure - it really shines on kick imo. Audix did a great job on that mic.
Yeah i think from what ive heard online the D6 or the e603 or clinching it for me at the moment, on the audix site it says the d4 can be used as well but from the frequency chart its gonna bring out more of the mids again. And from a bass drum i quite like a punchy kick sound and those two seem to replicate it well
The Senni 602 can be absolute magic on some bass drums. Depends on the tuning of the drum, but well worth a try. Not a huge fan of the others on your list.
All of the mics you've listed are 'character' mics, specifically designed with a huge bump in the bass end. Why not add some variety by shelling out for a used EV RE-20? They have a flat frequency response from 20hz-20khz. They've been used as kick drum mic for everything from steely dan 'aja' to metallica 'and justice for all'.
I thought they were more of a tom mic? In the UK its about double the rest of the mics so a little out of my budget im afraid
They good for toms, electric guitars, bass amps, brass. Very versitile mics. I didnt think of a price to be honest, and you're right, if i were buying a dedicated kick mic, i probably wouldnt spend that much either, but they are really a classy all rounder dynamic in my book.
River - thats reassuring to hear after hearing demos online i am warming to the sound of it.
Anyone have any feedback on the beta 52 or atm 250?
I have a Beta 52- great for some kicks on it's own, but often I will put something on the beater side if I want some attack/mids as well. Often a SM57 or i5 pointed at the beater contact spot and then angled up a bit towards the bottom of the snare.
They also make great mics for bass cabs (blended with the DI) and I have even used mine to record a singer before- it just sounded better with this particular guy's voice.
Going to my local audio shop on monday, and the wise folk raised a good point in suggesting i go for a single bass drum mic as opposed to buying a drum mic set.
Im looking around the £150 price point, i already have access to a d112 so it would be nice to have another option to use, at the shop they have:
Any recommendations would be most helpful or suggestions for things to do in the store as ive not been shopping for microphones before!
Thanks!
The D6 is really good, sounds great without eq...captures a tight, focused, scooped mids with a little high end that cuts through the mix.
However, if your goal is more of a "pillowy" round, full sound, the beta 52 is nice.
I never liked the amount of eq I had to do to try and get decent results from the d112, so I don;t like that mic too much.
Also, not on your list, a tight thumpy, sounds like a kick drum sound is an EV868....it doesn't have the highend, but full focused low end.
421 is a good choice for cutting through the mix, kind of along the lines of the D6 but needs some eq in the lower mids.
Depending upon the type of music, don't rule out a LDC placed a foot in front of the kick for a natural sound, and "good" bleed.
Going to my local audio shop on monday, and the wise folk raised a good point in suggesting i go for a single bass drum mic as opposed to buying a drum mic set.
Im looking around the £150 price point, i already have access to a d112 so it would be nice to have another option to use, at the shop they have:
Any recommendations would be most helpful or suggestions for things to do in the store as ive not been shopping for microphones before!
Thanks!
I've used or owned all of these and still have a couple in the locker.
These listed are all specific in their tonalities as has been already suggested. They are specialty mics and for good reason. This never means "thats all they're good for...." at least not to a sick inquisitive mind........
I'll try and describe my experiences with them.
D112. An industry standard BUT in my ears more suited for loud bass amp cabinets. It has sort of a 'poingy' (Iknow I know.....!) sound and can be hard to dial on particular kik drums. Indestructable but kinda 'one-trick'.
Audix D6. I still have one that I get to work with a lot. Again, a 'one trick pony' but its a great trick. Usually requires NOTHING to get the drum to sit well in a loud rockin song. Its not really good at 'phoom' kik sounds but does 'tick' and 'thud' really really well.
Audix D4. Much more versatile mic than the D6. In a kik drum I like this one right on the beater impact area with a sub-kik or an LDC FET mic out front. I like it even better on guitar cabinets especially closed back but it does well when paired with a 57 on any guitar cabinet as it adds the tight lowend you dont get naturally with a 57. A secret use for it is a nice dark detailed harp mic for the studio.
Beta 52. Dont like. Never have. Great on low toms. The ONLY Shure mic I cant really get with.
e602. I need to spend more time with this one. I heard one recently at a show and though it was really really good. The drummer had a huge kik drum with a closed front head and this mic delivered well. I might find one for the collection.
ATM250. All AT mics perform well. The one session I did with one of these left me sorta "Meh" but it could have been the kik itself. Calf heads and no damping. It was difficult as the material wasnt really for this kind of sound. Each to his own.
Lately I've got my standard as an ATM25 inside slightly off center from the beater point and in the center of the drum for resonance, a Sub-kik outside through an active DI with a transformer, and an original Groove Tubes GT55 fet mic at the front head. Lately I'm back to pulling the resonant head and damping with a really small heavy sand pillow just touching the batter head. I also went from the EMAD back to the Aquarian Super-kick. I've also really moved towards tuning the kit to the room and then trying to capture that Kit sound.
__________________
the clubhouse studio....home of drool'n dogg rekords
I've used or owned all of these and still have a couple in the locker.
Audix D6. I still have one that I get to work with a lot. Again, a 'one trick pony' but its a great trick. Usually requires NOTHING to get the drum to sit well in a loud rockin song. Its not really good at 'phoom' kik sounds but does 'tick' and 'thud' really really well.
I just got one, and this seems tom me to be right on the money. I really like mine. I had a Pg52 before, and it seemed like it did the pillowy thing. I have heard that the Pg52 is similar to the Beta.
Jamman, all mics mentioned will be capable of doing the job. What's your question again? WHICH to get? I can't answer that. The mic is not even 30% of the sound, the whole deal about mics is they got to fit the source and what you want to sound the recording like. So if your mic choice is related to ONE kick drum, there will be ONE mic that will suit the source, positioning and your taste best. You just got to try and see for yourself.
If it's about more than one kick drum, it's not that easy. That's the reason I got ... (counting in my head)... 6 different kick drum mics at my place.
__________________
Property is not ability. Buying a drumset won't make you a drummer and buying gear won't make you an engineer.
Jamman, all mics mentioned will be capable of doing the job. What's your question again? WHICH to get? I can't answer that. The mic is not even 30% of the sound, the whole deal about mics is they got to fit the source and what you want to sound the recording like. So if your mic choice is related to ONE kick drum, there will be ONE mic that will suit the source, positioning and your taste best. You just got to try and see for yourself.
If it's about more than one kick drum, it's not that easy. That's the reason I got ... (counting in my head)... 6 different kick drum mics at my place.
He's obviously asking which of them is a best all rounder.
Which is probably a hard question to answer for people with 6 different kick mics.
But anyway, if you can get hold of a D112, I'd suggest a 602 if you like the sound of a D112 but want a bit of variation, or an RE20 if you want a completely different sound and are bored of the scooped mid kick ;D
If you can't have a crazy choice if mics, placement is key!
He's obviously asking which of them is a best all rounder.
In that case, it's still dependent on what you usually do. Rock, Metal: Audix D6, Sennheiser 602 etc.etc. - lot's of threads what what mic does best.
How about a flat mic you could tailor with eq? Beyer M88, as long as your kick doesn't get super loud. Then again, you can't go wrong with a Heil PR 40. Also kinda flat is the EV RE20, sounds a little hoarse - which sometimes is exactly the ticket.
In order of importance: sound of the bass drum - placement of mic - mic ... you see, the first two factors influence the sound way more. Still a D112 can sound soo basketball--y it's tough to eq that into something bearable, no matter where you put it. Most of those mics don't like to be put inside the drum and will sound ugly if you do, but the D6 and the 602 are okay with it.
Thank you for this video. PR40 is really unique mic compared to others. D 112 and Audix D4 sounds like shit
I find the Audix kik mics to be way overdone in terms of EQ, don't care for them.
Wasn't on the list, but these days I prefer M88, with the small Beyer windcap for it. A very natural, un-hyped sound, makes you tune the drum better!
For live work however, when I don't know what the kit sounds like until it shows up, I still gravitate towards the 602, seems to help less well tuned drums sound better than they should. IMHO, and YMMV.
New Reply 
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Yetti-
-y it's tough to eq that into something bearable, no matter where you put it. Most of those mics don't like to be put inside the drum and will sound ugly if you do, but the D6 and the 602 are okay with it.
