Best mic for kick?

Polls are fun, aren't they? Which mic on kick?

  • AKG D112

    Votes: 114 33.8%

  • Sennheiser e602

    Votes: 29 8.6%

  • Shure beta52

    Votes: 101 30.0%

  • other... (please specify)

    Votes: 93 27.6%
  • Total voters
    337
The 52 or e602 will be the best for the beginner. They are already voiced for the most "tradional" eq treatments. If you have limited eq, this is a major advantage, because it will free up a band that would normally have to be used for a "generic" cut or boost.

On the other hand, neither are as versatile as the D112 or the RE20. For a very tight, punchy kick, I have also had good results with the Audix D-4. I used the ATM-25 a couple of times, but I thought it was a piece of crap.

Ironically, I now use that same piece of crap on guitar rigs. It sounds great blended with a SM57 and 421... go figure :-)

Brad Gallagher
http://www.just-for-musicians.com/
 
e602

I usually use the D-112 because the BD will be triggered in the end-mix, but the sound of the e602 is in fact better for kickdrums.

The D-112 has a high Filter implanted in the mic and the e602 has not, so the kick has a higher sound.

But the best kick could be received, by using 2 mics. One for bass just in the middle of the BD (D112/e602 or other deep mics) and one for the highs just inside the bassdrum at the pad. and then you must change the phase of one of these mics to get the real loudness effect. more bass more highs.
It really works
 
Depends on the drum .. 18" .. 20" ... 22", etc. The type of head(s), and duh .. the drummer and duh music .. I can say this being a drummer .. man it's all so different.

I've recorded tons of different drummers, and keep comming back to the D-112. The 421 is also a good choice depending on the drum again .. the nice thing on the 421 is the ability to taylor the curve on the mic. If you want that deep chest thump the D-112 survives a bit better. Micing a double head kick for jazz that has no hole and is wide open .. I think is the hardest .. what's the take here on mics for the jazz kick? Rock is pretty much a cinch.
 
Roel,
I use the EV N/D 868 - Recording Magazine reviewed the mic a few months ago & characterized the sound as a "vintage" kick sound - I kind of agree - I've had to play with the mids and high EQs to get the "up front" punch that I want. It sounds great live, but without eq when recording it sounds thick and muddy to me... right out of the box I was a bit disappointed. I guess there's a learning curve when it comes to kick drum micing or something.
 
I just got a Apex 125, and while I'm sure there are better mics out there, I don't think there's a better value. It sounds alot like the D112, with a bit more of a boost in the 8-12K which makes it punchier and easy to use. Also, it only cost me $170 Cdn. Well worth it, and good sound when your on a budget.
Jeff
 
i talked to a professional who mics drums on tour and he told me that everyone he knew that uses D112s were switching over to Beta52's cause they just totally blow them away. i have a beta52 myself and think its a great mic.
 
I'd love to try a Beta 52, Sennheiser 421, a U87, or an e602, but in the meantime...

Like Gidge said, a D112 in the drum, and a 57 on the outside head. I've been using a Carvin CM68 instead of the 57 at times though.

I've also hooked up a headphone driver I got from mouser electronics (www.mouser.com) to do 808 type drops with pretty good results. It's taken some EQ though. But for $6 what do you expect?!?
 
After much deliberation, I bought an EV868 about 1 year ago and love it! I have used it on my kit, along with some other people's stuff with much success - live and recorded.

I play rock and have a 16"x22" kick that I play with two heads- small hole in front. I bought an internal mount (like $19.99) that's quite adjustable and it works really great. Great live sound and no fuss - no mic stands for the guitar player to kick over.

BTW, I position the mount so that the mic is about 3"-4" from the bottom of the shell, equidistant to both heads, and aimed up somewhat toward the beater contact point.

When recording, I pull off the front head, use a bit more muffling, and put an SM57 in there too, closer to the batter head, off-axis but aimed right at the beater contact point. I roll most of the lows off of the 57 and blend the two mics to get a nice "thump with bite" kick sound. If you want a more aggressive sound, you could mix the 57 in a bit hotter and get the rock/metal 'Thclick' that cuts.

One thing to consider is:

Will you be using this mic for anything else?

Some of the models mentioned - the Audix D4, ATM25 and Pro25, RE20 and RE27, along with the aforementioned high-end condenser mics - are more natural sounding and are less 'tailored' (or not at all) for a specific kick drum sound. They may be more versatile and able to be used on other sources. This might mean a more expensive mic is a better value for you if you can use it on other instruments when not mic'ing your kick.

The D112, Beta52, EV868, and e602 are pretty much designed for kick drums only (or maybe a bass cabinet?) and have a 'shaped' frequency response that accentuates the kick drums desirable frequencies, while attenuating the undesirables.

I ended up getting a "kick mic" because that's what I really needed and have been happy I did. No regrets with the 868. Sorry for the long post.
 
Bang for Buck go with the Shure kit

I Have the SHURE kit with the beta 52 and 3 sm-57's
I really like it. The clamps art a lot better than most out there too.
the only way you are going to get the clamps to fall of is if you break the rim of the drum. The clamps can also be reversed and clamped to cymbal stands. As for the mics, the Beta 52 gets a great sound but it is more picky than the akg as far as tuning, placement and EQing. I think the beta 52 has more potential and is a better mic for that but it is harder to work with. As far as the sm-57's, you really can't go wrong there. They are very versital and you need directional mics for doing drums to avoid too much bleed between tracks.
I do not know about the other brands. It is hard to go wrong with EV mics but I have never used their kick mic.


Bang for buck I'd go with the shure.
 
I recently tried the ATM-25 and a Peavey kick mic (a friend of mine owns a music store and he lets me audition mics) against the D112 I already own and I prefered the D112 over all. So much so I bought another one. I had been using the D112 inside the kick with a 4033 on the outside at the beater but after a lot of experimentation, I've settled on the D112 inside and a SM57 outside in place of the 4033. Mikey likes it.:D
 
raindrops, the CAD mic you mentioned isn't too bad at all. I did some live recordings with one and the kick with a bit of eq turned out well for metal band drummers in particular, and it seemed to work on on some other styles.

After having used the "curved" mics that SpamBurgler mentioned, I came to the conclusion that their versatility was not very good. I have tried all the one metioned and they all have a "sound", but I was finding that they only worked on certain styles. If one of them fits your style, great. If you are recording a variety of kits and different styles of music, this can get expensive having to buy all these pre-emphasised mic's for different styles and/or drums.

I stay with the RE 27 n/d because with a little placement and attention to gain structure on the preamp, it has a very up front, open sound if I want that, with lot of attack if I want that, with huge bottom if I want that, with subdued attack and/or bottom if I want that, etc......It really comes down to placing it well. The one thing I like about it is that no matter what type of sound me and the drummer are trying to get, the mic has a presence that many of the other mics mentioned just don't have.

As SpamBurgler mentioned too, the RE 27 n/d has a variety of OTHER uses too, which makes it $900 price tag (new) worth it. I have used it for voice, trumpet with harmon mute, Saxaphone (this is it's other primary use when I use it....KILLER sounding sax mic!!!) bass guitar cabinet micing (again, very good.....). I once used it to mic a troublesome lead guitar sound. The guitar player had a very, errrrrrrrrrr, "unique" tone (use you imagination on what I mean by that....:() and was unwilling or unable to change it to play. The characteristics of the RE 27 with a little moving around caught a tone that was very surprising.

One of the limitations of the D 112 and the Beta 52 is in how they are designed. The mic cable connection is on the bottom of the mic at a 45 degree angle from the front of the capsule, instead of the back like most other mics. This can be VERY troublesome in getting a good placement with the mic in a kick drum with a front head with a somewhat smaller hole in it. There is about a 2" to 3" area just inside the hole that is impossible to place these mics in, and funny enough, I have found it is that same area that seems to work out so well. Silly isn't it?

I say again, just about any engineer who has used a RE 27 to record kick would probably pick it over just about anything else for that application. With it's versatility of being used with great results on a number of other applications, you really can't go wrong with it. I doubt that there is a kick sound that you CAN'T get with this mic, and you gain a very good Sax and Voice mic, as well as a good troubleshooting mic of other things.

I was lucky and found one for $450 used about 4 years ago. My lucky day!!!

Ed
 
ED,

When you use the RE-27 for a kick drum, what are the usual settings you select on the mic?
 
I leave it flat. I only start using the high roll off when I am doing certain voice work or a saxaphone.

Ed
 
Kick Mic

I like the d-112 both live and in the studio...I have used it on all size kits and the smaller jazz kits sound awesome...The larger kits are kind of floppy sounding... EQ and compression always did the trick...


Gidman:D
 
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