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
EV RE-20

I was always a big fan of this mic for kick.

I find that the cardiod pattern of this exceptional sounding mic allows for good control of the kick in the mix and (depending on placement) far less gating required.


:D
 
No such thing as "the best" - it is always "it depends!"

An AKG D112 is a common one however, and I have used it with great success. Also the vintage D12...

Bruce
 
Offcourse. Depends on the situation.
So let me put it different... Which one should I buy? :)
 
Actually, I think one of my Favorites is the Beyer TGX-50. The D112 is kind of "universal" for budget recording.
I also like Sennehiser MD441's ("The Stevie Nicks mic" for the video she did with Tom Petty).
And a C414 is AWESOME, but you have to give it a little distance.


Tim
 
The Sennheiser 421 is a great kick mic as well as toms. While I don't have one, I have used it a lot at a friend's studio.

I've got an ATM-25 that sounds great.

The ATM-25 is cheap too, check it out!
 
Any comments on the shure beta52? There's this drum package that comes with it, 3 sm57's, clips and a box to put it in...

If the mic is good, and the price is reasonable, I might buy that...

I'll check the ATM-25
 
I bought an AT pro25 and I dont like it much... not enough click... even with the EQ maxed... I guess it depends on what kind of music you are doing, but I have tried the pro 25 alongside the SM57 and frankly... I prefer the 57... The best kick sound I have gotten was by mixing the two signals... from the 25 and the 57... but that eats up an extra track. I cut the lows on the 57 and just used it to capture the click and got the thump from the 25.
The chilli peppers used a 57 for the kick on "Blood sugar sex magik" and it sounds pretty good to me.
 
The Pro-25 is a different mic than the ATM-25. Having never used a Pro-25 myself, I don't know exactly what the difference would be. But I do like the ATM-25.

But your point is absolutely right...there are a ton of different setups that have resulted in great recordings. As Bruce and others have said, "It depends".

Also, that's another great idea if you've got the room on your board or recorder...mix the signals you DO like. I've seen people do that with a top mic on a snare and a bottom mic.

I can't stress this enough...EXPERIMENT! Especially if you are doing your own music in your own studio. That's why you started your studio in the first place.
 
I will go with S8-N on double micing the kick, but Id rather a D112 or beta52 to get the thump and a sm57 for the click..........
 
But chew on this....

"With a little fooling around with placement, I got a fat, punchy kick with plenty of bottom and a nice point on top"

David Darlington on micing a kick with RoyerLabs R-121 Ribbon mic in April 2001 Home Recording mag......
 
I purchased a used pro25 for cheap and love it. Click is no problem as long as it's pointed at the beater and the drummer is aggressive. AT told me they are basically the same as atm25 but the atm25 was quieter. I hear absolute silence when it's plugged in UNLESS you move the cord around. I guess this is called handling noise but is not an issue with a stationary mic like a kick.
My $.02
 
So far for the D112 seems to be the best all around mic for my studio. Ive used my Senn.421's alot but they seem to require a bit more fiddling with to get a good sound,but it is worth it if people are not in a hurry or watching the clock. I really want to try a RE 20 but have not yet. Also used a beta52,its ok ,not nuts 'bout it. As everyone else has said,it depends on the kit!!!!!
 
Damn... I still kept on hoping that there is no best mic -depends on the situation- and that they were all pretty much in my price-range...

You got me. :D At least I know something to impress the engineers with when I go to the studio next month. (With some of my friends, second pair of ears, and a very little piano-session-thingy on one of the songs...)
 
Beta

I have the Shure Beta mic. Works great. Have I used other mics on my bass drums ... No. Alot of the sound you get from a bass drum is how you mike it rather than what you mike it with. I have a front drumhead with a 5 or 6 inch hole about 2-3 inches from the hoop on the center left of the drum. The mic is suspended via a desktop boom mike and inserted into the drum about a quarter of an inch.

I screwed around for hours to get the placement of the microphone right and then tuning the bass drum to get a good sound. Now it rocks. I may have been able to do it with a 57 ... I don't know.


If you mike each side of the bass drum put one side out of phase so that it does not suck. If you dont have a phase switch on your pre or your mixer than buid a xlr cable and swap pins.

I pulled the shure out quite a ways because it was getting too much 'click'. I like a standard big sounding bass drum and if you need a 'click' then a wooden beater is generally cheaper than a 57.

This is on a 30 year old gretch maple bass (22). Birch drums have a sharper attack already. Thicker shell drums have a heavy attack as well.
 
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