Best mic for kick?

[Gidge]

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......

[ametth]

U47

[flatrockrecordin]

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

[Roel]

How about the AKG D550 and the EV N/D868? Some other dude proposed these 2 together with the beyerdynamic TG-X50?

Anyone used these?

[langleyt]

For the money, the AKG D112 is better...even though the Sennheiser has a lower frequency rosponse.

[jmorris]

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!!!!!

[Roel]

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. 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...)

[Fela]

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.

[Paulie]

I have an RE-20, Beta 52, D112 and an ATM-25. The ATM-25 is light years ahead of the others for kick. I love the RE-20 on vocals,the Beta 52 on bass guitar and the D112 goe unused.

[xtremedb]

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/