Budget floor tom mic

[Marcadiablo]

I've heard an MXL 990 on floor tom and sounded surprisingly good. Check it out.

[mikgag]

Great responses so far, thanks.

[KineticSound]

If you want a little extra "thump" out of the floor tom, you might also check out the Audio-Technica PRO-25. I saw these on closeout at MF last week for $50. I've used them on kick drums before with very good results.

[mikgag]

If you want a little extra "thump" out of the floor tom, you might also check out the Audio-Technica PRO-25. I saw these on closeout at MF last week for $50. I've used them on kick drums before with very good results.

I actually thought of those, but they're hypercardioid, and I'm sticking it in the middle of the 2 floor toms, so I'm assuming it wouldn't be very effective.

[tmix]

I use a CAD E-100 between my 14 and 16 inch floor toms and it sounds wonderful.
Actually I use them on all my toms.
It is not a dynamic, but it does have extended headroom and does not overload easy.
Used you can find them under $100.

[PhilGood]

Yeah, only 100's of studio sessions and 1000's of live shows in the past 25 years.

Whatever. A late night/early morning response, let me add a little: If I were on a budget, I wouldn't be looking at a 57... Although I might go for the ES57 cloned version at a 3:1 ratio. And frankly the fact that the 57 is IS used so much, and is so overpriced, makes me loathe to use it or recommend it.

I believe I was one of the first guys here (probably THE first) to ever try out and recommend the ES-57. They work fine on toms.

Here's an old sample from when I first tried them out.

http://www.monkeyworksinc.com/samples/drumtest.mp3

(Yes, the playing isn't all good. Its just the sounds I was going for at the time)

[PhilGood]

By the same token, the Ford Escort sold more units than almost any other car for most of its reign.



My gut says that the SM57 is used so broadly not because it is necessarily the best for the job, but because it is the most common. Any number of dynamics should be fine on floor tom, and the SM57 lies somewhere in that continuum.

Yeah, because professional engineers in the record industry don't really care what sounds good on something, they just grab whatever's handy.

[dgatwood]

Yeah you know that most of the big PA guys like the 57 because its so common.

PA guys like it because its response curve is tailored for feedback rejection---precisely the opposite of what I look for in a mic for recording, generally speaking.

Yeah, because professional engineers in the record industry don't really care what sounds good on something, they just grab whatever's handy.

It's a workhorse mic---acceptable on most things, ideal for few to none---and so most folks keep several of them in their studios for when they need an extra mic for something or for when other mics just aren't working for them for whatever reason. When you need to find five or six matching mics to throw onto a kit, odds are the only thing lying around in that quantity are such workhorse mics, so the 57s come out.

Also, they're nearly indestructible, which makes them a good choice for use near fast-moving sticks.

[PhilGood]

PA guys like it because its response curve is tailored for feedback rejection---precisely the opposite of what I look for in a mic for recording, generally speaking.

This post would carry so much more weight if you'd post that picture of yourself in front of that shelf with all your grammy's.

[sjaccaud]

I just necro'ed this thread to say - wow there are some sandy vaginas up in here..

I've been using an F12. Works just fine.. 4 years later. Hi.