Low cost "Drum Mic Sets" - which one is best?

[kid klash]

A question that a lot of newbies ask is "what's the best low cost drum mic set that I can use for recording?"

I don't have any experience with these new sets... I use individual mics for everything, the studio workhorses that I've been using for decades, but there seems to be a proliferation of low cost drum mic sets, and I've been curious myself if any of these sets are good-sounding sleepers that haven't caught on yet and would be worth the money that a newbie might spend on them.

Please, if you've got any of these (or other low-cost "under $400" sets), pick your favorite above (or write in the details in a post below), and give your reason or reasons why you think it's a worthy set. Pros and cons, and comparisons are welcomed. Posting a link to a clip made with the mics would be great, along with a list of the signal chains and other details.

[travelin travis]

I think I'd prefer a few mics that I could use on other things than a kit.

[NTK88]

I bought the shure kit, and I am so happy I did.

If you check out my post in the MP3 review section, that was recording using the mic kit. Not only do the shures work well on drums, but on guitars and bass cabs! The Beta-52 sounds amazing I am more than certain you will love the sound of your BD if nothing else.

[iancl]

Well I'm sure the shures are gonna be among the best, but also the most expensive, and as with some of the others, they don't include any overheads! So they're in a bit of a different league to the others I think.

I'd go the Shures with a decent pair of overheads, but that may end up being about 4 times as much as other sets. Plus four-piece sets aren't too good with a 5 piece kit. I imagine most people end up buying another snare mic.

[kidvybes]

...best deal is here: http://karma.hostcentric.com/clearancepage.htm

[EdWonbass]

Originally Posted by NTK88

I bought the shure kit, and I am so happy I did.

If you check out my post in the MP3 review section, that was recording using the mic kit. Not only do the shures work well on drums, but on guitars and bass cabs! The Beta-52 sounds amazing I am more than certain you will love the sound of your BD if nothing else.

I bought the CAD kit with the 3 TSM411 and the KBM412? kick mic. The TSM 411 mics actually work pretty good for snare and toms. I've also mic'ed amps with them and gotten about the same results as a 57 will give you. The kick mic was a little to boomy for my taste and didn't provide the tight kick sound I was looking for. I found a Beta52 used for $130 and it stays on my kick. I put the KBM412 on my floor tom. I get most of my tom sound from my overheads so I just use the tom mics to give me a little more if need be.
If I had it all to do over again I would have bought the Beta52, a few 57's and some overheads. However I would have never learned as much if I didn't have those cheap mics to experiment with. BTW my overheads are JM27's. They were dirt cheap on the Bay and seem to do the job. One of these days I will upgrade my OH's but for now it's cool to have some passable sdc's to work with.

[mystasynasta]

well, I cant vote on this one because I havent used all of the kits. the only kit I own is the samson 8kit. i was happy with it to begin with but i wanted somethin stand mountable and could be used on other things also. i got the 10 pack gls audio es-57's. works great, cheap, stand mountable and can be used on guitar cabs and other things. I use the condensers (OH's and Hi Hats) still along with the kick mic from the kit. not bad for 300.

-Lee

[kessel]

I voted for the shure kit because out of the mics listed there those get the most use in my studio. However, the CAD 7 piece packs are cool because they come with overheads.

[hairylarry]

Hi,

I bought used. I got an Audio Technica ATM25 which is a very good kick mic. Then I bought a pair of Audio Technica Pro37s for overheads. About $177 total.

Here's a link to how to set up three mics recording drums.

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=39030

Most good kick mics are also good on bass instruments and horns. Most good overheads are also good for acoustic guitar, chamber music, choral music, etc.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

[zacanger]

Generally I'd avoid kits. A D112, D6, whatever on kick, 57 on snare, and two SDC or LDC overheads can easily be bought for $300.

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by zacanger

Generally I'd avoid kits. A D112, D6, whatever on kick, 57 on snare, and two SDC or LDC overheads can easily be bought for $300.

Strongly agreed. Well, I'd probably go with an AKG D190E or a Shure 545 on snare rather than a 57, but... yeah.

[zacanger]

Originally Posted by dgatwood

Strongly agreed. Well, I'd probably go with an AKG D190E or a Shure 545 on snare rather than a 57, but... yeah.

Yeah, well, you're cooler than me like that .

[scorpio01169]

if you cant afford the ones above the samson 7kit is really nice for the price

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by zacanger

Yeah, well, you're cooler than me like that .

The two snare mics I mentioned are cheaper (on eBay) than the SM57, so for somebody who would consider a kit, they're better choices, IMHO. The Shure 545 is pretty close to an early SM57, IMHO, but a little less tubby. They usually go for about $30-40 on eBay. The D190E is similar in price, but is less tubby still.

[zacanger]

Plus they both look all retro-cool. I wouldn't mind having them, but if I buy another mic Hayley will murder me.

[dkelley]

samson kits are nice, used one and quite liked it actually, preferred it's condensors and kick to some other's i've used, but then it just happened to work great with this particular drummer and his kit and the style of music and the mix... the mics belonged to the drummer and he just got great sound from them, I was on remote at their rehearsal space so went with it.

Personally though I use the following:
--peavey PVM-520TN for kick inside facing the beater
--home made subkick in front of the outside of the drum, gets freakin great bass tone and quick transients pretty well
--shure sdc pair for overheads, don't recall the model #
--apex 180 on hats, seriously, they're the sleeper hat mic if you know how to use 'em to add some sparkle to the hat
--recently been into the audix om2 on snare top, call me wierd, great mic though, really great
--apex 435 on each tom, man you know apex mics are good if you use them on instruments they weren't intended to be used on...
--if needed I might throw on a 57 under the snare but I don't often use bottom micing and use 57s even less (just my taste)
--and finally a small diaphram EV omni mic in the room

all pretty cheap, apexes are like $60 each new, peavey kick was $40 used, ev was $60 used (I got lucky), 57 is just a 57, you know, if you don't own one, well you gotta have one SOMEwhere... and the shures are the only expensive mics on the kit. It sounds quite amazing really, the 435s are possibly the best tom mics I've used. But don't use them on vocals like they're intended unless you're in for a lot of eqing... oh yea forgot the subkick, made it out of an old sansui 8" woofer I ripped out of a box that had the crappiest sounding tweeter I've ever heard, so it was FREE and is fundamental to my kick drum recordings. Depending on the mix between the two kick mics and the room mic I can get pretty much any tone possible (based on the tone of the drum and how the player plays of course)... metal, pop, country, big band, same config for all and very very happy drummers after each gig.

Don

[Harvey Gerst]

Just talked to Ken Avant (avantelectronics.com)the other day and he's sending me some mics to try out - among them is his drum mic set. Should be interesting. His updated Auratones (Avant MixCubes) are getting some good reviews.

[treymonfauntre]

you guys are really sleeping on audix dynamics.

[chessrock]

Originally Posted by treymonfauntre

you guys are really sleeping on audix dynamics.

Could that explain why my back hurts?

.

[dkelley]

Originally Posted by treymonfauntre

you guys are really sleeping on audix dynamics.

1 vote for audix om2 for snare, but I do tend to go my own way... and Chessrock's right, I'm going to have to start sleeping on my board instead of my audix dynamic mics, I think all the knobs would feel good on my back, like pressure points.

Don

[kid klash]

I've been told that the RED5 RVD1 kick mic is very good. They're not very expensive either (35 pounds from the UK distributor). Wish they were easier to get in the States (other than on eBay). Anyone here got some of these RED5 mics or mic sets? Whaddaya think?

http://www.red5audio.com/acatalog/Drum_Kit_Mics.html

[TragikRemix]

the hell with packs!

i got a used d112 for $130,
audix i5 new for $99,
4x used sm 57's, totaling $240 or so,
c430 overheads new for $200.

if i had to do it again, i would get the d112, i5, and a pair of the oktavas. screw the toms in the beginning.

[scrubs]

Originally Posted by kid klash

I've been told that the RED5 RVD1 kick mic is very good. They're not very expensive either (35 pounds from the UK distributor). Wish they were easier to get in the States (other than on eBay). Anyone here got some of these RED5 mics or mic sets? Whaddaya think?

http://www.red5audio.com/acatalog/Drum_Kit_Mics.html

I don't have one, but I'm pretty sure that Sound Pure sells them (Dan "Dot" Richards is affiliated with them): www.soundpure.com

[kidvybes]

...just received a set of the Karma/Phoenix drum mics I posted above...they're on the Karma/clearance site for just $99 (7 mics - 5 dynamics, 2 condensers)...built like tanks and so far, they sound quite good...used them for a couple of live gigs but not for recording yet...how can you lose for under a hundred bucks (the overheads alone are worth close to that)...check the specs here:
http://karmaaudio.com/clearance.html

[kojdogg]

Originally Posted by kidvybes

...just received a set of the Karma/Phoenix drum mics I posted above...they're on the Karma/clearance site for just $99 (7 mics - 5 dynamics, 2 condensers)...built like tanks and so far, they sound quite good...used them for a couple of live gigs but not for recording yet...how can you lose for under a hundred bucks (the overheads alone are worth close to that)...check the specs here:
http://karmaaudio.com/clearance.html

yep, those kits used to sell for like twice that. those are on my "pick-up soon" list
fwiw i think the main reason they are on clearance is because of the name change from phoenix to karma. the overheads in that kit look a lot like karma's sdc's