kick drum mic choices

A

adiobox

New member
hey everyone. i am in the market for a new kick mic and i would like a little help in making a decision. first of all i have read alot of Harvey's threads and i have to say WOW i have learned a ton of valuable information. thanks a ton! ok, on with the topic... i have roughly 200$ to spend on a mic. ive looked at the d112, beta52a, and ev n d868. and probly a couple others too i dont recall. the music i record is heavy rock/metal so i like a good nick menza cryptic writings kick tone. i also record other bands in my studio as well. so with all that said... which would be a good mic to choose? i understand half the battle is with placement... then the other half is with preference... but i dont have the luxury of knowing what these mics sound like. thanks for reading, and i look forward to a response...
 
There was another topic on this just recently so, at the risk of repeating myself, my current favourite kick mic by a huge margin is the Audix D6. Lots of nicely controlled thump but you can also get a nice "click" even if you don't have the luxury of double miking.

Bob
 
thanks for the suggestion. i hadnt looked at the d6 yet... i just checked it out and by the reviews it seems about 99% really liked it over other mics in the price range.
 
I also like Audix D6. I consider it and AKG D112 to be the yin and yang of kick drum mics. Almost everyone loves one and doesn't love the other. With one or the other, you can make almost anybody happy. I go for D112 for a more vintage sound, and D6 for a more aggressive, modern sound with a click. If you are the kind of guy that tapes washers to the kick drum head, you'll like D6 just fine.-Richie
 
thanks guys for all the suggestions. I think I am going to get the D6. although I dont put quaters or nickels on my kick, I like the 4-5k boost for clarity. and I like the low end to be nice and punchy. I do metal and rock so I think its probably the best choice for that type of sound. thanks for the help!
 
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D112 all the way. It's an excellent mic for kick drums, get relatively far inside and you'll get plenty of click off the beater.
Such good value for money too.
 
adiobox,

I like my Audio Technica ATM25 fine, and it's a good general purpose dynamic good for many tasks.

If I was going to drop $200 on a kick mic I might be tempted to save a little more and get an EV RE20. Of all the mics I can't afford it's the one I lust after most. It is also a fantastic broadcast/voiceover mic.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
I am quite happy with the CAD KBM412 mics, and so have all the drummers so far, plus unlike many bass drum mics you can use them on other things with good results. We did a shoot out with one drummers collection of Shure Beta 52, AKG D112, Audix D6, and EV RE20--only the RE20 was a better sounding mic at 5x the cost.
 
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