AE3000 or MD421 II for toms, snare, and kick

xiwiwix

New member
Which would be better for toms, snare, and kick AE3000 or MD421 II?

I have one MD421II and I love it. I use it as a room mic because it picks up so much punch from the kick, it's amazing!

Any other opinions? What mic's would do a better job than these two in the same price range?

This is what I plan on doing:

AE3000 or MD421II on the top of the toms (four)
Shure 57's on the bottom of the toms (four)
MD421II in the kick
Audix D-6 in the kick
Audix D-6 Beater side
Audio Technica ATM25 clamped on the rim of the resonance side of the kick
AE3000 or MD421II on the top of the snare
Shure 57 on the bottom of the snare
AT4041 three as left, right, and center over heads
ATM450 three over snare, and to the left and right shoulder of drummer

20 mic's in all
 
WOW man...wow...you are definitely in the overkill zone. Most of the time the resonate side of drums don't get miced. Two mics on the kick is plenty. Two overheads is plenty. To be honest, your recording would probably be worse off if you used all those mics.
 
I have an AE3000 and I think it's a great mic. I did a comparison of it against a number of other mics, and found it to be my favorite overall mic. It sounded good to great in almost every application (including throughout the kit, and guitar cab), except for the kick. I couldn't bring myself to put it inside the kick, but outside, it sounded like crap. And it was my favorite on the snare (just poking out above the rim... but try lowering it to mic the shell to capture a little less attack and more of the shell itself).
I agree with the others, do you really need 20 mics on a kit? I've never heard of anyone going through that much trouble. Remember, you will have 20 mics and their settings, and overall sound to check every time you go back to do another session. I've always understood the point to use as many mics as necessary to capture all the sounds, but also to use as few as possible to minimize difficulty and redundancies. I really can't imagine ever needing to put more than about 10 mics on a 5 piece kit. But good luck. I think you're doing a lot more work than you need to, for a very minimal (if any) increase in quality, at the cost of a great deal of hassle.
 
P.S. - I did however think that there are better options for micing toms than the AE3000.
I do love this mic though. Sounds great, and it's size makes it quite easy to position in hard to access locations. I paid just over $100 USD for this mic. I feel like I robbed the guy!!!!! Even used, I say it's worth double that! And so versatile!!
 
Do whatever sounds right to you.

Lately I've been using this mic setup with great results

MD421 inside kick near beater point to the shell
D112 inside of the sound hole of the bass drum
KCM 81 Ribbon right outside of bass drum
Audix sm Diaphram condensers as overheads
Blue Stage 1 rocket mono OH
Audix f12s on top of toms
AKG C 518 M on bottom of toms
JM27 on Ride
JM27 on Hi-hat
Sm 57 on top of snare
MXL 900 on top of snare
AKG C 519 M bottom of snare
RodeNT1-a Room Mic 1 about 5 feet infront of kick snare level
Rode NT1-a Room mic 20 feet away around crach cymbal height

so for a 4 piece kit that brings us to 17

sounds killer
 
Most of the time the resonate side of drums don't get miced. Two mics on the kick is plenty. Two overheads is plenty. To be honest, your recording would probably be worse off if you used all those mics.

Not necessarily true. Batter & resonant sides of drums routinely get miced especailly in pro studios. While, I agree the mic list seems to be a bit over kill, if you've got a big well treated room (and know what you're doing) it might not be.

I will say I don't see the practicality of using 2 Audix D6s on the kick. 1 D6 inside, a ribbon outside front and with even a 57 (or 421) on batter side you will get more than enough. I first try the 57s on the top of toms (attack) and the 421 on the bottom (tone) but would mostlikely just use the 421 on top.

Although, given the budget, I'd use 421s top & SM7s bottom, a stereo ribbon overhead, back side of royer 121 on hi-hat, a Mojave MA-100 top snare, a 421 or 57 snare bottom , 2 Royer 122 room mics all run into some vintage Neve & API & telefunken pres amps. Now all I need to do is hit the lottery :D

I would also not recommend clamping any mic to any drum; use stands.
 
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Ive always tried to keep the ammount of mics down to the number of inputs Ive had to work with...10...and Id hate to get too many mics to get in the way the guys playing.

Im using a Beyer M88 on kick....MD421 on snare and SM57s on the other drums and a pair of AT3035 mics but Im gonna change to KSM32s for overheads.
 
iownrockandroll- I didn't mean that it shouldn't be done, just that it can be a bit of a nightmare if you don't know what you're doing. I agree with Simman, if you've got the time, the room, the knowledge, AND the gear... go for it. But in all honesty- with the set-up you've got going, have you tried randomly removing some of the redundant mics, just to see how much you lose? just wondering is all. I think my argument though is to suggest that this many mics is not NECESSARY to get a good sound.
I also agree with "darrin h2000", I just don't want that many mics in the way. I keep a fairly tight and compact 5 piece kit. There's just not a lot of room for that many mics. And playing an aggressive metal style, it's just more expensive mics in potential striking distance.

Just out of curiosity those of you that have an AE3000, where is your favorite application for it?
 
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