URGENT. Purchasing drum OHs within the next week or so.

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drummerfreak33

New member
Ok people. I have asked about this before, but this is my last chance to get advice. Im not friends with many recording enthusiasts, or drummers. I am purchasing a matched pair of OH condensers for drum recording.

The ones that I have looked at at all are like the rode nt5, the oktava MC012, mxl 993, behringer b-5, akg c430, Nady CM90 and CM95, the samson C02s, AT 3031, and 3032. Whatever well those are the ones ive seen anything about. Im looking for not paying more than like 300.

Please give me advice, and tell me experiences. let me know what ones are the best for the price range. THANKS!
 
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It really comes down to your room and your kit. If you have a great-sounding, acoustically treated room, you could get away with a pair of Behringer ecm8000s--$50 each.

MXL603s are supposed to be a good, bright mic within your budget. I'd take a look at Octava MC012s also, but that'll put you over $300. I haven't heard much about those Audio-Technia models for drums. However, drop the Nadys and the Behringer b-5.

You can get away with a non-matched pair for drums. Quality of the microphone takes priority here, not perfect matching of mic frequencies.
 
Phobophile said:
MXL603s are supposed to be a good, bright mic within your budget..
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We use these all the time in our studio for drum overheads and they're absolutely stellar.

I highly recommend them.
 
I was reading this review of the 603s. What about this?

"As much as I like the freak on accoustic guitar, I'd have to strongly warn against using them in a lot of overhead mic'ing situations. The 603 is great on snare. It's got more slap, snap, and pop than you can handle, so that's not the issue. Where it really disappoints is in the way it reacts to cymbals. Place a cymbal anywhere in it's vicinity, and it's like the freak is a hungry kid at fat camp, and the cymbal is a candy bar. What can we do? The freak has a cymbal fetish.. Do not use in the presence of loud, bright, cymbals unless you want them to dominate your mix."
 
The oktavas are a great as overheads they are quite dark which is perfect for cymbals, you could probably get away with the 603s using a bit of eq or if you have an entire set of zildjian dark cymbals :p
 
I love my MC012's for OH. Cymbals sound good; no Chinese harshness. Last week I tried using Oktava MK319's for OH's and it was even better. They seemed to have a slightly wider pattern and gave the kit a more balanced, natural sound. It was a good sounding room, otherwise, I would have gone with the small MC012's.
 
I know I'm complicating things, but you might also consider a pair of CAD M179s. That'd be like $360, which I know is going over, but everyone that has tried them seems to like them , and they have completely variable pickup patterns.
 
My Experiance

paddyponchero said:
The oktavas are a great as overheads they are quite dark which is perfect for cymbals, you could probably get away with the 603s using a bit of eq or if you have an entire set of zildjian dark cymbals :p
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I am a recording drummer and studio owner / operator and I agree that for lighter / brighter cymbals, I prefer the darker sounding mics like the Oktava MC 012s.
I have used a non-matched set for years with very good results and they make a great pair for percussion miking as well.

Another pair of mics that I think work even better is the Kel HM-1s. They are slightly darker than the oktavas as far as setting the cymbals back a little while reaching out and grabbing the toms. You can get a matched pair for about $200. They come from Canada so dont order them if you need them before 2 weeks. The Kels dont work very good on acoustic guitar (or my vocal), but work on amp micing . They generally fit wherever you have a super bright or thin sound (think cheap mandolin or violin) and want to darken them up a little.

Tom
 
Another vote for the Oktava MK-012's.
They sound so good in my room, I don't even need to put a mic on the snare. Drop me a PM and I'll send you a clip of me playing with just the 2 MK-012's and a CAD bass drum mic. The snare sounds so sweet!

Anyways, I say Go for the Oktavas! (if you can find 'em!)
 
I have a pair of Joe Meek JM-27's. They are very much like the 603's i think...iv never used a 603 so i dont know for sure. I'v been happy with the JM-27s and the pair was around $130. I have also been pleased with using them on guitar amps.
 
thajeremy said:
I have a pair of Joe Meek JM-27's. They are very much like the 603's i think...iv never used a 603 so i dont know for sure. I'v been happy with the JM-27s and the pair was around $130. I have also been pleased with using them on guitar amps.
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The JM-27s are transformer coupled, I bet the transformers rolls of the highend making them a lot more pleasing on cymbals than the 603s
 
chessrock said:
One that really handles the bright cymbals well is the Groove Tubes GT-44.
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I agree with Chessrock..I did a session with a band last night.Hard to please kinda guys..Gave them a ruff for working on their overdubs.They called me after hearing the ruff CD...The drums sound great !......they might be able to work with this..I take my praise in dribs and drabs :D Overheads were GT 44's X/Y thru OSA's "A's"..Straight to "tape" no EQ just fader and pan on all the drum tracks..On this day they replaced my other selections..SM81's,KSM44's ect. ...Good luck in your search :)
 
So Im hearing great things about the oktavas. i was previously thinking hard about the rode nt5s. Since Im hearing so much about the oktovas, i gotta ask, which would you guys say are the better pick for drum overheads. the nt5s or the Mc012s?

and by the way as much as id like those gt 44s, I think its a bit out of my price range. according to where I looked, match pair is around a grand.
 
drummerfreak33 said:
So Im hearing great things about the oktavas. i was previously thinking hard about the rode nt5s. Since Im hearing so much about the oktovas, i gotta ask, which would you guys say are the better pick for drum overheads. the nt5s or the Mc012s?

and by the way as much as id like those gt 44s, I think its a bit out of my price range. according to where I looked, match pair is around a grand.
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NT5's sounded bright to me. Still sounded good, just brighter than the Oktavas. I like darker mics for drums.
 
that is a very good comparison for me to understand. i definitely am looking for somthing darker than waht i have thats for sure. Does anyone know where I might get a matched pair of these? anywhere online?
 
drummerfreak33 said:
So Im hearing great things about the oktavas. i was previously thinking hard about the rode nt5s. Since Im hearing so much about the oktovas, i gotta ask, which would you guys say are the better pick for drum overheads. the nt5s or the Mc012s?

and by the way as much as id like those gt 44s, I think its a bit out of my price range. according to where I looked, match pair is around a grand.
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Hey, at another forum I go to, a guy just posted a clip of a song he recorded using the nt5's as overheads. There's pictures of the room he recorded as well, so that might help:

http://www.jag-stang.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5766

They sounded pretty good to me.

I just got a matched pair of the MXL 603s mics and they do pretty well. I used them in a fairly small room (about 10'x10'). I tried recording the drums in a much larger room, but the sound was just really not good. I really liked the way these mics worked for acoustic and vocals as well. I'm definitely gonna be using them...


Also, what's a good place that sells Otava mics online?
I know Guitar Center has them, but the closest one is a 2hr drive from here.
 
drummerfreak33 said:
So Im hearing great things about the oktavas. i was previously thinking hard about the rode nt5s. Since Im hearing so much about the oktovas, i gotta ask, which would you guys say are the better pick for drum overheads. the nt5s or the Mc012s?

and by the way as much as id like those gt 44s, I think its a bit out of my price range. according to where I looked, match pair is around a grand.
Click to expand...

No dude, you can get them at Guitar Center for $199 each. Also Guitar center has MK012's for $99 each. I just picked up a pair of GT-44's. SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!! I highly recommend them. They were highly recommended to me by Chessrock, Acorec, and DOT!
 
So once again as Im going off of peoples opinions here, Im thinking Gt 44s, and mc012. only problem is the 44s at 400 for both, are about a 100 dollars out of my price range. However if they turn out to really be noticably better than the oktovas I might think about it. Does anyone have recording of the 44s as overheads. what makes them better
 
drummerfreak33 said:
So once again as Im going off of peoples opinions here, Im thinking Gt 44s, and mc012. only problem is the 44s at 400 for both, are about a 100 dollars out of my price range. However if they turn out to really be noticably better than the oktovas I might think about it. Does anyone have recording of the 44s as overheads. what makes them better
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The GT-44's at $199 each are a steal.
They work great for overheads because they are a little darker, have a robust meaty sound that grabs the toms really well, and they tame the harsh transients of cymbals.
They are really versatile mics to have, as they work really well for amps, acoustic instruments, vocals etc. as well.
I love mine. :)
 
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