Best "Clip On" Mic for Toms?

DuoTone ..
those were what I have been kind of leaning towards.. let me know how they sound if you get them.

Or if any else has had experience between them, AKG and the Sennheisers.

-thanks
 
I have used all of them. The E604's sound better than the shures. The AKG's (I'm assuming that you are talking about the tiny ones) sound good but the cable that come off of them is really flimsy and will break very easily.
 
Hey FairView,
Thanks .. are the "tension clamps" on the E604's durable compared with the mechanical/archimedes style screw clamps .. and how are they with isolation?

-thanks again.
 
I have had a set for about 8 years, I have never had a problem. The isolation won't be good on any of them, but the mics were designed with that in mind.
 
Hey Jason,

Have you ever used anything by Applied Microphone Technology?

A guy brought one of their clip-on horn mics to a sound gig I did last weekend. It's the best clip-on horn mic I've ever heard.

They make some drum mics that would probly rock if they are close to the horn mic's quality.

BTW, I agree. I like 604s better than 98s (by a tiny smidge). I like the attack on 98s better, but those 604s have a wicked meaty thing going on.
 
Personally, having used most every tom mic available, I like the beta 98's better. You do have to be more careful with mic placement though. They are sensitive little buggers with a very hot output. Changing the angle and height of the placement makes a much larger difference than it does with most dynamic tom mics. As far as the little AKG micro's go, I really did not like them much at all. Every once and a while I run into a set of them and try them again thinking that maybe I have changed, but it's always the same. Kind of dull an unflattering.

I sue the Sennheiser 604's alot as well though and find them to be pretty nice. I may not like them as much as the 98's, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it if I brought my Sennheisers instead of my Shure's. What I don't like about the Sennheisers are the stupid clamps. The clamps have a very weird angle to them that often leaves the mic pretty high up off the tom and can be a real issue if a drummer plays their cymbals fairly low, or has a lot of cymbals on the kit. You can turn the mic around on the clamp and that helps the height issue, but then it limits how far over the drum you can get the mic and the angle in doing so.

I have discovered that in general I am not too picky about what tom and kick mics I sue as long as they are professional mics and not cheapies (i.e. samson, nady etc...). For kicks I own Shure beta 91's and 52's, AKG D112's, Sennheiser 602's, and an EV PL20. For Toms I own Shure beta 98's, beta 56's and PG 56's, Sennheiser 604's and 421's, and EV 408's (the original ones, not the new ones).

So far my all time favorite tom mics are my EV's. I like them even better than the Sennheiser 421's. On live stages when I use them I out them on the Shure A56D clamps. Those are the same clamps that come with the beta 98's, but instead of a goosneck arm like the 98's have, they have a solid metal arm with 2 mic threads. This means you could put one clamp inbetween 2 toms and attach 2 mics to it. Also, the shure clamp is capable of a much wider width than the other clamps I have used, and can be adjusted to clamp to cymbal stands with out leaving "claw" or "teeth" marks on them. The shure clamps allow me to place mics at a lower profile than most clamps without sacrificing mic position.

Just my 2 cents:)
 
boingoman said:
Hey Jason,

Have you ever used anything by Applied Microphone Technology?

A guy brought one of their clip-on horn mics to a sound gig I did last weekend. It's the best clip-on horn mic I've ever heard.

They make some drum mics that would probly rock if they are close to the horn mic's quality.

BTW, I agree. I like 604s better than 98s (by a tiny smidge). I like the attack on 98s better, but those 604s have a wicked meaty thing going on.
Click to expand...
I have never used an AMT mics.
 
I used the 604's at an open air gig at a school down here in LA, (Crossroads, my rythm guitarist goes there), and i hated them! Mind you, the 604's were cranked and there were no "OVERHEADS" because of the setup. (There were 5 sm94's 1 on the hi hats, 1 on the ride) and 1 inbetween each set of crashes, it wasnt my kit), so the 604;s were providing all of the tom sound, and the toms in the overhead mix did not exist! The 604's did not have much meat or attack to them. They had one random beta56 layin around, for drum vocals, but i dont sing, so i threw that on for a little change, and it sounded much better. I would rather get a set of those. They had more top and bottom to them. For the sound i am going for, i love condensers. Not for everything though. I dont feel that the beta 98's or any other clip on gets the uber low end like a md421 or anything. But on my 2 high toms (10,13), or at the time when i used the beta98's the toms were (12,13)(Some random pearl at another school function), the beta98's sound crisp, clean, and are full of tone with a little snap that is great. I have yet to use them in the studio, but i am expecting a good result. I am not getting my own untill maybe tuesday because my guy at gc cant find the drum clips to go with them, but once i get um, i will record into my firepod. I would also say, if u have big floor toms like me (16, 18), Look into 421's for them. I LOVE THE SOUND. i gotta find a deal on some!

p.m me if u have 421's!!!
 
I have used the e604s and found them to have excellent sound... assuming your toms sound good in the first place. I used them on a recent recording me and a buddy did... he was on set and i was on guitar. The tom mix ended up sounding excellent, with good attack and even better resonance. You can PM me and i will try and get a sound sample out to you when i can.
At live gigs, i started using another 604 on the snare with excellent results every time.
 
DuoTone, sounds like your outdoor gig had some serious problems if someone was using that many cymbal mics. Some of the poor technique (and cheap mic selection as well) makes me think that the whole PA probably had a bunch of issues too. This could easily explain many different things. Not the least of which would be bad tom sounds. I agree the beta 56's are good mics for toms though. I just don't prefer them sound wise to the 604's. Pretty close though. The 604's though have a lower profile. As far as 98's go, I have never had a problem getting enough low end off of them. 421's though have always just sounded a little dead to me on live stages on toms, yet they seem to yield good results in the studio. Personally I think they are overpriced though, and I hate trying to put those on toms and be able to get a good angle on the tom without them being in the way of all the cymbals. I also hate having to mummify the clips in gaff tape to make sure they don't fall off mid performance.
 
e604

i've been through a couple sets of tom mics, and they are the best i could afford.

i wish 421's were cheaper, and smaller too.
 
giraffe said:
e604

i've been through a couple sets of tom mics, and they are the best i could afford.
Click to expand...

Thankfully, with all the mics in this thread, the price differences don't amount to a huge difference in sound, as I see it. Like a good kick mic, good tom mics aren't that expensive.

Anyone using 604s, Beta56, Beta98, EV408 (another of my faves) isn't really missing out on anything. They are all different, not better/worse.

It's nice to know there isn't a $2500 tom mic we have to dream about owning, like a $2500 vocal mic. :)


ps. I used to own five 604s. The case got run over by a truck, only one survived. I bought 98s, and use the single 604 for snare. I was expecting some major upgrade in the 98s. I didn't realize how good the 604 was until I got the 98s. I definitely had some "gear hype" going on. What I got was another very good sound, but a bit different.
 
well, i think the PA was fine. They were using a A+H 48 frame mixer and Nice Monitors. I just thought the 604's were lacking. IMO!
 
promesis said:
What, in your opinions, is the best "clip on" style mic for Toms?
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I love my beta 98's. I'm a drummer and upgraded from SM57's and the toms just came to life with the 98's! I play drums and own a great sounding DW set and they have never sounded so good. The great thing about these clip on style mic's is they can be used as dual purpose (live/studio) if you are on a modest budget. I run the 98's on my toms, SM57 on the snare, sure 52 on the kick and two akg 2000's as overheads (until I can afford something better).
 
Well, I used both a pair of 98's and a pair of 604's on a kit last time. Just to confirm the whole lack of low end thing on the 98's. Sorry to say, low end was certainly not lacking. I put the 604's on a 10" and a 12", and the 98's on the 14"and the 16" toms. The kit was a nice DW kit. I also slapped a 98 on the snare. The low end actually felt larger on the 98's. I attribute this though to a well tuned tom. I think it was really the sensitivity of the 98 that gave it more lows. It is more sensitive to the solid tone that would ring out on each tom hit (the drummers I work with do not believe in dampening the tom itself, but rather tuning it well instead). The Sennheisers just seem to lose the sustain a little quicker, which is fairly normal when looking at a condensor vs. a dynamic. Both mics sounded great though. Also, I did try both a 98 and a 604 on both the 14" and the 16" toms at the same time so I could flip between them. I opted to stay with the 98's on the deeper toms, and move the 604's to the rack toms. Part of this decision came about because of cymbal placement. By putting the 98's on the rack toms I would have had more unwanted cymbal bleed than by putting the sennheisers up there, which to me (and the band and the crowd) made the kit sound both punchier and more crisp at the same time.
 
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