Best Kick and Snare mic

Drum Mics.

  • The Ball

    Votes: 2 3.8%

  • other

    Votes: 15 28.3%

  • Sm57

    Votes: 22 41.5%

  • Beta57

    Votes: 2 3.8%

  • Beta52

    Votes: 11 20.8%

  • Beta91

    Votes: 1 1.9%
  • Total voters
    53
D

DuoToneBand

New member
Hey. This is our first post. We are DuoTone. We are a band in LA. We have the fortune of having Snuffy Walden be our lead guitarists father, so we go into his multi-million dollar studio whenever we he is not busy with the West Wing or other shows.

OK!

I am putting together a little recording rig at my house to record band practices and other stuff. I have a PreSonus Firepod and 3 DR-GX1's and have a sm58 for the time being. We just got the firepod yesterday. but before we had it, i had the sm58 above my kit, and a DR-GX1 on each guitar amp and one on the bass amp. I also built a bass drum rig(12" woofer into a xlr cable). Now with the firepod, i would like to get some mics.

For overheads, what should i get. I dont want to spend much money at all. I was thinking a BLUE "The Ball" for a overhead and then either a Sm57 or Beta57 on the snare? What should i get? Also, for the kick, i want a Beta52 but some have said that i should get a Beta91.

As you can tell, i just want an overhead or 2, a kick and a snare mic.

Charlie
 
that was very confusing. Sorry

But would the blue as an overhead and a beta or sm on the snare with a 52 in the kick be a good setup.
 
i would say when that guy with the multi-million dollar studio isn't looking steal a neumman (sp?) ribbon mic or something and sell it on ebay and then buy whatever mics you want. just kidding.i would say get something pretty nice for overheads and bass because they're a lot harder to set up and eq than a snare. also, i have heard both beta's on the BD and it doesn't really matter. a shure is a shure. they're all pretty nice. it doesn't really matter how the mic sounds, it just matters what you can do with it. i currently have a 50 dollar nady bass drum mic sounding like pantera/metallica.
 
Thanks. I think im going to go and pick up a Beta52. And, i just found a SM57 in my dads closet. So now i am stuck with overheads. What should i get? I want to spend nothing! MXL990? they are only $50
 
Small condensors, often called sdc's, are what you need for overheads dynamics just don't get it done for that. Check out some mxl 603's I think they're pretty cheap and have a decent rep for being so cheap and chinese. the sm57 would go great on the snare and toms for that matter. Beta52 is a great choice for kick drum and the Ball, well I'm a Blue fan and I've heard the Ball and hate it but thats just me. If you must use the ball it'd probably do ok on floor tom but I wouldn't let it do anything like snare or overheads. So you have 3 of those one mics, a sm58, a sm57, possibly a beta52. That should cover everything but overheads and on your budget go with the 603's don't go for anything cheaper. I've tried a lot of 30-50 sdc's and they were all terrible as overheads. Ok well I just noticed the date on this and feel pretty fuckin stupid but I swear it was at the top of my list like it was brand new. So apologies all around.
 
Hi Duotones..

I've just upgraded my "kick mic" from a '57 to a beta52, and i'm very glad.. theres so much more thump and bite in the kick now. you won't regret it if you go for the b52.. however, there are other kick drum mics on the market in the same pricerange, try testing akg d112 vs. the b52, to my ears, the 112 is less pre-eq'ed than the beta, and the beta has a more rock/heavy click sound than the 112..

Depends on what sound you're looking for, and the bassdrum itself, both mic's are worth it..
 
"so we go into his multi-million dollar studio whenever we he is not busy with the West Wing or other shows"
Nopt to be a smart ass but why don't you ask the people at the million dollar studio :confused:
 
jmorris... thats a really good point. If you have access to them...dont bother buying some crap ones lol. Even if this thread IS old...it's really good for noobies to take a look if they need it.
 
I don´t know if they´re the best, but both worked great for me and my budget. I use SM57 and PRO25. I haven´t tried another mics for the same purpose. Maybe I have to. When money comes I´ll see what I can get.

TS
 
If you can expand your budget a bit, the AKG D112's are my all-time favorite BD mics, and I've really become attached to the Shure KSM 137's (especially if you're running overheads in stereo).
 
i agree with Drpfeffer and a few others the AKG D112 is good for kick as well as the beta 52. the snare i prefer an sm57 sm58 would be alright. overheads i'd say you need a pencil condensor mics rather than the ball....not a big fan but thats personal choice. get a good phantom power mixer and decent eq maybe a compressor. but best tool is your ears good heads on the drums and many laugh when i say this but good sticks. reason i say that is i recorded the best take of my life dsoing a swing style ride riff that was super fast and played it back and it was flat...so thought well wasn't hitting the nylon tip on the edge right and was riding the wood. started the next take and was watching and listening...it was still flat so hit it harder and the tip flew off hit me in the forehead lol i had apparently cracked the nylon tip and the entire stick so it was flat. trust me sticks play a big part. i used to mic my drums with a pvm peavey for an overhead and an ampeg high pressure small mic for floor tom and kick face and cheap dynamics for the toms in a high overhead which made me sound like i was a ways away from the band lol and a cheap no name tight polar mic on the snare up close. it worked not great but you use what you can. good luck guy ..experiment and have fun.
 
mics i used

Apex 125 is not to bad for the price or the expensive EV (club) RE20. :p
For Kick
and for Snare i used a apex 120 or 126 :) want to try the apex 165 soon :D

not used any others.
 
For the overheads, look into some cheap pencil condenser mics, there are a lot of them out there. There is a list of best mics for each drum on the LearnHowToRecord.com website. You have to sign up to get it but that's all I use. D112 or RE20 are good for kicks, and a 57 or md421 will be good for the snare.
 
I actually prefer the Sennheiser e602 on the Kick, just inside the front soundhole, but aimed over to the beater, and on the Snare I prefer a Shure SM-57 just outside the top rim, hat behind the mic as much as possible pointing downward about 30º
 
Hate to break it to you guys but this is a 7 year old thread..

Edit: I am also not sure why this just appeared in the new post search seeing as the last comment was last year
 
Kick - Audix D6 & AGK D112
Snare: Telefunken M80 - this mic is awesome _ way better than a 57 and worth the extra money.
 
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