Best Overhead Mics

  • Thread starter Thread starter mattkw80
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What type of mics do you use for Drum Overheads?

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I bought the seven pack of Karma's and I love 'em. I use them live on my drums especially since they're so compact. One of our guitar players likes the sound he gets with them on his rig. Can't go wrong with trying 'em since they're so cheap!
 
mattkw80 said:
Thanks Jay.

I was *a little bit* considering the Rode NT5's, but my Audix F-15's are the same as you say... the tom's and snare just have no meat on them.

So..... I am heavily leaning towards the 4050's.

(Would the 4047's make a decent set of OH's ???)
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I would avoid getting the Audix "F" series of mics. I had one of their drum pakages years ago, and got rid of them quickly; they were quite dull and lifeless.
 
Yeah, I am not totally satisfied with the F-15's.

But, I got them both for $100, so it worked in a pinch.
 
I voted other cause I usually prefer to use sdc in a live situation but ldc in a recording situation.
 
I bought a set of NT5 SDCs recently. Very nice bright shimmering sound for the cymbals. Agree about the comments on bottom end. I'm using other mics in concert with them to compensate for that now. Interesting posts about those Karmas.:)
 
I'm useing ksm109's for oh's. I heard some sm81's which I really liked which got me looking into those or maybe the ksm141's. Now reading in these forums I'm kinda jonezin for a pair of josephson c42's.

I also have to do some more experimenting. I'm useing a sm57 on the bottom snare (not doing it for me). I have a rodes k2 and a at 4050, wandering if I could or should I try them somewhere.
R
 
I have a matched pair of Oktava MK 012's that I use in a coincidental stereo pair over my kit and absolutely love them. I was lucky and purchased them over 6 years ago when the weren't that expensive. I use them with the 10db pad capsule.
 
Great..........now I'm reading about octava and octava mods.......
 
It varies a lot for me.
I am constantly trying something new.
It also depends on which room I am recording in.

When I am in bigger room I like SD Omnis.It gives me a lot better image and low end.
When I am in a smaller room I may a different choice dependant on the type of sound I am after (Jazz vs Hard rock,etc)

Lately I have enjoyed recording in a smaller well treated room, but using a modified Mid-Side technique that works well in the smaller room to make it appear bigger.The Mid side uses a figure 8 and a medium or SD cardoid.

I'll probably try something different in a couple months on my quest for the best set up.
 
tmix said:
Lately I have enjoyed recording in a smaller well treated room, but using a modified Mid-Side technique that works well in the smaller room to make it appear bigger.The Mid side uses a figure 8 and a medium or SD cardoid.

I'll probably try something different in a couple months on my quest for the best set up.
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I just learned about Mid-Side last week. Tried it out, and it sounded good first time!

I use x2 AT-4050's. (one in cardioid, and one figure 8).

I can't believe I had never heard of this before. Pretty easy to do.
 
Yep,
The mid side is really cool because you won't have some of the issues you do with spaced pair.
For instance, by pointing the center mic toward the snare/kick area and then set up the null of the figure 8 to point there as well you create a situation where the snare and kick are always center image. You don't have to fight the "overheads" to achieve it.
Because the null is facing the snare and kick the "spread"image puts the other sounds out from center some and creates a nice pocket in the middle for the kick and snare.
By choosing how much and how far you spread the side image you create the room size you want.

For me since the figure 8 is more in the center of the room the reflections it hears are longer and makes the room sound bigger.
 
I have been having good results with the recorderman as well, but... M-S seems pretty fool-proof, so I'm going to mess with it some more.

So... if you measure from the snare to your center mic, how far away would that be?

Also... how high up are you place these mics, from the highest cymbals?


I have been going 40" from the snare. (2 and 1/2 drum sticks). And roughly 2 feet higher than the cymbals.

(My kit is a little Gretch jazz kit, pretty low to the ground).
 
I would normally say matched pair of sdc's, but recently I tried a set of close matched mxl v69's with great results. My goto in the studio has been a pair of u87s over km184s, but I still like sdc's for rock drums but smaller kits like vintage gretch an stuff ive reached for less mics 3 or 4 and a good room
 
Rimshot said:
I have a matched pair of Oktava MK 012's that I use in a coincidental stereo pair over my kit and absolutely love them. I was lucky and purchased them over 6 years ago when the weren't that expensive. I use them with the 10db pad capsule.
Click to expand...

I'm lucky to have a stereo pair I got for 100 bucks back when Guitar Center was almost giving them away. I really like them for overheads - they're a little darker toned which I dig. Some day I'd like to experiment with Beyer 160s but those are not cheap. I don't have $1300-1400 to throw down for overheads right now or in the foreseeable near future. Maybe I'll rent a pair for a project. I do like the Oktavas a lot however and I'm not really looking to change them up.
 
When you space the 4050's in Omni, how far apart, how far out from the drums, and how high?

(roughly as a strating point, I mean... I know everything is relevant)
 
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