E604 vs Audix F90 vs SM57 vs. anything recommended for high tom

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thehymns

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After finishing my first session with drums, I decided I want to close my all the drums next time around. I'm going to buy a Shure Beta 52 for the bass drum and throw the MD421 I was using on to the floor tom. However, I need something to toss on the high tom. I don't want to shell out the money for another MD421, so I wanted to know how those clip on microphones preform. I know the SM57 can be throw on just about anything, how do they sound on high toms? Any recommendations?
 
I have used several mics on toms...the ATM29HE is one of my fav's, I have also tried 57's but still like the ATM better. Today however, my UPS man dropped off 3 e604's and wow what a differance. better than the other 2 put together. Since I havent had much time to play with them...give me a little time and maybe I can be a little more descriptive.
 
The 604's should work just fine:) sm57's are certainly usable, but the bigger the tom, the less likely I would be to use a 57. I have never cared for the Audix drum mics excepot for the D6 on kick or deep toms, and the D4's on the other toms. The F series isn't really bad though, just not as good as something like the 604's in my opinion. I also like the shure beta 98's (or sm98's) and even the beta 56's. My personal favorite however is the old EV 408's. Those are one of the only mics that I own that I don't go through phases with. Every other mic I tend to put away every once and a while and find something new or different. I haven't heard a dynamic tom mic that I like more than the old EV408's in the last 7 years though:D
 
EV N/D 257. I know, its a vocal mic, but it has a huge bottom end for a vox mic and it can handle transients and high spl well. It'll even do on kick in a pinch. As an added bonus you can usually pick them up on fleabay for cheap.
 
The Oktava MK-012 (with the 10 dB pad) is generally well-regarded as a tom mic. I've used it myself and the sound is accurate and punchy. It works equally well on large and small toms. It's a small mic and the clip is highly stable, which makes positioning pretty easy. I like it on certain snare drums, too.

I recently played around with some unusual drum configurations (including using a Decca Tree above the kit) and ended up with an Audix i5 on the high toms. I wasn't expecting it to be anything special but was pleasantly surprised by it. The sound was warm and fit very nicely into the mix.

Each of these mics will cost about $100 and will work well on various other sources.

- Jerfo
 
watch out for that MK012 though...dont hit it with a stick if ur putting it on toms...which I have never actually heard of doing...but hey..guess its possible...
 
thajeremy said:
watch out for that MK012 though...dont hit it with a stick if ur putting it on toms...which I have never actually heard of doing...but hey..guess its possible...
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I got the suggestion for using the MK-012s as tom mics from the TapeOp message board, which (unfortunately) has been down for the better part of the summer. You'll be surprised at how great they sound on toms. I've only ever used the cardiod capsules, but the hypercardiod capsules supposedly work even better for toms. That would make some sense, anyway...

I wouldn't recommend hitting any mic with a stick on a regular basis, but my MK-012s don't strike me as being particularly fragile. Even if you do happen to damage the capsule, you can always order a replacement set capsule from the Sound Room for $64. Still, you should be able to position them well enough so that they'll be out of the line of fire.

- Jerfo
 
I started reccomending the mk012's on toms about 2 and a hlaf years ago. They are great tom mics and at their price are nearly disposable. The biggest problem I get with them is enourmous bleed. You have to have the right drummer and his/her cymbals really need to be positioned in a sort of way that the bleed that you do get contributes to your drum mix instead of opposing it. I really like them, but for most projects they end up being more of a pain than they are worth.
 
I like e604's on mounted toms / higher pitched toms. Anything from a higher-tuned 14" and up I like the e604's. With a lower-tuned 14" and bigger, I like the AT Pro 25 or MD421 or similar. I've never used any condensers other than AKG C418's, which were terrible IMO.
 
I'm glad to hear the MK-012 is good on high toms, because I just bought one this weekend for $60 at GC ( yes, it is a Russian model with the -10 DB capsale and the metal clip and all that...I did my research :D ). That means I just need to grab a kick drum mic sometime (probably a Shure Beta 52)...I need to pay off some other things first though.
 
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