favourite tom mics?

[jonmatthews]

At my last session, I used my Okatava MC012's on the bigger toms (large rack and floor tom) just to try it - amazing results. HUGE booming toms, tonnes of attack and body, and very easy to place being SDC's. Everyone in the band I was recording commented on the tom sound. May have to leave 'em there permanently now! My choice for small rack toms (8-10") is the Audix i5. It just seems to work for me every time.

 

[RAK]

I've often used the MD421s, but I find they can be difficult to position since they're so large. Those small E/V mics are nice for toms also.
Probably the tom mic that came through the most often when I was working at the performing arts center (and also used in the studio I work at) is the Shure Beta98.

Disclaimer: Please note I work for Shure, and I'm not pushing that mic over any other, just telling you it was what most outside acts were bringing in.

 

[TragikRemix]

A 441 sounds like a 421 only more of it. Actually they are incredible vocal mics as well as snare and lots of other uses. A Leslie top sounds great with one. The problem with them is the physics of the size and the ability to place them .

i have one at my store, but my boss told me its broken. it sounds very warm but there is no low freq. response to it (im aware of the switch too), so everything sounds very tinny. is it broken or is that the sound of it???

 

[cavedog101]

There is nothing 'tinny' about an MD441. It has to be one of the smoothest most evenly responding mics on the earth. There IS a setting with that ring switch that rolls the lowend off drasically.....so your example may be broken.


I had forgotten that CAD mic. A drummer who was in for a session a while back had one in his kit that he used for the kik live. I didnt need it as I have the kik covered....so I used it on the floor tom and was very impressed. He had a frikkin 20" floor tom( GAK!!!) that was unusable until we put the CAD on it and about a pound of that sticky tape/foam stuff.


I have recently used my Kel on a rack tom and liked it a lot, but will need to buy three more if I want to pursue this as this one is glued to the guitar speaker.

 

[littledog]

Most of the time I use AKG414's on my tom tracks. I love the sound - captures a lot of nuance yet still sounds punchy, and for a large diaphragm mic they have a pretty small footprint.

For live sound I use either the EV ND/408's (an earlier version of the 468) or some Audix mini-condenser clip-ons (I forget the model #, but I've got three of them).

 

[TragikRemix]

Most of the time I use AKG414's on my tom tracks. I love the sound - captures a lot of nuance yet still sounds punchy, and for a large diaphragm mic they have a pretty small footprint.

For live sound I use either the EV ND/408's (an earlier version of the 468) or some Audix mini-condenser clip-ons (I forget the model #, but I've got three of them).

would they be the ADX-90??

i ordered two of them and they both came with blown diaphragms. either that or i did it the first time i used them. that shouldnt be though. regardless, im sending them back and getting more 57's. they might not be the best for tom's, but they are reliable and i know they will be good enough.

 

[littledog]

Mine say F-90 on them - not sure if that is the same thing you had.

Haven't had them long - so far used them to record one show without any problems. How they compare to similar mics by other manufacturers I can't really say.