Floor tom Microphone

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ex351d

Member
Hi! I am starting to buy microphones, I got the basics to record vocals, guitar and bass. Now I would like to get dynamic mics to record the drums. I got the SM57 for snare drum and D112 for base drum and I was thinking about getting 2 Sennheiser E604 for toms. I was thinking about buying a Sennheiser E602/E902. If I were to get it, would either
of these Sennheisers/AKG D112 work well on the floor tom in conjunction with the E604 on toms or I should get another E604 for floor tom?
 
I would use the same mic on the floor tom that I do on all the other toms. Sometimes it's hard enough trying to get the floor tom to sound like it belongs with the rest of the toms, without putting a mic with a completely different voicing on it.
 
I've got good results with a combination of e604 (rack toms) and pair of 412 (floor toms). The 421 is the Swiss army knife of drum mics.
 
I really like the BLUE Kickball mic on floor toms. It has a really open sound with tons of beef to the low end without sounding tubby. Kinds big though so placement can be tough. Also, the Electro Voice N/D 468 is a fantastic choice of all toms and it is wicked easy to place and excellent off axis rejection. CAD M179's are great as well but they are not super durable, being condenser mics. Of course only the CAD mics are still in production so the used market is the only place to find the others.
 
Farview, exactly what I was afraid of, that is why I posted this. I thought I could get away with a bass drum mic on the floor tom to get an extra flavor on basedrum mics by having 2. As most of the time 1 tom and 1 floor tom is enough. If I need an extra floor tom I thought I could use one of the basedrum mics but I'm concerned if it would fit. I posted to get feedback from people who use this setup.

Simman, The 421s are a bit out of my budget at the moment. I was thinking to do this as I'm on a tight budget to save some cash on mics.

cafehonda, the only one I can find locally, and new, is the EV 468. The price is comparable to the e604. How do they compare to the E604(in terms of sound and quality)?

Thanks for your help!
 
ex351d said:
Simman, The 421s are a bit out of my budget at the moment. I was thinking to do this as I'm on a tight budget to save some cash on mics
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I hear yeah; for whatever it's worth, I've used all 604s without any issue as well. I'd go with all 604s if you're worried about getting consistency. In addition the 604s also work nicely micing guitar cabinets.
 
You can use a kick mic on the floor tom. Some of this depends on the floor tom. If your second floor tom is an 18, you really need to use the same mic as the other toms to have any hope of getting it to sound the same. If the second one is a 16, it could be a toss-up.

The 604 works as a snare mic too, top or bottom. It can come in handy for any percussion you might need to mic up. It won't be a complete waste to have it around when you are only using one floor tom. Also, if you start recording other peoples drum kits, most guys have 3 toms, so it is useful to have three tom mic.
 
I got an Audix D4 for my 18" tom a few months ago, and I love it. It cuts through the mix nicely with both highs and lows. I've got a couple cheapo CAD D29s on the 12" and 13", and an SM57 on my 16".

The D4 beats the hell out of the SM57 for floor toms. Though I suppose that is to be expected.
 
421 is perfect for this, the best tom mic though is the 441-U by sennheiser but is even more expensive (edit) only just seen that they are out of your budget
 
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ex351d said:
Farview, exactly what I was afraid of, that is why I posted this. I thought I could get away with a bass drum mic on the floor tom to get an extra flavor on basedrum mics by having 2. As most of the time 1 tom and 1 floor tom is enough. If I need an extra floor tom I thought I could use one of the basedrum mics but I'm concerned if it would fit. I posted to get feedback from people who use this setup.

Simman, The 421s are a bit out of my budget at the moment. I was thinking to do this as I'm on a tight budget to save some cash on mics.

cafehonda, the only one I can find locally, and new, is the EV 468. The price is comparable to the e604. How do they compare to the E604(in terms of sound and quality)?

Thanks for your help!
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I find the EV N/D 468 has just more everything: a little more air, a little more beef and the mids really sound natural. Easy placement and excellent isolation. The e604 sounds a little veiled, like it is slightly muffled. E609 is better but feels a little hyped on top. Senn 421's are the bomb but ya gotta get the older ones. I think the MKII version sounds a little too edgy. Also, as others have said, Audix D series mics are great, verymodern sounding.
 
cafehonda said:
I find the EV N/D 468 has just more everything: a little more air, a little more beef and the mids really sound natural. Easy placement and excellent isolation. The e604 sounds a little veiled, like it is slightly muffled. E609 is better but feels a little hyped on top. Senn 421's are the bomb but ya gotta get the older ones. I think the MKII version sounds a little too edgy. Also, as others have said, Audix D series mics are great, verymodern sounding.
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I haven't used the EV mics since the early '90's, but I liked them back then.

For the most part, you can make any of these work. They are all just different flavors of the same thing. For example, the old 421's (from the 70's and 80's) do sound different than the new ones (mid 90's to the present batch), but it certainly doesn't make them useless for toms. (the 421II's are brighter than the 421-U5, as was said)

Your question revolved around whether or not to use a different mic for the floor tom than you do rack toms. If you want consistency, use the same mic on all. If you want the floor tom to be more of an effect, use a kick mic.
 
I'm thinking about getting 1 E609 mainly for guitars but I intend to use it on the bottom of the snare drum too as it is quite large so it would not get pounded under the snare.
 
There are a great many folks who speak highly of the D4 on floor tom. I too have an affection for EV mics and keep a number of n/d308's and 408's. By shear luck, I stumbled upon an asian knock-off of the Shure sm53/54 marked "Lanier". It was only $20 so I grabbed it...................best floor tom mic I own. Damn if I know where it really came from or how to find another.
 
On my bands last album we used a D112 on the floor tom, an E604 on the rack tom, an E602 on the kick, and a SM57 on the snare. I was very happy with the results. I actually prefer the D112 on floor tom to kick drum.
 
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