Kick drum mic for $80

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zildjohn01

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Kick drum mic for $100

I've been using a SM57 on my bass drum (for rock), but I think it's time to upgrade to a dedicated kick mic. I've looked around and what I've found so far in my budget is either the Audio-Technica Pro 25, or the AKG D110. I'm definately open to other suggestions though, or other mics I haven't found. Which mic would be the best choice for kick?
 
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At Atm25

Hi,

You can get a used Audio Technica ATM25 for about $80. I haven't tried the PRO25 but I get great results with the ATM25.

I quickly found that kick drum mics under a hundred are hard to come by.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
A second vote for an ATM25, very defined and nice sounding kick drum mic, not all thwappy and muddy like some others in that range.
 
Thanks. Some info I left out I probably should have said:

- My bass head doesn't have a hole (port?), so I can't stick a mic inside the heads. I'll be micing it from outside, preferably on the opposite side of the beater.
- Condensers are okay, but I have a really cheap preamp so the phantom power may not be the most consistent. I really have no idea about anything when it comes to phantom power. Battery-powered might be okay if the batteries last a while.
- I'm recording in a little corner of my basement, brick walls and 6' ceilings with huge metal furnace vents above the set. Definitely not ideal. With close-micing I don't know if that really matters or not.
- I could probably get away with spending $100 on this.

Score:
Audio-Technica Pro 25 - 0
AKG D110 - 0
Audio-Technica ATM25 - 2

Anyone else? Fire away!
 
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save your money ang get something worthwhile. i've never used any of the above.

btw, i got my D112 for $130 shipped on ebay.

watch the forums, watch craigslist and ebay.
 
The ATM25 is a very nice kick mic. Good on bass cabs and toms too. In the inexpensive price range you are basically looking at used ATM25, AKG D112 and Audix D6 as probably the most commonly used mics. With some judicious shopping you should be able to find any of these used for @ $100 each +/- a few bucks. The ATM25 is often a bit cheaper than the other 2 mics. I'd say they are pretty comparable with selection being a personal preference matter. I've got a D6 and an ATM25. The current model of the Beyer M380 sometimes shows up cheap used as well (sometimes the old ones go for stupid money) and is a very decent kick mic too. The older ones are brass colored and are better than the newer black TG models.
 
one that you can come by for that $$$ is a Peavey 520i.......
 
multi use

Hi,

I used my ATM25 for live sound at Blues Fest and it worked well inside the drum and outside the drum when the kick had no hole.

An advantage of both the ATM25 and the Peavey 520i is that both are multipurpose and can be used for toms, bass cabinets, acoustic bass, horns, basically anything loud and bassy.

All of the mics mentioned are dynamics. mshilarious has a condensor kick mic, the msh1-x I think. Somebody help me. I haven't heard of any others.

As far as the kick mic goes the basement location probably doesn't matter much. For overheads try cardiods and keep them close to minimize a bad room. Close is two stick lengths above the snare.

I bought AT PRO 37s for overheads and hope to try them out soon. They are cardiods with excellent detail in the upper octaves.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
I looked around a little bit, and I couldn't find the Peavey mic on sale anywhere. Right now I'm heavily leaning towards the ATM25, mostly because nobody ever has anything bad to say about it, and it seems to be more versatile (different kick sounds, plus micing a bass cab). I've seen a few people talk about the D112 being "muddy", plus it's a little more expensive.

Thanks for the help.
 
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