probably a little of both. the capsules are like an inch past the edge of the rim now, whereas they were outside the rim before maybe a couple inches back. now i get better separation, a shitload more gain, and the overall sound seems boomier (?).
jury's still out whether i like it or not because my toms sound like ass even though i've read your drum tuning sticky about 8 times.
That's what I suspected. I've always thought that rim clips got a bad rap because of the positioning of the mic, not vibrations. Tiny movements make a huge difference with close drum mics. When you go from a stand to a rim clip, it's usually a pretty significant difference in sound. It freaks a lot of people out and they immediately hate the rim clips. The actual vibration transferred to the capsule is negligible, and if the clips have rubber mounts, it's probably not even happening at all.
There's three things you need to play with to dial them in (this is assuming the drum is tuned well):
1) Angle. Play with where the mic is pointed. I like mine pointed about halfway between the center and rim.
2) Height. Higher will give you a less focused, more natural sound. Close will be very tight and focused with lots of overtones. I like mine as high as my clips will go.
3) Distance from the center. This is where most clips fall short. Most clips allow you to move the mic towards the center of the head, or close to the rim, but rarely will they get the capsule outside of the rim, and that can be a problem sometimes.
To me, the only advantage a mic stand has over a rim clip is the ability to make infinite adjustments, but they take up a shitload of space, so it's a trade off. Some mics won't even fit into rim clips. Fortunately, tom mics aren't
that critical, so pretty much any dynamic mic will be fine.
