What is the deal with drum mic kits?

[fattmudge]

Is it a good idea to buy one of these kits or just buy mics separately? Anybody have good/bad experiences with any of these kits? It seems like a great idea to get something like this, but a lot of these kits must cut corners in places...Also, a lot of them seem to be fairly cheap like under $500.00 for a 7-mic kit.

Anyways, I'm just wondering which route to go for my drum mics and would love to have some input. Thanks.

 

[Guitarer]

I'd say you'd be better of buying seperately, so you can mix brands.

When you buy a pack, you're counting on one brand to produce a good everything. No brand does. Different brands specialize in different things. Some brands are well rounded, making everything decent, and some brands are hit and miss with some parts being great and others being horrible.

Mixing it up is really the only way to have a great everything.

 

[fattmudge]

yeah, that's what I thought...That being said, I'd love to hear some of your opinions on what you would/do use for drum mics, especially overheads...There are so many options in so many price ranges and it's not exactly easy to test different mics for recording drums...I'd prefer to get everything I need for under $1,000...any suggestions?

 

[Dogman]

I recently bought one of the CAD 7 piece kits for $200...seems to work pretty well, as I don't have any stands and it came with clips. Sounds have been good so far....but drums are fairly new to me.

 

[Nico2112]

I personally use a blend of Shure mics:
PG52 for kick
PG81s condenser overheads
Prologue 16L condenser for hats and
SM57 for snare

You could buy a Shure PG 6 piece mic pack and just add on a SM57.

Packs work great if you choose the right one

Cheers!

 

[Guitarer]

yeah, that's what I thought...That being said, I'd love to hear some of your opinions on what you would/do use for drum mics, especially overheads...There are so many options in so many price ranges and it's not exactly easy to test different mics for recording drums...I'd prefer to get everything I need for under $1,000...any suggestions?

There is quite a lot you can do for under a grand. I don't claim to be an expert on what I'm doing here, but I'm mixing different things that get rave reviews on this board and everywhere else, so I'll lay a pretty good bet it'll yield great results.

Personally, if you're gonna mix it up, I would save the overheads for last. There's a lot of options out there, and the price ranges vary greatly. So, depending on how much you've spent on other things, can effect what you end up with for overheads. That being said, I have a matched pair of Naiant MSH-2s on their way that I plan on using for overheads ($74 after shipping and NC Tax), but you may just be able to shoot for anything up to RODE NT5s, depending on where you spend your money on other pieces of the kit.

My set up will end up being somewhere around these lines:

Shure SM57 on snare top
Karma K-10 on snare bottom
Naiant MSH-2s for overheads
Karma K-10 on hi-hat
Audix D-6 on kick

Only things left to consider are tom tom(s) and floor tom.

For room mic, I'll probably use a Karma K-6, if I use a room mic at all. If not, I may attempt to use it on the floor tom, a leave the tom tom to the overheads.

 

[Elton Bear]

I use an Ashton DMP-100, cost £120 - great snare & tom mics, adequate kick mic with the right placement and tuning, and overheads that can be a little brittle but get the job done.
I then add an AKG C3000B for a bit of a fatter OH sound, and my next purchase will be an AKG D112.

 

[JPXTom]

There is quite a lot you can do for under a grand. I don't claim to be an expert on what I'm doing here, but I'm mixing different things that get rave reviews on this board and everywhere else, so I'll lay a pretty good bet it'll yield great results.

Personally, if you're gonna mix it up, I would save the overheads for last. There's a lot of options out there, and the price ranges vary greatly. So, depending on how much you've spent on other things, can effect what you end up with for overheads. That being said, I have a matched pair of Naiant MSH-2s on their way that I plan on using for overheads ($74 after shipping and NC Tax), but you may just be able to shoot for anything up to RODE NT5s, depending on where you spend your money on other pieces of the kit.

My set up will end up being somewhere around these lines:

Shure SM57 on snare top
Karma K-10 on snare bottom
Naiant MSH-2s for overheads
Karma K-10 on hi-hat
Audix D-6 on kick

Only things left to consider are tom tom(s) and floor tom.

For room mic, I'll probably use a Karma K-6, if I use a room mic at all. If not, I may attempt to use it on the floor tom, a leave the tom tom to the overheads.

Got any samples? im thinking of a similar setup.

 

[Guitarer]

Got any samples? im thinking of a similar setup.

Next time I'm at my drummer's, I can make individual samples of everything but the kick drum if you'd like. I won't be able to do kick for another month or so, as buying that mic isn't really a priority for me right now.

 

[Freethinker]

well man for just playing out purposes i would go with just a bass mic and two overheads , for live performance this is good, i use a PG52 and two PG81's at the 5 and 7 o'clock positions, this set up catches everything for playin out, but for recording a few more to catch the snare and toms is a good idea.

 

[chester]

I think the huge packs seem to be a waste, because if you are starting off, you can get by just fine with only 3 or 4 mics, get two overheads, then a bass, then a snare mic. That way you can get 4 good mics instead of 7 mediocre mics and you will never want to upgrade the good mics.

 

[Vagodeoz]

Try something like the Shure pack. Not the PG one. The one that is a Beta52, and 3 SM57s (with their drum mounts). You might wanna get an extra SM57 or two if you have many toms.
And get a good pair of overheads. Like Shure SM81s, or Rode NT5s.

 

[fattmudge]

Personally, if you're gonna mix it up, I would save the overheads for last. There's a lot of options out there, and the price ranges vary greatly. So, depending on how much you've spent on other things, can effect what you end up with for overheads. That being said, I have a matched pair of Naiant MSH-2s on their way that I plan on using for overheads ($74 after shipping and NC Tax), but you may just be able to shoot for anything up to RODE NT5s, depending on where you spend your money on other pieces of the kit.

Well, I already have a Beta 57. Are they as acceptable for snare miking as the standard 57? If so, that would take care of the snare mic. I also just got my hands on an AKG C3000B mic and it seems to catch the whole kit quite well when it's recorded. A room mic perhaps? Now, I'm only using a BOSS BR-8eight track recorder until I get my new computer and interface, but I guess it still gives me an idea of what the mics can do. Maybe I won't need to spend as much as I thought.

Now when you say purchase the overheads last, do you mean that they aren't as important a decision as the other mics of the kit? Because I hear a lot of people say that you should start with overheads, then work things like tom mics, hi-hat mics into the equation after. I suppose it all comes down to personal preference or just what you think sounds good. Of course, I'm still kind of new to it all.

I'd love to be able to hear some of the stuff you've recorded or will be recording, just to get an idea of the sounds you can get, especially with such low-priced overheads.

Thanks for all the input everyone. This forum is freakin' awesome.

 

[Drakaland]

I recently bought one of the CAD 7 piece kits for $200...seems to work pretty well, as I don't have any stands and it came with clips. Sounds have been good so far....but drums are fairly new to me.

I have the same pack. Not bad for the price. The overhead condensors sound the best in the pack I figure. I found clipping them onto toms didn't work so well for my setup. I was getting too much vibration from the tom into the mic so I put them on stands.