Drum mic sets - people's views

[Alec]

Just found myself back here, 4 years on from my original request and 3 years on from my last update.

 

My drum mic pack has not changed, other than upping the numbers slightly & a second kick mic.

 

Audix D6 kick mic

Sennheiser e901 kick mic

6 x Yoga D606 snare/tom mics with AT8665 clips

3 x FX-510L small capacitors for hi-hat & overhead.

 

I was always a cynic over double miking the kick, but was persuaded to give the e901 a try, especially when one turned up at the right price. For the right kind of band it's a revelation, and I'm a convert. Obviously, no good when there's no drum port. And it's too wide to get in for quite a few, which is a shame.

 

The D6 carries on as a trojan.

 

The D606s are fine. I continually lust after a pile of e904s, but would struggle to justify the cost for little change in sound, mainly just avoiding the need to persuade a few visiting engineers to use their eyes rather than their ears. They've held up well after some 200+ gigs. I've once had to re-fit a front grille. The ones that the venue has have suffered more, no grilles left, and one died completely, but they're abused a lot. The compact size helps on some tight kits, especially with a drum loom with right angle XLRs. Two AT clamps have broken - one quite quickly and replaced by CPC. A struggle to fit on some kits, where reversing the mic on them has been a good solution.

 

Nothing wrong with the FX-510Ls. Picked up one more for contingency, and the rare occasions when I've actually needed a pair of overheads (small-ish venue). I do like the fact they're small too.

 

Overall cost would to me would have been around £450 - with the kick picking up the lion's share.

[BigYinUK]

I just have to jump in here and say I've been using some Red5 stuff recently.

 

Their RVD9 tom mics are great and sound brilliant (to my ears) for electric guitar. A much more natural and less "miked up" sound than the old faithful SM57.

 

Their RV8 large format condensers make a great OH and at the price they've been selling them recently, would take a lot of beating.

 

Don't particularly like their RVD1 kick mic, it always sounds a bit lifeless to me though might suit some drum sounds. Will stick with my D112 for kick.

 

Oh, and the clips do suck, mightily :)

 

Regards

[Tezzachs]

Warning, potential long thread looming...

 

At the budget end, I'm tempted by the Red5 RVK5 set. All the mics I need, and real basement price £100. But how much may I be disappointed by the sound?

.

 

Ive got the Red5 RVK7 set which is the same as the RVK5 but with the overheads (these get used for a wide variety of things other than as overheads), and I have to say overall I'm very impressed, have compared them to the Shure PGmics and theres very little difference in sound, my only criticism is that the kick mic is a tad too heavy for my stands but I think thats more of a fault with the stand than the mic.

[sam.spoons]

I've just bought a used set of Superlux DRK-A4 drum mics, very cheap off ebay. One kick mic and three tom/snare mics, all super-cardioid (which seems like a good idea for a live mic set). Initial reaction, they sound relatively uncoloured with spoken voice and look extremely well made, the kick mic doesn't have the usual huge scoop so should work well on floor toms leaving one of t'others for the snare. They are sitting on the studio kit (on three toms and the snare as I type) waiting to be tried out. I'll post back when I've managed to get a drummer in for an hour or so. I also have an Audio Technica Pro 25 and a couple of MXL Cubes which I usually use for kick.