best bass drum mics

[monkieman]

hey all, im starting to record a few tracks to audition for some various summer music camps and currently im using 2 sm57's that i place on stands about 6 feet away in front of my set, about 6 feet away from each other. with the 2 sm57's i get a miniscule sounding bass drum, so im planning on buying a bass drum mic to beef up the sound.

so after looking around, it seems as if the main choices are:
-Shure beta 52A
-Audix d6
-AKG D112

the problem is that when i look at reviews, it always goes that one person says that one of them is the best, but then another person will come around and say that a different one is better, hands down.

anyone have opinions or descriptions of the sounds that each mic gets? or just some help?

(i would try out the different mics but guitar center has its dumb no return policy for mics.)

[Skitch]

hey all, im starting to record a few tracks to audition for some various summer music camps and currently im using 2 sm57's that i place on stands about 6 feet away in front of my set, about 6 feet away from each other. with the 2 sm57's i get a miniscule sounding bass drum, so im planning on buying a bass drum mic to beef up the sound.

so after looking around, it seems as if the main choices are:
-Shure beta 52A
-Audix d6
-AKG D112

the problem is that when i look at reviews, it always goes that one person says that one of them is the best, but then another person will come around and say that a different one is better, hands down.

anyone have opinions or descriptions of the sounds that each mic gets? or just some help?

(i would try out the different mics but guitar center has its dumb no return policy for mics.)

I personally prefer the AKG D112 mics, but to me the best mic isn't even made anymore. It was a Beyer dual diaphram.


Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com

http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw

[rendezvous_drummer]

I've had a lot of experience with the AKG D112 and it sounds amazing, but yes the Audix D6 is amazing as well and am looking forward to using it some day. Mediocrefunkbeat is very knowledgable when it comes to microphones.

[IDDrummer]

It's hard to describe the way mics "sound" but I'll give it my best. The B52 is very punchy and round sounding to my ear. A couple of other drummers here in North Idaho use them and they sound very good live, but they seem to be just a bit picky as to placement before they sound great. I have the D6 - it gives plenty of attack and a very full low end. I also find it very forgiving in placement, within reason. The AKG112 is probably more of a recording studio standard. It seems to give less coloration (or change) to the sound of the bass drum than the other two. It also picks up a bit more off-axis sound and gives it kind of a high-pitched timbre, but it's not very noticeable in a full mix.

And that is pretty much the extent of my bass mic knowledge!

Oh, one more thing. These kick mics and the SM57's are all dynamic mics and will give much more bass response closer to the sound source. If you put one of those 57's about 8"-12" in front of your kick, you may get an acceptable sound for your purposes.

[DamoSyzygy]

Also look into the Sm91!

[macmarkus]

shure, for shure. :)

[Muckster]

I've used my AKG D112 for years in studio and live settings. No complaints.

[xush]

the problem is that when i look at reviews, it always goes that one person says that one of them is the best, but then another person will come around and say that a different one is better, hands down.


yep, that's the problem! Everyone has a fav~

In our studio, we prefer the Shure Beta52 over the AKG, but it was a close shave.
We did a shootout a while back with those and a few other high-enders, and the B52 is what we settled on. I'd agree with the poster above's assessment of the difference between the two. The AKG seemed a little boxier/flatter, but not by a lot.

[cjl71178]

When I was gigging with the last band, we would either use the AKG D112 or just a
Shure SM57. The D112 was great, but we couldn't use it in certain rooms (I'm not too technical with microphones so I'm not 100% sure why).

I also worked with a soundman who used two microphones for the bass drum and he swore by them:
http://www.jazzitalia.net/lezioni/percussioni/Immagini/ev_pl20.gif
http://www.microsearch.com/images/product/sm57.jpg
an EV PL20 and a SM57.
He would use the EV for all the low end and some mids, and use the SM57 for all the highs.