Help me Pick my Mics

Hey guys. I'm new to home recording. Ive recorded 3 records about 10 years ago when I was in a hardcore band and was never happy with the end result. So now that I'm older I can afford a budget home studio used just for tracking drums.

Here's what I have in my 1 car garage ( the room is treated with a little acoustic foam and I will build bass traps this weekend. :

Presonus Audiobox 1818VSl
Studio One 2 Producer (DAW)
Equator D5 Monitors, ( i will add a JBL or Yamaha sub as soon as i get the mics in place)
Audio Technica ATH-M50s ( for tracking and late night mixing),
GLS Audio XLR Cables,
Enough Boom Stands
Yamaha Stage Custom Birch with a Pork Pie Little Squealer snare,
Zildgian A and A Custom Cymbals,
Borrowed Audix entry level mics

I plan on getting:
1 Audix D6 for the kick
3 Shure SM57s for the snare, rack tom, and floor tom
2 Audio Technica AT2035s for over heads
Total cost for me will be around 700 plus tax

My first project is to record drums for a DJ. The music varies from Hip hop, to Rock, to Pop, to Dub step. I would like my drums to sound heavy and aggressive like a hard rock drummer . My main concern is overheads. Are the Audio Technica AT2035s better than the AKG C1000s?
Can you recommend a better pair of overheads for less than 200 a piece.

Thanks so much for reading all of this.

Please help a fellow drummer in need out.

Thanks
Ken M
 
Can you recommend a better pair of overheads for less than 200 a piece.

Those AT-3035's will get the job done well for you. I reckon they will give you the best decent representation of your kit for the price. I'd recommend (if you had the money) the AKG-214's; they have a set pattern to them but boy do they sound awfully good. They give a pretty accurate picture and sound for their price. Highly recommend these!

I would also suggest putting a pencil mic right on the ride cymbal. This will help you out incase you have a rhythm that involves the ride to be prominent in your mix.
I like the rest of your list as a great setup for beginning, the only thing I would change is your kick mic; I would swap that for an AKG 112\

Hope this helps - Good luck!
Mando
 
I suggest Oktava MK-012 as OH (buy them from the Oktava website, not on ebay).
Beta 52 on kick drum.
 
I suggest Oktava MK-012 as OH (buy them from the Oktava website, not on ebay).
Beta 52 on kick drum.

Totally agree on the oktava's. Hands down great OH mics for the money. They also make amazing tom mics if you get better OH mics later.
 
I would also highly recommend putting an acoustic cloud or something over the drums depending on the ceiling of the garage. Is the ceiling is too close to the OH's (especially flat drywall) you will get a bunch of weirdness in the OHs. If you are building some DIY bass traps that shouldn't be too big of a deal.
 
The sennheiser e602 is a killer kick mic. Great on all low end sources. I've never had any luck with the D6. It's $40 cheaper then the D6 too.
 
The sennheiser e602 is a killer kick mic. Great on all low end sources. I've never had any luck with the D6. It's $40 cheaper then the D6 too.

On my last project, I used one of these inside my kick, with a Yamaha SubKick outside. Best bass drum sound I have captured to date. Sennhesier sells it in a package with a really good telescopic bass mic boom stand, plus an XLR cable. Can't beat it ...
 
Agreed totally, should have mentioned that too. The e602 is stupid good. I have used it inside and a blue mouse outside for the last 5 or 6 years. Amazing sounding bass drum mic for the money.

I have never used the Audix but I have used the others mentioned and would recommend the e602 over the D112 and Beta52 in a heartbeat.
 
did u mean the at 2035s???


Those AT-3035's will get the job done well for you. I reckon they will give you the best decent representation of your kit for the price. I'd recommend (if you had the money) the AKG-214's; they have a set pattern to them but boy do they sound awfully good. They give a pretty accurate picture and sound for their price. Highly recommend these!

I would also suggest putting a pencil mic right on the ride cymbal. This will help you out incase you have a rhythm that involves the ride to be prominent in your mix.
I like the rest of your list as a great setup for beginning, the only thing I would change is your kick mic; I would swap that for an AKG 112\

Hope this helps - Good luck!
Mando
 
I had my heart set on the D6 after listening to sound clips with my eyes closed to not influence my ears. I really love the hyped sound of it. Should i get the beta 52 with the 3 Sm 57s to save me about 100 bucks?


As far as over heads i narrowed it down to the Audio Technica 2035s, AGK C1000s, or the rode nt5

Sorry to be a pain but Im thinking going with the D6 (kick), 3x sm57s (snare, rack tom, and floor tom), and 2x Rode NT5 (overheads). At the moment its $930 at Zzounds, but I get a %10 discount on this order, and can get them to price match the Audix D6 for 30 bucks cheaper.

Any objections?

Thanks so much guys. Im sorry if I come across as stubborn, but the D6 just sounds killer to me, the SM57s are so classic and tried and true, and the rode nt5 matched pair just seems like its worth the extra cash over the 2035s or c1000s.
 
Personal preference: AKG D112 for the kick drum mic. You can EQ it to sound like the Beta 52 or the D6, but not vice-versa.

Instead of 3 57s, I would get 2 57s and an Audix I-5. The I-5 is a lot punchier than the 57s, and sounds great on snares and rack toms when you want a lot of "presence". I would get one to experiment with, as it's good to have some versatility. Actually, the I-5 is to the 57s and the D6 is to the D112, pre-EQed with a tightly-Qed midrange scoop to be punchy.
 
If you've done the comparison yourself and like the way the D6 sounds, then get it. Otherwise you are going to be disappointed and probably end up buying one anyway.

As far as OHs the Oktava's really have no comparison in this price range that I have found BUT get what you want and what's in your budget. Is there a Music Go Round close to you? They have used Oktava's for $125 a pop usually and you can try them out and take them back if you don't like them.

I have used sm57's on toms and while not preferred, they are totally usable to start out with. Plus it never hurts to have a couple sm57's laying around so if you outgrow them, you can still use them for something like under snare or guitar amps etc. But if you like the Audix thing and want that heavy aggressive sound you could just go with an Audix drum pack and buy some overheads for about the same price as what you are looking at. I have heard the Audix stuff but never used it. For someone beginning to record they probably aren't a bad deal as they are pretty heavily EQ'd already and it may be easier to get that sound without all the tweaking that a D112 of sm57 needs. Personally I prefer the versatility and to tweak things myself, but I have been doing this for a while now so I am used to it.

Finally, I would encourage you to buy used when you can. Its a big savings money wise and for drum mics unless they have been toured with or beat to hell, it really shouldn't be an issue.
 
Back
Top