Drum mics (best of bang?)

4

412drummer

Senior Member
I am in the market for drum mics long story short. I want a good mic set for little money. I want to know out of these what is a good value or ones not mentioned in this price range. I gig on a 6 piece with about 4-6 cymbals. I rarely use the 2cnd floor tom but its still important. What mic kits I found interesting were
Cad premium 7 on sale for- $180
Mxl studio 6 with stands and cables- 380 obo on ebay (new)
Audix fusion 7 with cables- $350
Electro voice drum mic 6 pack- $280 on ebay new

Looking at how much the mxl and the audix kits go for in stores both seem like a really good deal. I have heard good thing about the ev ones too. I had the audix kit a few years ago and barely used it and sold it cause the band played with did not gig to the extent were I needed them. Mics will see more stage than studio.
 
Fewer good mics are better than a bunch of cheap ones. A single SM57 overhead and good kick mic of your choice (Beta52, D6, D112 and lesser known contenders like the RE20 or M88) will sound much better in live sound and most recordings than one of these budget prepacks. Add another 57 for the snare and you've got it for similar money. You can get away with a cheap condenser for overheads like the MXL603 but often times a dynamic will get a better balance of cymbals and toms. And keep the cymbals from being too sizzly. In pro recording set ups, ribbon mics are common. And you can get a set of Aphex 205s or MXL 144s for around $100 apiece, similar to the low cost small diaphragm condensers. But you probably don't want to use the ribbons outdoors. For that matter, the SCDs outdoors will often pick up a lot of wind noise compared to an SM57 or two.

The worst thing about the budget mic packs are the kick mics. Depending on what genre you play and what sound you're after (and if live, how good a PA) a $200 kick mic is the most important investment. You can even use knockoffs like the GLS Shure Beta57 knockoffs sold by Orange County Speaker Repair for the rest. In fact, that is my current favorite snare mic for recording. It has better rejection of the hi-hat than a standard Shure 57 or the Senheiser e609 that I use if tracking the snare alone. Stand isolation isn't as good as a real Shure, but as long as you're not hand holding it for vocals, I haven't had any problems recording or live sound. Including some fairly floppy stages.
 
Aeolian said:
Fewer good mics are better than a bunch of cheap ones. A single SM57 overhead and good kick mic of your choice (Beta52, D6, D112 and lesser known contenders like the RE20 or M88) will sound much better in live sound and most recordings than one of these budget prepacks. Add another 57 for the snare and you've got it for similar money. You can get away with a cheap condenser for overheads like the MXL603 but often times a dynamic will get a better balance of cymbals and toms. And keep the cymbals from being too sizzly. In pro recording set ups, ribbon mics are common. And you can get a set of Aphex 205s or MXL 144s for around $100 apiece, similar to the low cost small diaphragm condensers. But you probably don't want to use the ribbons outdoors. For that matter, the SCDs outdoors will often pick up a lot of wind noise compared to an SM57 or two.

The worst thing about the budget mic packs are the kick mics. Depending on what genre you play and what sound you're after (and if live, how good a PA) a $200 kick mic is the most important investment. You can even use knockoffs like the GLS Shure Beta57 knockoffs sold by Orange County Speaker Repair for the rest. In fact, that is my current favorite snare mic for recording. It has better rejection of the hi-hat than a standard Shure 57 or the Senheiser e609 that I use if tracking the snare alone. Stand isolation isn't as good as a real Shure, but as long as you're not hand holding it for vocals, I haven't had any problems recording or live sound. Including some fairly floppy stages.
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I will have to look into those GLS mics. Thanks for the heads up as well. I have used some sm57 live and always liked them.
 
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