Kickport

Nealio1987

Senior Member
Hi all

I have been looking into getting a Kickport , I have watched the reviews on youtube and everything seems good about them.

Has anyone or can anyone share there expiriences with them before I buy one ?

Neal
 
I've bought one, actually it gives a bit more low freq sustain. But I don't think that it's something a drummer must have.
 
I tried the Kickport on two different bass drums, a Pearl Vision and a DW Collectors and didn't care for it. Listening closely, it dried out the resonance and some of the sustain of the drum. It might have made it a bit louder, but the front head suffered from the weight of the Kickport and couldn't vibrate as freely.

I'll try it again in the future, but for now it's a hole free front head for me.

Dennis
 
To paraphrase LIM: it may work. One problem with the KP is that you don't know how it will sound on your drum until you try it--it's a one-size-fits-all gadget that seems to work well on some drums but not others.

The first thing to expect is just what audiotech observed: loss of resonance and, pace manderman, sustain. Hang any weight on your reso and you'll get the same thing. You'll also get a lower frequency sound from it, as Gatzen has demonstrated.

Those things being so, it seems to me you'd get a very similar result from simply resting an Evans EQ pad against the reso.
 
drumtechdad it seems to me you'd get a very similar result from simply resting an Evans EQ pad against the reso.[/QUOTE said:
Sounds like you don't have one.

Low end is enhanced on any drum with kick port. KICKPORT operates on the tuned-port principle, and it works. An EQ pad or any weight against the reso will not yield the same results.

Mic KICKPORT and its effects are undeniable.
 
i lost mine... lol. and i was one of the first who bought em.

It worked in smaller venues when you dont use mics. I tried recording with it but didnt really get any increase in teh boom sound.
 
Sounds like you don't have one.

Low end is enhanced on any drum with kick port. KICKPORT operates on the tuned-port principle, and it works. An EQ pad or any weight against the reso will not yield the same results.

Mic KICKPORT and its effects are undeniable.

Having been a speaker builder for many years, and having made a number of ported speakers, I know how the "tuned-port principle" works.

Designing a ported speaker involves a fairly nasty formula. Into that formula you plug in bunch of driver parameters plus the internal volume of the cabinet, and it gives you the diameter of the port and the length of the tube behind it. The volume of the cabinet is a constant--if you change that you get different values for the port dimensions. (It's worth noting that that formula only gets you in the ballpark: you have to tweak the port's dimensions and tube length to suit, all to gain a few dB of sensitivity and about 1/3 octave of bass extension.)

Therefore, if the Kickport is indeed operating on the "tuned-port principle," it can only be correct for one volume of air. Other volumes--which is to say, other size drums--will predict a different port.

That makes sense: some guys report good results with the Kickport, others not so much.

Therefore, while I'm happy you like the Kickport and that it works great for you, your results are not necessarily predictive, at least not to the extent that "Low end is enhanced on any drum with kick port." That it works for some is a good thing. Might even work for me! Dunno! Alas, your experience is non-transferrable.

And not to be snarky, but the surest way to lower the pitch and reduce the sustain of a ported reso head would be to hang a weight on it. A weight, say, about the same as a Kickport.

Just sayin'.
 
Designing a ported speaker involves a fairly nasty formula. Into that formula you plug in bunch of driver parameters plus the internal volume of the cabinet, and it gives you the diameter of the port and the length of the tube behind it.

With audio speakers, the goal of a tuned port is to effect a specific frequency (well say *30hz). Speaker box volume can be off as much as 10% with no real difference in performance. KICKPORT isn't zeroing in on a specific freq when applied to different sized kicks. You could design your own port/freq for a specific bass drum, but that's not KICKPORT'S intent. They did the math, their design works well on all sizes.




if the Kickport is indeed operating on the "tuned-port principle," it can only be correct for one volume of air. Other volumes--which is to say, other size drums--will predict a different port.


Again, KICKPORT is accentuating lower frequencies, its not meant to work on a 'specific freq' like a tuned port speaker box.

The differ in volume between a 20 and a 22" kick drum (16" D) is only 10%
As BD volume increase, *30hz may no longer be the dominate freq though whatever becomes actual with KICKPORT installed is not gonna be far off.

So weather its 38hz or 34hz there's still going to be noticeable difference in low end with KICKPORT.

Don't let speaker box design theory get in the way of your decision to try it.
KICKPORT works on all sizes, I really like it 20" kicks.
 
From their website:

It’s tunable! Due to its broadband design, The KickPort® improves the sound of bass drums sized 16” to 28.” It can be tuned up or down by adjusting the tuning of the resonant head.
 
Sorry, Les--you can't have it both ways. It either works according to the "tuned-port principle" or it doesn't.

I'm here to tell you that a 10% difference in enclosure volume is a serious difference, and will throw your speaker design out the window. I know; I've built and tested them.

Now, all that's fine, if you want to say that it doesn't work according to the "tuned-port principle." There is no "tuned-port" that works at all frequencies with all enclosure volumes.

So take yer pick. It either works according to "tuned-port principles" or not. In the end, it doesn't matter, but I vote for it doesn't work according to "tuned-port" principles. As I pointed out before, put some weight on a reso head and it will lower the pitch and reduce sustain, without all that disturbing math.

Either way, it's all good. It clearly works for you. That's good! It might work for me as well. But nothing you have said, and nothing about the "tuned-port principle" predicts that it will.

At the same time, it's clear that it doesn't work for other folks--by their own testimony--so your experience is obviously not predictive. I fail to understand why you would continue to say it is.

If you had posted, "I have one and it works very well on my drums" we wouldn't be having this conversation.
 
Sorry, Les--you can't have it both ways. It either works according to the "tuned-port principle" or it doesn't.

It works on the same principle, but keep in mind you're not trying to 'zero in' on a specific freq with KICKPORT like you are when designing tuned-port speaker boxes.

KICKPORT accentuates low freq's, its not about 'dialing into' and effecting a specific freq on different sized drums.

You seem top be stuck on comparing- designing a speaker box and getting a bass drum to accentuate low freq's with a tuned port... its close to, but not the same thing.

I do own a KICKPORT and use it on my 20" 10 ply Maple kick, it makes a very noticeable difference on the low end. I've played KICKPORTS installed on 22 and 24" drums, its also very noticable on these sizes as well IMO.

So you can comment theoretically, but you should try it, you'll probably like it.


From their website:

It’s tunable! Due to its broadband design, The KickPort® improves the sound of bass drums sized 16” to 28.” It can be tuned up or down by adjusting the tuning of the resonant head.



This is true, as tightening the head means less travel, but it has more to do with the head tone than with KICKPORTS port length.
 
I've tried it on a 24" Vistalite and a 22" 6-ply Ludwig, and eff me if I can hear that big of a difference. The 24" had an Ambassador reso, but with the 22" I tried an Emperor like they recommend. I played with them both quite a bit before I gave up on the Kickport. My 22" has more low end with an unported Ambassador.

That whole experiment cost me 120 bucks or so...

Not saying it doesn't work, or it can't work. My personal experience with the Kickport bears out drumtechdad's observation that it works well on some kicks and not so well on some others.

I must say though, when I read that bit on their website about the port being "tunable" by tuning the head, I thought it was a pretty shady statement. If it was actually tunable, that would mean you could change the size or length of the port. Which you can't. So the Kickport is NOT tunable. Tuning the head is NOT tuning the port.

But obviously some folks love the thing. Just look at all the heavy-hitters endorsing it on their site.
 
So im using a 22x20" mapex bass drum, it's got a superkick2 on the batter and an evans eq3 or something on the reso, it was ported and sounded great, i bought a kick port and WOW! This thing really enhances low end on my bass. People coming to the house actually commented on how the bass drum sounded a lot lower and punchier. But like it's been said before, i took a rather large gamble, as you dont know if it will actually work until you try it :/ Maybe see if a mate will lend you theres?

Kickport gets my thumbs up :) George.
 
I just put a kickport on my 18x22" kick with aquarian regulator reso and a ps3/eq3 style
batter and I now am kicking myself for porting that regulator head.

I wanted the deep sound of an unported head but the beater feel of a ported head.
My kick had way more boomin deep bass while the regulator reso was intact.

The kickport is larger than I expected it to be and didn't seem to make that much difference in sound but then again I was either in the drivers seat or peaking around the
front of the drum while pressing down on my seconday beater to listen....

I spent a good 45min tuning up down and sideways trying to get the deep boom they
talk about and finally found a tone I could live with, but it still wasn't as beefy as an intact
reso.

however.....
mic'd up just inside the kick port produces a great recorded kick tone!!
didn't need any eq - just sounded like a great punchy kick with depth....

I was skeptical not hearing much difference acoustically - but hearing the recorded tone
has sold me on this item. I think having the mic in that 'tunnel' focuses all the right
frequencies.
 
wanted the deep sound of an unported head but the beater feel of a ported head.

A 'woofer' bass drum would have done that for you.

It 'could be possible' some people have trouble hearing acoustic low frequencies well enough to differentiate.
 
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