Drum Mics and Mixer

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Fox622003

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So, I was going to buy some recording gear, I need something as professional as I can get, but on a moderate budget.

Here's what I had in mind:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mackie-ProFX12-Professional-Compact-Mixer?sku=500317

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Audix-FP5-Drum-Mic-Pack?sku=583406

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Audix-Fusion-F15-Condenser-Mic-2Pack?sku=485627

Also, an extra mic for my extra floor tom, obviously.
I don't have the greatest sound card, but would this be enough to get a good sound on recordings? Or would it be better to put my money on something else? What about the microphones? If I could spend less on microphones, that would be great, so if you have other suggestions of similar quality, I'll appreciate it.

Well, leave your opinions, thanks!


Fox.
 
If you're going to need all the mics in the kit plus the two condensers, you're going to need at least 7 microphone inputs. The mixer you have posted has only 6. Depending on the music you play you might have to mic your hi hats. Don't cheapen up on the microphones, they are the vital link to a good recording and only second to the correct positioning of the microphones. Try to look for another mixer with 8 or 10 mic preamps. This way you won't outgrow your mixer in the near future. I looked at the two Audix condenser mics that you posted, but couldn't see detailed specifications on them. The only Audix microphone I ever used was an i5 on the snare's batter head.

BTW, I looked up the specs of the condensers. It looks as if the bottom end rolls off a little prematurly, they should do OK for overheads. Maybe someone else has experience with them.

Dennis
 
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I don't get it, doesn't the mixer have 12 channels? What are those for, then?
What about the specs on the other mics, of course, they are not going to be i5's, but do you think they can achieve a professional sound all the same? Also, should that be fine for recording, which is the main reason for this stuff? Because, as I said, I don't have a *great* soundcard, but that mixer can record via USB, and seems to have good reviews on that respect. Thanks a lot for your input.


Fox.
 
I don't get it, doesn't the mixer have 12 channels? What are those for, then?
What about the specs on the other mics, of course, they are not going to be i5's, but do you think they can achieve a professional sound all the same? Also, should that be fine for recording, which is the main reason for this stuff? Because, as I said, I don't have a *great* soundcard, but that mixer can record via USB, and seems to have good reviews on that respect. Thanks a lot for your input.


Fox.

Most if not all mixers of the portable variety may say that it's a 12 channel mixer (insert the number of channels here), this usually means that maybe 4 of the channels are for microphone inputs (low level sources), the rest of the inputs are for line level, such as ipods, or anything higher in level than a microphone's output. So in short, you have 4 microphone inputs and maybe 4 stereo or 8 mono high level inputs. A lot of people get confused by this and end up buying less than what they actually need. The mixer's specifications usually state how many microphone preamps that are available in each mixer. As for the mics, I don't know, I never used anything in the Audix line except the i5s.

This is one of my small mixers I use on gigs (Mackie 1642 VLZ) just to mix my drums. It is a 16 channel mixer, but only 10 of the channels have microphone preamps on board. So I can have a maximum of 10 microphones unless I use an external preamp which I can then use through one of the high level inputs.

DSC_0133-2.jpg


Dennis
 
Hmmm well, I really like the mixer I posted, both for price, size and what comes with it. How compromised would my sound be if I used one mic for both toms, and another one for both floor toms? And I really like doing stuff on my hi hat, so what about only one overhead and one of the condensers for the hi hat? That would be a total of six mics. Again, thanks for all the imput.


Fox.
 
How compromised would my sound be if I used one mic for both toms, and another one for both floor toms?

You would loose a great deal of attack with the split tom micing setup.

As far as the hat goes, I find that my hat mics are rarely mixed in. I usually get everything I need for the hats from the overheads and snare mic.

What are your needs? Are you recording for practice? Are you trying to build a demo studio? You are branching into a world where intermediate and moderately priced can still mean thousands upon thousands of dollars when it's all said and done.

If it were me (and it was at one point), I'd find an affordable digital input device that would work with my computer. The Firepod was my answer as I found a perfect one used for a couple hundred bucks. It also came with a free version of Cubase LE (since upgraded).

I'd also look around for an affordable way to buy four mics. I'd get a kick mic (I have a Beta 52 and a D6, both of which can be found for $100ish), a snare mic (SM57 - cheap and great), and overheads. Rhode NT4/NT5 are good on a moderate budget, but those Audix mics should work for the time being, as would Octavias, MXLs, whatever. In time, get tom mics and better overheads. I'm a big fan of the Sennheiser 604s, they are plentiful used and durable and sound great.

Start with solid, value based basics. You can get great sounds with overheads, kick, and snare as long as the kit and room sound good and everything is set up well.

Just my $0.02 - but it's coming from a guy who went cheap and spent a lot of cash correcting the problem.
 
Thanks for the info Ian. Well, I can record myself as it is, I'm really aiming for a semi-professional home studio, where I can record drums with an almost "album-like" quality. Of course, since I don't want to spend that much, I understand the "semi" will very likely have a bigger role. That said, I would really like to mic all my toms for the attack, but the problem is the mixer I'm looking at (check my opening post), I've liked that one for a long while, it seems to have decent effects, USB recording, comes with a nice audio editing software, it's also very compact and solid, and at a great price, the problem is it only has 6 mic preamps, so maybe I should consider another mixer.


Fox.
 
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