Mic Kits for Drums

studiorat

Hi All,
I'm looking out for a set of microphones for drums.
Clip-on mic's for toms and something for Kik and possible overheads.

Mostly for live use. Anyone have any suggestions?

Has anyone tried the AKG or Sennheiser sets?

fitz

I've got the Audix DP5a set.

2 x D2
1 x D4
1 x D6
1 x i5

Very pleased with them.
Don't have the overheads (I think they come with the DP7a set), but the shell mics and their clip on clamps fit your bill.

ZV Yoda

Beyer Opus 88s. I found them fantastic for closed tom & snare. Small, flexible, sturdy condensors. I think they cost about €100ea. They was also available in a set of 4. Only sold mine because I switched to a vKit.

unclebill98

I've got,

Sennheisers 604's for the toms. Great mic and the clamp is built to last.
Sennheisers 602 for the kick, along with a kickport. Solid mic.
Shure Beta91 in the inside. Best kick mic my IMHO
Good aul fashion SM57 for the snare
Match pair of Nueman pencils for OH and one for HH.

Now, for live use I've yet to use OH, the room would want to be massive that the natural sound of the kit can not be heard unless its mic'd. Depending on the gig I might leave out the HH, rock band is fine but the funk one has lots of HH groove so I mic them up.

Audix stuff is great, had a chance to mix a kit with them and I liked it. One thing with clip on's for the toms is the clamp just breaks after a while. Samson/FAME mics etc being some of the worst I've seen. The 604's clamp is one piece of moulded plastic with a screw for the mic. Solid!

GTE

I didn't go the set route myself.

After digging around I went for a Shure Beta 52 for the kick, Sennheiser E604 for the toms and snare and also an SM57 for the snare if I don't need it else where.

I got the SE Electronics SE1a stereo pair for the overheads and they are by far my best buy. Fantastic sound.

Looking back on things and as I have discovered my own sound more, I would have preferred the AKG D112 on the kick.

studiorat

Liking the look of the Beyers so far. Always heard good things about the Audix mics too.

ZV Yoda

studiorat wrote: »

Liking the look of the Beyers so far. Always heard good things about the Audix mics too.

They're def worth a look. I also used an AKG D112 on the kick (outside), SM57 (inside) and a matched pair of Rode NT5s for overheads.

if6was9

I've used a bunch of different drum mics sets in the live environment.

Shure have a nice set with 3 57's and a beta 52. Very nice and handy mics to have for a variety of uses. You can sometimes find them for a good price on US ebay. Comes with handy clamps. Their PG set is alright, not fantastic but totally usable. The beat91a is great, very punchy.

I've never used a sennheiser set but the e604s sound nice on toms and the MD421 is awesome on toms and snare if you have the space and budget.

I've used both the Audix dp5 and fusion sets extensively. Awesome mics with the fusion set being a bit on the muffled side. The d6 is a great kick mic, especially if you only have 1 kick mic to use as it has both thick sub lows and clicky top end.

The samson set is good sounding on a budget but the clips are junk, they will break. You can get hem to fit on standard mic clips. Not bad for 100€ at all.

The tbone sets aren't great but they are definitely usable in a live setting.

I don't really like the AKG d112 on kick inside, I don't like where the clickyness sits on that mic. Sounds pretty awesome on bass cabs though!

if6was9

It's unlikely you'll need overheads for gigs. If it's jazz or something with brushes you might but in general you'll find you're fighting to keep the level of the cymbals down as they bleed into every vocal and instrument mic on stage.

If you go to large venues with big stages you might be able to start using them again.

studiorat

Mostly Jazz (Big Band) and Shows (drummer behind screens), that kind of thing. Have to agree with the D112 never been a fan.

MD 421 would be my choice of tom mic but I want something that clips on.

'much is an Audix DP5 kit roughly?

unclebill98

730 on thomann.

TroutMask

I'm old-fashioned when it comes to drum mics. Used an RE20 on the kick, a 57 on the snare, 421 s on the toms. Live i used to use an SM 81 or similar on hats and for OHs. In small venues, i used to put up the OHs, but i only returned them to the mix if needed. Since i sometimes gate quite heavily, they can be useful. Sometimes i used to use a snare bottom phase-flipped. I didn't like clip-ons unless it was the same kit every night. I didn't like tripod-based stands around a kit either (except on the overheads), i preferred the Atlas-style round cast-iron base type.

Niall - Dahlia

One thing I noticed about the Audix D6 since picking one up a while ago...drummers love it straight off the bat. Getting a drummer on your side from the get go is a nice bonus!

I've a Senn E602 which I like on the outside when a condenser might not be an option. Seems more focused than a condenser too.

The i5 I'm not really fussed about, nothing to make me reconsider a 57 as first choice, but I'll keep experimenting with it.

None of this is for live, but just vouching for the Audix mics.