I'm having a nervous breakdown because i'm not getting anywhere in my research to find the best bass drum mic.... (in the cheap range)

-AKG D112
-Sennheiser e602
-SHURE beta 52


This seems to be the biggest disputed argument going in the industry right now. Which is best??? Maybe I should try something different? I'm pulling out my hair in frusteration triing to find some solid info. Do any of you have experience or input about any of these mics? I'd love to hear some X VS. X comparisons. Thanks in advance

drummingpraetor wrote:

-AKG D112
-Sennheiser e602
-SHURE beta 52

We've used all 3 recently in a shootout, getting ready for our next album. Personally, we chose the Senn or Shure over the AKG.
The D112 seems to be the universal choice, I don't know if that's motivated by budget or familiarity but it sounded a little tubbier to us on the bass drum.

You can get workable sounds from any of them, as long as you work on the positioning. I think you also have to take into account the other mics and techniques you'll be using, as the BD mic tone will be affected by other mics and freqs brought into the mix.








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m wrote:

drummingpraetor wrote:

-AKG D112
-Sennheiser e602
-SHURE beta 52

We've used all 3 recently in a shootout, getting ready for our next album. Personally, we chose the Senn or Shure over the AKG.
The D112 seems to be the universal choice, I don't know if that's motivated by budget or familiarity but it sounded a little tubbier to us on the bass drum.

You can get workable sounds from any of them, as long as you work on the positioning. I think you also have to take into account the other mics and techniques you'll be using, as the BD mic tone will be affected by other mics and freqs brought into the mix.

I agree 100% with the above quote.

Yep, Industry standard due to the fact that every studio owns 6 of them! I prefer the Sure or Senn as well. I'm using a audix d6 right now, and I love it! If you are in the real budget price range I've actually used the PG and Samson series kick mics to surprising results. I also have a great kick drum tuned well. So that helps!
Good luck...








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I swapped my AKG D112 for the Audix D6 this year and LOVE the D6. Awesome mic for the price. I run sound when I'm not playing drums so I'm giving you an opinion from both sides. I haven't used the D6 in the studion yet.
Good Luck!








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I've gotten great results using the Shure Beta 52 in conjunction with the Beta 91. The 52 is great for all the punch and the 91 REALLY delivers on the low end. Damn, i sound like a Shure ad!!

Audix D6 picks up some of the lowest frequencies i've found so far. lots of body and low end but still holds lots of tone. especially when you put it in the drum about 3 or 4 inches from the batter head

Tri-Mic the kicks.

Put a Beta 52 inside the actual drum it's self
SM58 infron tof the port on the resonant head
SM57 on the batter side close to the "impact point"

Best sound from 3 very good sources. (IMHO)








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when you guys are talking about putting the mic 'in' the drum, are you doing this for live sound reinforcement?
You're not doing that in the studio, are ya?








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Studio and/or Live Sound.. Jsut make sure that whatever you do, it's suspended from soemthing, not touching anything inside the drum it's self. Also, you want to put it near the back of the drum (by the Reso head).








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we tried every conceivable positioning during our shootout and found the 'inside the drum' config to be the absolute worst-sounding of them all. I could see where if you're using one in there, you'd want multiple mic positions simultaneously.

I understand that for live reinforcement you want to close-mic so there's no bleed or feedback, although I'm not sure how much of a problem that would really be with the bass drum, but for recording I sure wouldn't want to have to rely on that position for my only bass mic.








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That depends on what kind of sound you want

Every engineer/drummer has different ideas, its all personal preference in the end.

Hey M. You also might wanna consider putting a blanket over your kickdrum and it's mic while recording.. I do it when I record (especially if i'm using a large kit).

It helps, even though it may affect yoru playing, depending on how tight/loose yoru head is.








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I own the Beta 52 and the D6. These two offer a wide variety of sounds on the kick. The Beta52 is the most natural, unhyped sounding of the two, good for most anything. I usually stick it inside the drum about 8 inches from the beater. The D6 has a really hyped sound, with ultra lows, very scooped mids, and a huge rise around 5kHz. I find it good for metal, hard rock and punk styles. You can really put this just about anywhere in the kick drum and it'll sound good, thats how Audix designed it.

As far as recording goes, I've never seen anyone NOT put a mic inside the drum if they are only using one mic, unless there's no port in the front head. You can't pick up any "click" or attack if you don't have it in the drum. My usual preference is the Beta52 in the kick close to the beater, blended with just a little of a large diaphragm condenser outside the resonant head, with a low pass filter on it.

For live applications, I recently switched from a AKG D112 to a Beta 52. For some reason, it sounds fuller and I get more bottom end from the Shure.

But, if you REALLY want the bottom end, put a Beta 52 inside the kick and invest in a Yamaha SubKick. Those things are friggin' SICK. I wish I could afford one.








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The subkicks are great, they really do capture the low end wonderfully. However, if you don't have 200 bucks to blow on one, you can use pretty much any speaker and wire it up to a microphone cable to serve the same purpose. It's actually quite interesting trying that technique with a variety of speakers, seeing what character each has.