kick drum mic options...

[the DW]

Need some input on a new kick mic.

I tune and dampen my kick to get that 'thud' that you feel in your gut. I never go the 'boomy' route. This being the case, which mic do you feel would work best, in your experience:

- Shure Beta 52

- Audix D6

- AKG d112

- other?

Any and all opinions welcomed! Thanks in advance!!

[race81]

Ive used the beta 52.......and the AKG (da egg).....I like the AKG better.  The AKG now mic's our bass players cab.  I used a sm91 for years, it recently broke.(da case actually fell apart).  I just got the shure beta91a.  Got some insider advice about it....tellin me its 10 times better than the sm91 id used for almost twenty years.....will let ya know after I break it in this weekend!

[1001gear]

Stuffing the drum and layin the mic on top seems to get good results. D6 and D112 seem to be the most popular. I'm tempted to say the D6 has been sounding fatter than the D112 but I think most of the improvement is in the drums themselves and more are in use with the newer mic. Same general character between 'em.

I looked at a Beta 91a demo and surprise, it's a boundary mic. These are condensors that take advantage of the way sound collects and travels along a flat surface. This design is impervious to phase problems.I have a R Shack cheapo that I've used on a cheap cassette recorder and got decent sound and ZERO swirly noise.

The Beta 91a has an eq switch that gives it the attacky scooped curve of the Audix and AKG. I've yet to hear one live so I can't say for sure. One thing about the switch though, I listen to my friends with the tweaked out stage sound and that awesome D6/D112 sound can get "rong" in just a couple tunes nevermind every set, every gig so the variety might be a useful thing.

[fusionfunk]

It isn't on your list, but an EV RE-20, [which used to be the PL-20], would be my first choice, followed by a Beta 52. Never cared for the AKG D-12 or AKG D-112.