Members Shmitty Posted February 25, 2007 Members Share Posted February 25, 2007 I want to buy some good drum mics. I have a Mackie 808s that I will run the drum mics too. I was wondering how the overhead mics work since they are phantom power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 If I recall correctly, the Mackie 808 has a master phantom power on / off switch, which applies phantom power to all 8 mic preamps. You would need to turn the phantom power on if you wanted to use any condenser microphones with your 808. There are some condenser microphones that do not require phantom power; they use internal batteries instead. I normally would recommend avoiding those if you have a choice. What type of budget are you working with for your overhead microphones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted February 25, 2007 Members Share Posted February 25, 2007 With very few exceptions, conventional dynamic mics are "compatible" with phantom power -- if that's one of your concerns. So, it's okay to turn on your global phantom power with a mix of phantom-powered condensers and regular dynamics. However, many/most/all(?) ribbon mics are not compatible and may be damaged by phantom power. Also, in addition to the permanently charged "electret condenser" mics Phil mentions (which tend to be on cheap side of the spectrum as he hints) there are also some condenser mics with a built in battery power supply. Many of these are not compatible with phantom and can be damaged if they are plugged into inputs that are supplying phantom. (Not to be confused with phantom powered mics that have their own rechargeable battery that charges itself off phantom, like the old CAD Equiteks.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shmitty Posted February 25, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 25, 2007 Phil, I was thinking about buying a 7 mic kit for the drums. I don't know what brand to go with. I would like to spend less then $600 with cables included. I don't want to get crappy overhead mics. What do you recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seaneldon Posted February 25, 2007 Members Share Posted February 25, 2007 However, many/most/all(?) ribbon mics are not compatible and may be damaged by phantom power. bullplop. ever work on an 80 series neve desk? trident a-range? countless other classic recording consoles that had a master phantom power switch, not for individual channels? because that's how they were. and folks with those desks used/use ribbons with those same desks all day long. almost all ribbon microphones in use today are no longer "harmed" by phantom power, and the only mics that ever had that problem pretty much have all had their wiring corrected. retarded recording myth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 25, 2007 Members Share Posted February 25, 2007 Phil, I was thinking about buying a 7 mic kit for the drums. I don't know what brand to go with. I would like to spend less then $600 with cables included. I don't want to get crappy overhead mics. What do you recommend. That's not very much money for mics and cables. If you must have two overheads, I'd get a pair of (used?) Audio-Technica 4041s (or Oktavas or whatever that is decent and cheap) and spend the rest on used SM 57s and used cables and get as much as you can get afterwards. For that amount of money, you may want to strongly consider getting one overhead and saving up for another overhead later. I have numerous mics and still will sometimes mic a drum set with one overhead anyway. Nothing wrong with it, it was done for years with great results, and it can sound great, depending on the song obviously. But your call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Phil, I was thinking about buying a 7 mic kit for the drums. I don't know what brand to go with. I would like to spend less then $600 with cables included. I don't want to get crappy overhead mics. What do you recommend. Can you give us a little more information please Shmitty? You're using a Mackie 808, which is really a live sound / PA powered mixer. Are you going to be using these microphones for live concerts, or for recording? What type of music? What type / size drum kit? Do you already own some other microphones, and if so, what are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shmitty Posted February 25, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 25, 2007 I am recording drums. I use a BOSS BR1180cd. I thought I would run the drum mics into the Mackie XLR imputs. Then run from the Mackie monitor line out to the BOSS BR1180. The Mackie 808S has a switch to turn on the Phantom Power for condenser mics. It's right under the effects section, next to the "Break" switch.I own a shure SM57 and a shure SM58 mic. The drums are DW. This is to record a demo. We play rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 You've got a couple of options IMO. Your recorder can only record two tracks at once, right? So that means whatever you get is what you're going to get in terms of printing drum sounds. Once they're tracked, there's not going to be any adjusting of individual elements of the kit... whatever EQ you apply with the Boss will apply to everything. I'm assuming you're going to record stereo drum tracks. So you can use the Mackie to make adjustments to individual microphones (different EQ on the kick, snare, overheads, etc.). But as far as microphones go, that's where the two options come in. You can go with a smaller mic setup, with fewer microphones - a pair of overheads and a seperate kick and snare mic, or you can go for more microphones, but ones of lesser quality / price. That option would allow you to stick mikes on everything - overheads, snare, kick, toms, hi hat, etc. Personally, I would lean towards better, but fewer, mikes in your situation. You already have a good snare mic in that SM57. A pair of good overhead mikes and a seperate kick drum mic and you should be good to go. Place the overheads in the classic equilateral triangle arrangement, put the kick drum mic on the kick and the SM57 on the snare and balance them to taste with the Mackie. If you get the overhead placement correct, and the drummer knows how to hit the skins hard and not kill the cymbals, you should get a good balance of the whole kit that way. IMO, your setup really doesn't justify going with tons of microphones on the kit. In order to really benefit from that, you really need the ability to print (track) each mic to a seperate track. Yes, tom mikes can be used with the Mackie, and if you decide to go that way, I'd just get a couple more SM57's for that, or if you can afford them, a few Audix D2's. For the kick, on your budget, I'd recommend the Audio Technica ATM250 - about $180 new. The DE version will be a budget buster for you so just get the standard "single capsule" version. For the overheads, I like Audio Technica AT4041's. A pair should set you back about $400 - $450 or so. Yes, that's a lot on a budget, but OTOH, they're good for other things too, and if you go with a minimalistic mic approach on the drum kit, a large percentage of the final, overall "sound" is going to be coming from those overhead mikes, so it doesn't make sense to skimp on them IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brandondrury1 Posted March 2, 2007 Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 Do all overhead condenser mics require phantom power... Underhead condenser mics also require phantom power. Phil's suggestions are right on. Brandon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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