Jump to content

Drum mics, which set?


Recommended Posts

  • Members

A lot of people might think the way you do at the moment, and from your perspective, it might seem correct. The reality is, it's not. Coaster gave you excellent advice, but you just don't realize it,,,,,yet; and the "yet" will come,,,, believe me. That's why folks here don't buy that stuff.

 

Look,,,, a $70 mic kit has to provide profit to the retailer, the distributor, the warehouser, the shipper, and the manufacturer. A 4-mic kit averages to $17.50 per mic. Peel off the profit to all of those guys, then you tell me what you think the components are worth. It's not only about "sound". Any cheap RadioShack mic will make "sound",,,, but how good will it sound? How well will it reject feedback? How long will it last? That's a complete "nuther" story.

 

In my opinion, you're doing your drummer a dis-service if you're insisting on ignoring the advice you've gotten. The advice is solid,,,, there's no "snobism",,,, and it's realistic. You just don't realize it,,,, yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 66
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

 

Coaster gave you excellent advice, but you just don't realize it,,,,yet.

 

 

Actually I do man. I don't disagree with the advice itself, just with the attitude with which it was given.

 

Worst case scenario, they sound so horrible that they're unusable and we all convince him to send them back. At least he'll learn from it for himself. And hey I haven't heard them and a few of you guys said they might work fine, so best case scenario is they actually sound half decent and we keep them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • CMS Author

 

Look, that post was exaggerated and bloated with sarcasm (obviously). I stand by the first 3 sentences though.


I politely replied to Coaster's original suggestion to my OP, and explained that saving up and spending $80 to start and then additional $325 later was not an option
for the person that was buying them
, because it's not even me, and asked my original (simple) question a second time. If ya had to choose between these, is one better than the other?


I got back: "Who knows? No one here uses that level of gear." Well excuse the f out of me!! That has the connotation of looking down one's long nose at my question, and might as well read "get out of my face with that no one would ever use that junk, and I and everyone else here is better than you because we all know those mics are trash, neener neener neener!" Regardless of what Coaster meant, that's how it came across. Snobby. If you don't know and that equipment is such trash that you would never use it, then don't waste your time replying! I don't like being talked to like that, especially when #1: I'm not even the one buying them, and #2, I expressly stated that I
knew
these mics weren't of great quality to begin with. I don't need to be reminded of it, especially in a way that talks down to me like I'm an idiot.


Plus, the idea that 'no one here would use such a microphone' was obviously wrong because a few people responded with actual helpful advice on my original question, and recommended the CAD set over the other one.

 

 

You assumed a lot about the connotation of a reply from someone you don't know.

 

But the main point remains: I don't want hostile posts or flamewars here. Drop the attitude, and drop this line of the thread. Don't reply to anyone in that manner any more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It's his money, let him do what he wants with it. I still rather have the 2 most important drums mic'd up with quality mics (kick/snare). Heck, go buy a $10 mic until a better setup can be purchased.

 

At the very least, I'm sure the CAD setup will fit the bill for the immediate time being.

 

But, I do stand by my opinion -- buy right and buy once.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Actually worst case is that as soon as the warrenty ends they are broke, or he wants something that makes his good sounding kit sound good. Then he is stuck at square one minus $70 and with mics that have no resale value.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

What about the idea of buying a 57, and then renting 2 more for the toms. Like I said, where I am, a 57 rents for $4/day $7/week. If he has a 5 piece kit that's less that $10/gig for a couple extra good sounding mics. $12/gig if he mic'd all 3.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

do a search or post over on drummer websites, like the subforum here and www.pearl.com. better chance to find buyer/users of the inexpensive drum mic kits there.

I'm of the "start with a good kick mic and inexpensive tom mics" mindset. I have a couple decent CAD vocal mics so I'd vote CAD mics and use the CAD "kick" mic on the big tom. You CAN buy one or 2 of the EWI condensors and use those with just the kick mic for mild reinforcement of the overall drum kit. That's what I do unless it's a BIG indoor venue or outside.

I've heard a quailty kit miced with a Peavey drum mic kit and sound fantastic (old road dog engineering FOH). I've head adaquate drum micing some crap drums with a set of Nadys but a quality kick mic was used.

Boomerweps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

You assumed a lot about the connotation of a reply from someone you don't know.


But the main point remains: I don't want hostile posts or flamewars here. Drop the attitude, and drop this line of the thread. Don't reply to anyone in that manner any more.

 

Done.

 

But if I were you I'd also mandate that people voice their opinions more respectfully, because like it or not, that comment could've been, and was, taken as rude. As you said, the simple fact that we don't know each other and that tone can be misrepresented when typing should lead people toward erroring on the side of speaking more respectfully as opposed to the alternative. The fact that I don't know someone is just as much reason to take the comment the wrong way in a bad sense as opposed to the good.

 

Anyways, this is pointless. I've said my piece and our drummer made his decision so I'm done with this thread and we'll just see how things go! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Darga, I once was just like your drummer... "hey, the kit's mic'd, that's all that matters". It's kinda the way I started the whole PA thing but, I can tell you, after trial & error (and a lot of wasted money), I finally came around. I've upgraded my PA from a simple Yamaha 8 channel powered with speakers on sticks to what you can see in my sig... and I still think that what I have is simply adequate.

Same holds true for my drum mics. Started out with a cheezy and cheap set of mics. Didn't do the kit any justice and was far more difficult to get a good sound with. What I'm using now isn't the best either - far from it - but it's "adequate". I use a Shure Beta 52 on my kick, a Shure SM57 (single) overhead and I've got Audio Technica MB5k's on my toms. And the MB5k's are, I believe, a step up from the CAD's. Could I have better? Absolutely! The Sennheiser E604's or E904's will be my next step. Kinda wish I saved my money on the original cheap set of mics and the AT's till I could have simply bought the 604's outright. Would have saved a lot of frustrating nights trying to get the kit to simply sound "good". There's an old saying around here that goes something like "buy once, cry once." Underlying meaning is, everytime you tend to have to "upgrade" from you original purchase, it's more money overall to get to the good stuff than if you just bought the good stuff in the first place. I hear ya that it's not your money and it's not your decision but that being said, tell your drummer to save his coin and get something decent, not entry level crap that's not going to do his drumset, his playing or his sound any justice.

Just my $.02

Stix

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

We have a Shure Beta kick mic so we won't be using the one in the kit. I know they're not the best ever but hopefully the snare and 2 tom mics will be half decent.

 

 

FWIW with the CAD setup I previously mentioned, I had several other options for a kick mic so I used the provided one on Floor tom. It worked great (nice low end whump).

 

Let us know how it works out for you. It is true that I use a lot more expensive mics today but IMO CAD makes some really great "bang for the buck" mics. No they're not 421s or E series Senheisers but for $70........

 

Anyway, let us know.

 

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Wel...lol...I did explain that I found some un-favorable opinions online (you guys) and brought back the single SM57 idea. His point in return was that 'his toms will get burried in the larger rooms with only the kick and snare mic'd' and he 'didn't know when he'd have the cash' for the better tom mics. He also responded back with "eh...musiciansfriend has a bunch of good reviews". lol.


He's going to give the CAD ones a try. If they suck then we'll know you guys were on point! I dunno we'll just have to see.

 

 

If you're playing rooms that are really this large, a decent mic kit should be only a couple shows away.

 

FYI: My recommended starter drum mic-kit: SM57 (Snare), Audix D6 (Kick), E604's (Toms), SM81's (Overheads).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Forum members,

 

I agree with the general consensus that you get what you pay for and that most times, cheap sound gear will usually disappoint, in one way or another. I would like to share my experience with some mics ( knock offs but not counterfit ) made in China by the Tiantuo Microphone Manufacturing Co ( http://www.chinese-microphone.com/ ). I bought a set of drum mics for our band's drummer. The sob was to cheap too get his own. They weren't intended to be used but for a couple of occasions. I didn't expect much, and just hoped they would work somewhat. The set cost $120.00 on Ebay. They look sorta like Shure's I think.

Drum_198.jpg

 

I don't have much experience with a lot of different brands and types of mics. I know the band's various drummers have sometimes brought their own mics to use. Our current drummer like's to use his Audix D6 for the kick. It sounds good but very bassy, so care needs to be used with this mic. And I often use an Audix I-5 for the snare. The kick drum mic that came with the chinese drum mic set was barely adequate and didn't have enough gain or punch. It was very anemic. However, the other mics have worked out okay. I can't say if they're good or bad, but they have continued to work, have a very low noise floor, sound fairly detailed and for the price, are a good value ( since they have continued to operate without mishap for over 3 yrs. ) Yes, I'd love to replace them. And perhaps soon I will. I'm not saying they take the place of quality, pro grade gear. They don't. But they have served their intended purpose, which was minimal, light usage in non-demanding environments. Just another perspective on the issue. If anyone's interested, you can listen to these mics on my soundclick page:

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=10474691&q=hi&newref=1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

If you're playing rooms that are really this large, a decent mic kit should be only a couple shows away.

 

 

The point I need to stress is that the guy uses his gig money to pay bills and stuff...so 'a couple shows away' is not the case. If this was all disposable income for him then I suspect we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The point I need to stress is that the guy uses his gig money to pay bills and stuff...so 'a couple shows away' is not the case. If this was all disposable income for him then I suspect we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

Yeah, it's tough to convince bandmates to get the gear required for the job. I know for myself that I was much happier when I upgraded my microphones for my vocals and my guitar amp to an EV N/D767 and Shure SM-57 from the cheapo crap I was using in my late teens/early twenties. All the drummers around here that are well-known and experienced in the gigging community all have their own mics and they are usually in the Shure Beta 52/Audix D112/Shure SM-57 group.

 

Heck, sometimes it's difficult to convince a bass player to bring his amp! They want to go direct and then want me to put them through the floor monitors. Um, no thanks? I just bought these things and I'd like to keep the speakers distortion-free for quite a while (the ones that want to go direct seem to love to be really loud and play the {censored} out of their bass too). :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

The point I need to stress is that the guy uses his gig money to pay bills and stuff...so 'a couple shows away' is not the case. If this was all disposable income for him then I suspect we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

 

If this is his bread and butter, you would think he'd want to go in with the best tools available. A lot of music stores have financing...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Just have your drummer stay on the look out for great deals. I picked up my DP4a mic pack (Audix i5, 2 x D2, D4) for $200 brand new. I also picked up my EV468 tom mics for $119 each (reg $200).

 

Deals are out there...just be on the look out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...