Audix mics

I know there good but are they better than Shure? I'm thinking the six peice kit with two overheads, bass, snare, two tom mics, cables, clips, and case for 500.00...Good?????

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I don't know about the rest of the mics. But the D6 is killer!

The D series from Audix are excellent! I'm not sure about the Fusion series, but their upper end is superior to the Shure sm57, beta 52, beta 57s I've used. Plus they're smaller and easier to place correctly.

I used a D6 on my latest recording, and even though they say it needs no EQ, that's kind of a lie. I ended up cutting and boosting frequencies like with any other mic to get the right punch. However it is a great mic; I just can't compare it to the D112 (same price) except that my last studio recording my engineer used one on my bass drum and he clipped the channel...

except that my last studio recording my engineer used one on my bass drum and he clipped the channel...

? What does that mean?

The D6 is a relatively low-output microphone so you have to boost the preamp gain to get a usable signal. This is handy so in instances where you have a drummer that nails the {censored} out of his kick, all you do is turn down the pre gain and you won't see any read lights on your board.

The D112 however is a rather hot mic and puts out a lot of output.

Audix mics are really great mics, they are pre eq'd so they sound a lot like studio drums when you're using them live. They're not that natural sounding but that's what I love about these mics. I have the D6 and will get the rest of the D series for the toms and an I5 for the snare down the road some time.

If you want more natural or "organic" sounding drums, get an AKG D112 or a Shure beta 52 and some other drum mics. Shure's PG series drum mics are great as well, what are those going to be used for?

Audix has passed Shure for the top pick among most pros and serious amatures. Most sound guys, at least for live, prefer the Audix to Shure for vocals (OM5 or even OM2 vs. SM58). Most pros are split over the D6, the best engineer I know absolutely loves them. All depends on taste.

We just got some OM2's to replace SM58's in our church and I've very impressed with them.

Given the choice between Audix and Shure, I'd go Audix.

Even the Fusion series?

A fusion over a PG? I'd take a Samson S11 over a PG (and did), not impressed with the PG. If you like Shure that much, spend the extra 25% and get the standard grade. The jump in quality is much more than the jump in price.

i've got a mix of Shure and Audix on my kit.

as for thier perspective top of the line mics, Shure wins hands down for me.

however each company has some nice stuff.

for your $500 budget i'd recomend a BETA 52 for kick, some Audix adx90 for toms,and for snare some kind of sm57 like dynamic. if you want overheads, get some cheapo small diaphram condesors like MXL, etc.

i've got a D6, and just don't think much of it, not nearly as good as a Beta 52 for me.

i really like the little Audix adx90 tom mics.

If you can, try a few before you buy - especially the kick mic. Personally, the 52 is the only Shure that I refuse to use. Sounds horrible. I personally use an EV 408 on my kick, way cleaner and more musical tone than noise from a 52. All others Shure's - 98A, 57, 81 - are good with me. No doubt everyone's going to disagree with me, but I shop with my ears and not by brand name.

As far as the others, go with what you want or what's on sale, hard to go wrong with either. While they are bigger than most tom mics, the SM57 can be used on toms and sound great (if your sound guy knows what he's doing, otherwise they'll sound to boomy if he tries to set it up like a snare mic). I still use the 57 on my snare and the 98A on my toms that I bought 9 years ago.

Best summary I can give - no pre-packaged drum mic kit for $500 is going to sound good on every drum. Shure has a budget pack that, well, sounds like a budget pack. If that's your budget, choose what you want to sound good and spend the money there. But in all honesty, the Shure pack will probably be the best overall deal. They sell enough that they can keep the price down with higher sales volume (don't have to make as much profit per unit to make money).

Also, you don't need elite level mics to sound good. Live sound can be more forgiving than a recording studio. I'd actually spend the money on a good sound guy - and that's coming from a drummer/sound guy.

I had a Shure PG drum pack 4 years ago - it sucked.

I like the feel of the B52, but the sound of the D6. On an underdamped kick, the D6 requires less gating to tighten it up.

I like the D4 on toms and snare, but changed to ADX20d on rack toms because even the D4 were often too big (owing to cymbal placement). I also went to the ADX20d on snare.

I also like the C418 on rack toms (so long as it doesn't get hit).

I've never used B58s, but many folks like them.