I installed internal mics

I know there is always questions flying around about this subject. I installed Audix D2 mics in the 8" and the 10" and they sound great. I noticed that the volume was increased X2 with the internal verses an external of the same mic with the eq the same on the board. I am just in the experimental stages with this so if there are any questions or suggestions that would be cool. There is really not alot about internal drum micing on the net except for those wanting to sell you something. All in all I like what I hear so far. I am using the May AVC adapter which has a few slight problems. On my Yamaha Maple Customs the mic cord will not fit into the May adapter on a vertical (downward) angle. I have to place them on a horizontal to get the mic cord attached. The adapters also seem to spin without much effort. They are pretty costly in my opinion. I would have liked a little more capatability with the drum its on. All in all it is the only way to go because they are the only one making this application. One of the big reasons I went with internal is most sound companies are getting cheap with drum mics that we use for one, but the other is my band uses in ear monitors. So we have a split snake to send to the engineer and we mix our own monitors. Internal gives me isolation so I dont need 10 gates on the kit.

I will try to post some pics of what I have so far if anyone is interested. Like I said I really do like what I hear so far. I may even try to get some audio recordings of the differences between internal and external.

I also put the Audix mics up against the e 604 Sennheiser, AKG D-440, Shure SM57 and the Shure PG Series.

The Audix was by far the best in giving the most natural sound the drum has to offer. This is one of the first mics that I could actually tune the drum through my ear monitors. The SM57 believe it or not came in a close second. I would say the e 604 was nice sounding but didnt have the warmth of the Audix. The Shure PG Series and the AKG D440 you couldnt give me for a paper weight!! I am currently using a D6 on the kick D2's on the toms and I have two D4's that I am playing around with here and there. I am in the process of maybe trying an i5 Audix on the snare with a D4 mounted inside? I am still looking for overheads. It looks like the AKG C430 has a strong rating for cymbal reproduction.

Like I said any info that anyone may have would be great!!

Cool Was thinking bout Getting them for my new Oak Custom kit... but that would require a nice little invest ment being that there are 6 toms and 2 kicks. Plus I use different snares all the time ( 5 to chose from) it could get real expensive!!

They sound like they are sweet though , and id get them for the isolation, consistancy and benefit of mics not getting in the way.... Plus my setup has alot of little splashes and stacks which makes it hard sometimes to get mics into certain positions.... Maybe Next year.... How much did the mounts run you ?

Nick -

sicksdeep.com

Hey Nick,

Those Oak Customs are great!! Great kit for the money no doubt. I will have a set one day!!

The mounts I used are the SIB mounts and they were $20 a piece. The moiunt and the May Adapter ran me around $60/drum. Then you have the mic expense. I am not sure if SIB is even in business anymore? Internal will help big time with isolation. It will also free up space for you to put your stacks and splashes anywhere you want. I did notice one thing. Those guys that think they are getting isolation by not having the toms mounted to the kick drum. Well the cymbal rings through the drum when its mounted on the cymbal stand. It only noticable if you are just stricking the cymbal. Normal gates will get that out and I did have the tom mics at a higher volume than I will ever play out at. But I did hear the cymbal after the crash loud and clear. Now normal over heads are going to do the same thing when not using a gate on them.

Blastem:

I just installed the May internal micing system in my DW's.

I have a 13" mounted on a snare stand, 16" floor tom, and 24" bass drum. I put AKG D112's in all three drums, with an internal Shure SM(XL-sawed off 57) in the snare drum (facing down) with external on top head.

I got one word to describe the sound- H U G E !!!

The isolation of sound, and impact is incomparable.

DJ

Edit: one more thing: I think the reason that many soundguys (sound companies, and guys who run sound for hire, etc.) don't use or prefer them is because they don't have a lot of experience using them. That's why you don't see much posted on them on the Live Audio board. Most pro soundguys run sound for lots of different bands and as a result, need mics/stands that they can take from gig to gig. Add to that the fact that most of those guys develop a preference for certain mics, and you can easily see why there's not much info on the boards out there on internal mics. Finally, a good soundguy (and his crew) get pretty good at setting up, positioning, and mixing drums efficiently (it's their job), so the minor time-savings that THEY would realize by using internal mics isn't as much of a big advantage as it is for us drummers who may or may not be as experienced in running the PA.

I installed the SIB system mounts on my toms and kick a few years ago. Back when I got mine, they also made a mic cord that could be fed through the air hole on the drum. MF screwed up the order, and SIB (back then) wasn't giving them much of a supply of adapters, so it took me months to get them delivered. For mics, I use fairly cheap CADs.

To me, the #1 goal was to speed our setup/soundcheck process. It's MUCH faster to just run cables to all the drums than it is to deal with mic stands/clamps on each drum. The other nice thing about them is that you end up with sort of a "set it/forget it" deal with the mixer. Since the environment for the mics is always the same (and they're protected from outside sound sources), the gains and levels on the board don't move much from gig to gig. With external mics, you'll always have to dail in the gains to give you good levels without feedback...not a HUGE deal, but by isolating the mics inside the drums, it's consistent in pretty much every room.

Downsides: expense, obviously. Also, if you want to change the mic position, or if something vibrates loose or moves during transport, you have to take a head off to make any adjustments. Also, I find that when we would gig using another PA, the soundguy would often prefer to use his mics and stands (especially if it was a multi-band gig) and they wouldn't get used. Not a big deal, really. I suppose some people would also argue that mounting stuff in the drum would kill some of the shell resonance. For me, this isn't a big deal because I'm playing a set of Rockstars and know that an audience in a bar will never notice anything like that. If I had a set of super thin and resonant maple toms, and wanted to get the absolute most resonant sound out of them in the studio, I'd use floor stands.

Still, for a gigging drummer, in a band that does its own sound, who is looking for a way to make his life easier...which will incidentally give him more consistent sound, which will allow him to achieve BETTER sound in the long run every night...internal mics are a great investment. (run on sentence anyone? )