Best Mics for Kick Drum 

The hero we need

It had the best low-end,

Just picked one up to put on a floor tom, very excited. Ideally want to replace a Beta 91 with either the 901 or the Beyer dynamic TG D71, still doing more research.

Same here i have the 902 on kick, wich IS fantastic but still want even more smack so thinking about a 901 or beyer and move the 902 to 16" floor Tom.

I just ordered one, can't wait to try

D-112 owner here , I feel like this mic is best used in wierd ways , it sounds like cardboard most of the time but I love to pair it with a small diaphragm condenser in front of the reso head (Oktava mk012 with a -10dB pad) , I tweak the placement of the sdc around the reso head to the point where it sounds like a wet cardboard box and the flip the phase on the sdc . And there you have the cleanest and deepest kick sound you'll ever get .

Yea when he put on the 602 I was like "yep thats the one". cheap too, nice.

Yeah, the Sennheiser stood out to me as well as the most ideal. I primarily play and record acoustic guitar w some electric, I've always had good results w Sennheiser.

What about the AE2500 stands out for you? I've always used the D6 (and/or the Beta 91A) as my go to and I'm looking to try something else. I love Audio Technica's stuff, I have their mics all around my kit but the ATM 250 just doesn't do it for me. It's pretty expensive, is it twice as good as the others? 🤔

For me having a perfectly phase Aligned dynamic and condenser options in the same mic body is well worth the cost. They are always subtle characteristics about both types of microphones that can be better for certain situations and I’ve often found myself utilizing both capsules for a parallel style processing. For instance sometimes I will use the condenser mic with a fatso into an Avalon 747VT tube compressor and Eq and blend that with the raw dynamic mic for an insanely powerful kick sound. Then add a kick buss for summing the two kick tracks together and adding any final eq shaping or dynamics processing. Also its worth noting that for instances where you might want a stereo sound for your kick drum, you can put a mid pass filter on the two tracks pan them apart then use a full range duplicate of either the dynamic or the condenser or both panned down the center with a metal scoop EQ. This will ensure that the sub base and the beat or attack are down the center as they should be however you get some tonal mid range with stereo width out of the kick drum. For certain styles of music this is extremely pleasant.

Very cool. I checked out your channel but I couldn't see how you had the mic placed. Sounding good! I've been dying to check out the Roswell mics.

@@mogwix I have it inside the drum, pointed directly at the point of impact about 4" away. Thanks for checking me out!

Yes, you can certainly use a Royer for both live and studio applications! Because it’s a bi-directional microphone, you’ll just want to be extra careful about what sounds the microphone is picking up 180 degrees from your source (this could create a lot of feedback). Often times, engineers will put a baffle behind the microphone to make sure there isn’t any bleed coming in from the back side of the mic. I hope this helps! Nick Pasquino, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3230, nick_pasquino@sweetwater.com

That kicktone! wow!

E901!

E901 is a nice mic.

Most people don't use ribbons in front of bass drums because there's a lot of air moving and some Ribbons are just brittle.

@@ytscksdabig1 I’ve heard stories about that but most modern ribbons are tough. You probably wouldn’t put it right at the port hole but I’m sure if you place the mic right you can get a great sound.

@@thesneakysloth8481 I think the way they did it here is more than fine for most ribbons, when you give a resonant bass drum head a port, all the air wants to exit through that port, there's hardly any air transfer up there by the tightest part of the head along the rim.

Depends on what you want out of it. What kind of sound are you seeking? Is there a resonant head? Open sound, or is there muffling on the heads (or a pillow)? I personally cannot stand the D-6 but that's just me. I find it to be very scooped. If you're going for a more open sound, you might try something in front of the resonant head. If you're dead set on putting something inside the drum, you can't go wrong with a D112.

I was hoping to hear a combination of the D6 inside, with the Lauten LA-220 outside! Or, a combo of the Beta 91, D6, and LA-220!

I use a D6 inside aimed at or close to the beater and a Beta 52 on the resonance head and it seems to work well with my low end studio.

Sure. If you like a scooped out unnatural kick sound.

@@willymccabe6602 depending on the gig, and who's running sound, more times than not, your mics are going to be EQ'ed on the board. Audix just saved you some sound check time. Shure does the same with their Beta 52s.

In my humble opinion, there’s nothing better then then beta 91a for a kick drum. Placed on a pillow or bunched up towel inside the drum. A audix D6 is our backup. But even with all the venues we do that have production so typically my drum mics aren’t used I can clearly tell the difference. Both outside and inside venues. I’ve yet to find a mic that beats the beta 91a. I’ve also started bringing my drum mic set at venues with production and insist they be used which is normally fine. I use beta 98amp/c for the snare and 3 toms.(1 rack, 2 floor) then a sm81 for the hi-hat.

Earthworks

Why do you like it? I have that one (made in Austria, not China) and Shure Beta 52. I find it more musical but I’d like to know what others have to say

@@JAROCHELOcesarcastro It has that round, thick, punchy and finished sound.

@@JAROCHELOcesarcastro I love the D112 because of that lowmid thump that you then can cutout later, but the pressure is preserved in the sound.It doesn's sound hollow after EQ-ing. Furthermore I think it shines as a kick in microphone also. I have made recordings with a D112 inside 1 inch away of the center of the batterhead and it sounds massive.

@@RArecordingsRickValcon Well said. I used to hate this mic. I'm mostly recording punk and metal. I grew to like it for the same reason you mention. I was using a d6 for a long time but learned to listen to my mid-range more and now the d6 is somewhat my least favorite.

Earthworks DM-20

+ Jon Lovitz

It’s an interesting one. It actually captures a lot of juicy bottom end- BUT the sound is so boosted in the top and scooped in the mids that you just get this tight, clicky vibe out of it. Also, it has such an EQ’d sound that it makes any kick sound similar to each other in my experience. Here’s the thing about that- it can be a fail safe feature for live use and is why it’s depended on. At the very least it’s there in the bag for many engineers as an option.

@@joewhittle801 I agree it's good to have in the bag. In a festival situation I could see it being a real plus. I have been using 2 mics for so long now I might be a little spoiled. The Beta 91 is a fantastic mic. It's so open. I can do what I want with it. Don't mistake me. The D6 is fine. It's just very colored.

@@user-wh2mj6ml4p absolutely agree

D6 was my favorite...

Man , same with you 🫶🏻

Definitely the best of the combos… by a wide margin.

Yeah I was trying to find it a while ago. At least it’s back tho

😅😅😅