Great comparison! I’ve used the Shure and the Earthworks and can attest that while the Earthworks needs a lot more EQ, it takes EQ very well. The Shure and AKG are much more pre-mixed. Think my favorite in this sample is the Beta 52 for being tight and balanced.
Nice! That’s similar to what I think as well, I think if you can tune the kick to sound exactly the way you want it then the earthworks would be the best. But I am also a big fan of the sound of the beta 52!
I agree with Danny - and add that the whole kit with the Beta 52 just sounds awesome - especially for the price. The earthworks just doesn't do it for me here (I absolutely loved the DM20 sound on your snare / tom comparison) - and considering how much more expensive the EW mic is - I expected a lot more. I would like to hear the same mic comparison after it has been EQ'ed to taste to see if the end result would be worth the extra $$$ for EW. Thank you so much for putting this together!
I have a small studio that is meant more for rehearsal and live performance with recording capability (Presonus Capture into MacBook Pro) I started w/a cheap Shure PG52. I thought it was a muddy mess, so I got the AKG D112.....now I'm happy. Clean and punchy. I like the 4K boost. Helps give that beater 'click'. I thought the cheap mic would be good enough for my limited intent, but just couldn't live with that sound. Oh....80's Taiwan Pearl export w/ EMAD heads and a Trick pedal w/ felt beater.
Imagine getting an actually good sounding microphone, like the Sennheiser E602 II / E902, Shure Beta52A, SE V Kick, Audix D6 of whatever option you're going for. Each and every one will drastically improve the low-end sound of your kick drum (which is kinda the point of that piece of drum kit). The D112 is great at making even the most expensive of drum kits sound like a wet cardboard box.
Bob, another great mic comparison video! I thought it was interesting that each of these sounded pretty good in the full mix. The differences I hear in solo are much less prominent in context, at least with my ear phones. If you had them handy, it would be nice to add some classics like the RE20 and D6 as well as newer mics like the D12VR and sE V Kick, too. Or if money is no object, trade in your Bentley and shoot out some Fet47s. Ha!
Hey Tom, glad you liked it man! Yeah definitely, none of them are bad mics at all. I have used the D6 before and it sounded good and I’ve heard quite a lot now about the V kick. Will be keeping my eyes open for any!
Glad you enjoyed it Jorge! I’m learning how to balance my new teaching gig, operating my remote studio and making these videos! I’m a little behind the videos at the moment but trying to find a balance, more coming soon!
I picked up the Lewitt DTP640 Rex... It’s a beast! I listened to a LOT of drum mics, and I ended up liking the ‘realistic’ sound of the Lewitt, its not overly colored. It’s 2 mics in one - a dynamic and a condenser inside - with 2 xlr outputs. Very cool idea and very mixable.
I just tried the earthworks last nights gig. The drummer came with a cherry shell kit. I really found the accuracy of the earthworks to really help the mix. Larger room 350 person venue. 4 super subs. I usually have to work pretty hard to make sure base gtr and or low frequencies tracks all play nicely together and don’t dominate attention in the room. A balance between people wanting to feel the kick Etc. The earth works solved that issue. Granted the microphones character does not move the air the same. I had it paired with a 91. My usually choice is either a D6 or a beta 52.
I missed the Beyerdynamic TG D7d - it´s a great kick mic plus it has a switch to switch between pre-eq kick and linear. So you can use it for instruments like bass, tuba or whatever as well. But please be aware that this goes only for the Mark I version, the Mark II misses the switch which is hard to understand.
Really Dig the D112 but the KP1 added to it seemed to control the higher frequencies. I feel like having the KP1 is a good way to approach a different sound hence almost like having a different mic. I've got a few kick mics and feel like I should just add it to the aresenal.
Well no. The D112 didn't sound good in this shootout and it doesn't sound good live. Unless you really like a kick drum to sound like a wet cardboard box. :)
I got the SR20LS with the DK7 kit. Was using a Sennheiser e602-II which works well, but I could not dial in the exact thump and click that I was looking for. You are correct about the SR20LS being accurate and it takes EQ well; however, I ended up adding a Solomon sub kick mic to get the thump I was looking for. I think the SR20LS w/KickPad and a sub kick mic make a great combination for my live gigs.
In all fairness the Earthworks is designed to go inside the drum about an inch from the batter head to get its optimum sound. Try it.....you’ll thank me later.
I agree if the earthworks is too far in the Omni pics up the traverse waves and puts a container over the mic. One inch in or just outside it gave me such a clean and clear signal.
Great! Which mic are you thinking of purchasing? No that snare is actually the Tama SLP G-bubinga, I really love this snare and I believe it's been discontinued now though.
@@bobdrums there doesn't seem to be that much info about the Lewitt mics. Some big names like Eric Moore and Kenny Aronoff use them however Kenny uses a Beta 52a on his kick (one of the 3 mics on his kick).
Nice comparison! I like the sound of the AKG D112 the most, then Shure Beta 52a. The Earthworks SR20LS doesn't sound great in my ears, what makes the price way too high in my opinion. Got the Beta 52a, happy with it, but next time would be the D112, i think :)
Glad you liked it! Yeah the D112 is a classic as well as the 52, both great mics but pretty different. I want to do some experimenting with them on the floor tom as well!
Yeah the D112 is by far the most overrated mainstream microphone out there, even worse than the SM58. At least the SM58 is usable. The only thing the D112 is good at, is making even the most expensive kits in the world sound like a wet cardboard box.
