Floor Tom Mic Shootout - SM57 Beta57a AKG c2000b Beyer MC930 Audix D6

Island Shootout Series Episode 3
Drum Shootouts Part 2 - Floor Tom Mic Shootout
5 microphones were chosen for this shootout which are all mics we may use when recording drums depending on what is needed for the song and style.
Shure SM57
Shure Beta 57a
AKG c2000b
Beyer MC930
Audix D6
High quality sound files of this shootout can be found on our website. Make sure to listen through some nice studio monitors or high quality studio headphones. We'd love to hear which you liked the best so please leave us a comment below.
www.islandrecordingstudios.com
/ islandstudios
[e-mail]
Thanks to Jack Thomson for coming in and running the shootout today. To find out more about Jack and his drumming please visit his facebook page.
/ jackthomsonmusic
Thanks to Babylon Burning for the use of 'Freedom' in the outro.
/ babylonburningmusic

[@JasonWelchMusic]

Im gonna be the oddball. I like the punch of the d6. But then, I also liked the open tone of the beta 57. If I had those 2 mics here, I would use them BOTH and blend them till it gave me what I wanted. Presently, I'm using a cheap Peavey PVM321 kick mic on my floor tom. It sounds punchy but with full bottom end. I've yet to find a mic I like better on my 14 tom. It outperformed my sm57, my sm58, and even the senhieser 421 I borrowed for a session. A friend of mine reccomended the Heil PR40 on floor. Im not surprised. I own a pair of Heil PR31BW that I use as overheads. I love them.

[@jeffbedillion3899]

D6 gets my vote.

[@tierangreen]

Drum face + awesome stick tricks. 100%

[@riel777]

Thanks for the taking the time in testing theses mics.

[@andris_zacs]

Clearly D6!

[@sacstudiosargentina]

0:58 - Shure SM57 1:16 - Shure Beta57 1:34 - AKG c2000b 1:51 - Beyer MC930 2:09 - Audix D6

[@e3tl]

SM58 for me based on this. Thanks for posting by the way!

[@andreacognome602]

To whirl the drumstick are fundamental to obtain a good sound from drums?

[@impulseproman]

Audix D6 my choice

[@jackthomsonondrums]

Tuning a 14" Floor Tom is tricky because they naturally have to be tuned a little higher than the usual 16" floor tom. These drums have a lot of resonance also that 'in the mix' help carry the drum. But keep in mind that the reason that the floor tom dips in pitch is because the bottom head is tuned higher. This actually helps to cut the decay of the resonance but can sometimes sacrifice a little bit of normality in the tom sound which you don't usually hear in amongst the mix. Thanks everyone for your comments

[@CaryGlennDavis]

Everything you said is pure speculation and preference. If you want more slap, you tune the top head higher, if you want to remove resonance, tune the bottom head higher. If you want a nice fundamental tone of the drum to let it breath you tune both heads the same freq.

[@jimflys2]

I like the audix 6. The 57's are also classic. The condensers are to "roundy" sounding in for my taste.

[@dustywilson5461]

D6 by a long shot

[@offthewallstudio]

D6 and beyer

[@blatzspeed]

akg 421s are great from all toms, the senn 604 is particulary great for floor toms, not sure about having a d6 on the floor tom though, too much slap that is only expected out of the kick, then again, there are no rights or wrongs on how to mic something

[@fireems343]

I don't have studio monitors, but just a decent set of Headphone and I thought everything sounded pretty good. I would agree that for a floor tom, In my opinion, it was tuned too high, but it still sounded good in my headphones. I thought that the bigger issue with this is that you had a huge variety of mics. Both shares are really better on Snares or rack toms. Obviously the D6 is gonna make a floor tom rumble much more. Its a friggin kick drum mic. That being said, you should have put a Beta 52 on the tom as well to get a better comparison. I also would've liked to see the audio d4 over the d6, just because it is marketed as a floor tom mic. Nonetheless i felt as though this was a decent shootout. Thanks.

[@lukasschrauber]

Please tune.

[@drumbyte]

For me the 57 all the way! It feels uncolored compared to all the others.

[@setitfree78]

drumbyte are you def?

[@twoiesumienie]

DONT MUTE DRUM ! TUNE

[@pawelmorrison]

Jesus dude, those faces lol! I like the tuning, it`s quite vintage sounding, not the wet fart everybody sounds like thesedays

[@alexgordonepic]

hey that AKG c2000b is farther away from skin. that's why it has less ring sustain nasty... :)

[@julsrique9148]

SM 57 win flat range AKG C2000 win in low . Audix win on full range

[@Corbitto512]

Learn how to tune!! That sounds awful!

[@FanaticDrummer]

Corbett Floyd Because its DW

[@PhantomSocke]

Great sounding maybe, but therefore you have to tune them right. That is not how a floor tom is supposed to sound. If you want to continue using this crap tuning do yourself a favour and use the D6. It makes almost everything sound good.

[@PhantomSocke]

And who the fuck has studio monitors at home. Your recordings have to sound good through the average listeners speakers.

[@systemfirez]

Kai Schneider i do...

[@PhantomSocke]

I don't

[@Javeester]

Kai Schneider I do

[@PhantomSocke]

I do now also. But over a period of 3 months and 8 days, two people have responded "I do". That is not very representative.

[@menteur4444]

+Kai Schneider I do