Kick Mic Shootout

[@ajent1337]

Excellent video. Thank you for not wasting my time with talking! Wish more mic shootouts were like this!

[@Trevoire520]

Glad you enjoyed it dude :) trying to keep things quick and to the point, plus it saves me having to be in front of the camera 😂

[@ajent1337]

To my ears, the e602-II sounded the best of all of them.

[@CaseyJust]

Loved the Audix D6. Thanks!

[@GKLiveProductions]

Thank you so much for providing an actual usuable mic shoot out. So many videos out there have bad placement, poorly tuned kits or have someone who don't know how to hit a drum. All the mic's in this list that I use, sound exactrly like I how I know them to sound. Came here to check out the atm250de. Thank you again!

[@Trevoire520]

Glad you found it useful. I agree there's loads of mic shootouts where the source is so bad that hearing the difference between mic's becomes pointless!

[@hjalmarbackstrom5883]

OUTSIDE: 0:16 D112 0:21 MD421 0:26 ATM250DE Dynamic 0:31 ATM250DE Condenser 0:36 ATM250DE Both 0:41 D6 0:46 e602-II 0:51 PG52 0:56 SM7B 1:01 Audix D4 1:06 e606

[@gravittii]

Excellent, straight forward, less talking!!

[@TheDigitalMD]

and as the comments show.... sound is subjective and mics like this are not built to capture the sound produced but to color the sound and create THE sounds. No two people will agree what THE sound should be.

[@solitudeparade]

Solid video, thanks! I don't know why I watched another kick mic shootout though, cause for my ears the D112 is undefeated. Several other good sounding clips in there, particularly the ATM250, but confirmed that the D112 will be replacing my loaner PG52 whenever I get tired of going Picasso on my EQ section to make it sound good.

[@charflord3156]

The AKG D112 on the Reso test sounded awesome to me, didn't like it in the other applications though. My overall pick is probably the Audio Techinica ATM250DE with the condenser capsule.

[@iam_wonjae]

I've thought Audix D4 is just a tom mic but it sounds pretty good on kick as well.

[@danmeme7740]

Between the D6 and 602. They are both punchy but the D6 is a little higher pitched which might help in mixing. Both great mics. D112 is better for the floor tom but sounded good on the reso head.

[@Trevoire520]

For me personally the D6 is a bit too scooped, the 602 has a bit more around 1k which I prefer, both pretty similar sounding though. D112 I like for rock kicks, but the drum, head & drummer all have to be very good (needs a hard hitter!) and it still needs a decent amount of eq to get there.

[@danmeme7740]

So in the mix what do you do to the D6 and 602? Which one sits better without eq in your opinion?

[@Trevoire520]

@@danmeme7740 602 for me, I need some midrange to help cut through the guitars.

[@danmeme7740]

I guess I'll have to get a 602 and just try both on my next recording. Thanks.

[@ctld5266]

best position is outside. sound natural & punchy.

[@MirkkoDeMaio]

Incredible how Audix D6 sounds the same on every kick drum I've experienced-even if is a crappy cheap drums or a the best DW/Gretsch kit. A good mic should translate the signal exactly the way it is-then it can be processed. Akg D112 wins.

[@Trevoire520]

To be honest I'm not a big fan of the D112, too boxy. It can work if you've got a great kick, great head and a great drummer who hit's hard. But even then it still takes a TON of eq to get it to where I want it. I agree about the D6 though, it's far too scooped, absolutely no mids to work with so you just get sub & tick. E602 is a good compromise imo, a bit pre-shaped but not totally painted into a corner like you are with the D6.

[@MirkkoDeMaio]

I agree Great kick,great head and great drummer should be the basic point- that was my point at least. I think it's better when you have a standard signal to process, that an already boosted signal which it's complicated to fix. Everyone has his own taste, i PREFER a clear mic like AKG D112 or sonething like that. D6 would be a nice to go mic for live situation when you can't spend too much time on eq

[@MadMatty01]

Agreed, that is why I hate the D6 so much. It sounds like a rookie trying to EQ his first drum recording.

[@billyunderwood2197]

I agree. However, it's still one of the handiest tools an audio engineer can have for live gigs.

[@schinbeindrumco]

I agree!

[@TessaAnderson]

Sm7b was sweet I would have never guessed

[@Trevoire520]

Not my favourite personally (I really like the 602 and B91) but it's definitely a good shout if you're looking for something a bit less pre-eq'd.

[@NominalTopic]

Perfect video! Thank you!

[@jameskirkbydrums]

the ATM250DE and the E602-II sound lovely to me, the D6 sounds good but sounds a "metal" playing mic to me, wouldnt say,no to,any of them though :)

[@Trevoire520]

Yeah I do think the D6 is a bit too scooped myself, no midrange left to play with.

[@jameskirkbydrums]

+Travis Whalley exactly. its definitely a mic that caters to the modern 'click' sound that most engineers aim for lately.

[@Trevoire520]

+crymzynplague to be honest I love that clicky sound and mostly work on metal myself, but I prefer the 602 or 91 as there's more 1-3khz to work with, which I find critical in getting the kick to cut through the mix.

[@jameskirkbydrums]

+Travis Whalley aye i could tell by the opening tune! :p agreed, the more.frequecy to work with, the more sound yiu can play with. i do sound teching myself, and play metal as well, but i always love a well rounded bass drum sound (unless i want that 90s vinnie paul sound) :)

[@DruGaTecH]

Audix D6 Man!

[@Honeythebeebee]

teenager mic

[@RArecordingsRickValcon]

D112/E602

[@Seanalbertt]

That 91A stands above all mics for kick. D6 is second best. Get the Kelley shu system and mic kick with 91a, and D6 and that will be the best sounding kick you've ever heard. The e602 surprised me! It sounded real nice!

[@Trevoire520]

91A and E602 is my go to on most sessions, those mic's work really well together.

[@ljdunsmore1]

I use a d6 on stage most of the time but any chance I get to use the 91A I'm all for it! best sounding kick mic in my opinion

[@elboloalimenticio]

Travis Whalley Where do you put the e602 when using the 91a?

[@Trevoire520]

Omar Muñoz 91a inside the kick on a pillow, 602 just inside the hole pointing towards the beater

[@dylandylan11731]

MD421 is the clear winner to my ears. In all 3 positions it dominated imo.

[@Trevoire520]

I do really like the 421 on the outside, bit lacking in lows but could be eq'd in or blended with another mic, and there's loads of attack. Not so keen on it for the other positions but might try it alongside a subkick on the reso for my next session.

[@dylandylan11731]

Travis Whalley - certain models.of.the 421 have a voicing selector- the.turning collar at base near XLR. In your test it seemed more natural then some of the over voiced selections. Audix D6 is great live for instance (mostly) but studio I'd take a 421 any day. Md441 is also a interesting beast.

[@sambrantdrums9622]

I was surprised how good the PG52 sounded for how cheap of a mic it is! My winner is the D6 though, absolutely love that thing!

[@pierre-andregueguelarpin1473]

For me the pg52 had a boxy sound and the d6 is too much made just for "metal " it's good mike but not for all usage ,and the last thing the famous b52 on most of raiders (OUPS !?) on anothermics shoot it was 7 or 8 over 10 (this mic is 30 years old don't forget ! The funny thing I did is to listen 4or5 tests one by one ,with good flat speakers ( MEYER HD 1)..........a lot of surprises ! specially when people start to say that the mic X or THE Y can be used for " everything "for me nearly the only one which do that is the E.V.RE 20. After all each one his own choice, if it sounds well and make you happy, that was the goal. And the last ting about mics choice : I was in charge of miking a lot of bands during festivlals ,often you have to use the same model of mic for the lead vocal because you don't always with you 24 SM 58 TAKE CARE TO USE EXACTLY THE ONE YOU USED FOR THE SOUNDCHECK AND THE GIG.Friendly.

[@pressorv]

first, great job. we rarely get to hear more than two mics on the same kick drum so it's interesting and helpful. I have a beta 91 I use and a d6 for when I get a drummer who doesn't know how to tune a kick so I at least have something usable. agreed it isn't good for a properly setup kick though why do a third of the kick mics start with a pop like dirty mutes on a Mackie that are noisy when engaged? in other words, why would the first kick sound similar across many mics but the subsequent kicks from the same Mike then sound unique?

[@Trevoire520]

It seems some of the mics dont like that burst of air straight into the diaphragm (which is maybe a poor design flaw in a kick mic?) Though from some of the other convos I've had in the comments it can be avoided by angling the mic a bit more so the air hits one side of the diaphragm before the other.

[@pressorv]

@@Trevoire520.. if it were burst of air wouldn't that happen each and every time? I've never heard a kick mic that was at rest sound different for the 2nd through.. end of song? I heard it come from different mics at different positions, so I don't see that as a reason. I'm just curious and stumped. 👍

[@texxhexxmm]

wow the D6 on Reso!!! Thought it sounds klicky..even better than AKG D112 on Reso! Also D4 like D6 kind of a reverb sound or so low bass rersponse !?

[@olegpanov9954]

best thats audio technica !

[@samuelemollisi4010]

What Kick Head did you use ?

[@Trevoire520]

Remo Powerstroke 3 Clear batter head & falam slam pad, and a Evans EQ3 Resonant head with a 5" port

[@samuelemollisi4010]

@@Trevoire520 thank you .. good job !

[@MrDrummer3321]

e602 great!!!

[@dcgfhgjnzgfnjcbgn5828]

what is a sennheiser e606? They dont seem to exist.

[@Trevoire520]

Also known as the E609, for a while Sennheiser called it the E609 in the USA and the E606 everywhere else. They've now just stuck to calling it the E609 everywhere.

[@geoffarcuri7877]

Sennheiser e602 II

[@AlexGordonMusic]

Sounds like there was a burst of chambered air hitting a bunch of your mics in the third position. Put a pop guard on them, and problem solved. They sounded good too. Bummer.

[@Trevoire520]

Alex Gordon yeah it seems some of the mics dont like that burst of air straight into the diaphragm (which is maybe a poor design flaw in a kick mic?) Though from some of the other convos I've had in the comments it can be avoided by angling the mic a bit more so the air hits one side of the diaphragm before the other.

[@AlexGordonMusic]

Travis Whalley try that. Definitely a sonic sweet spot there in that third position. Angle them, or pop guard them.

[@luckyrocks1]

D112 Position-1

[@freethinksman4393]

The Audio Technica dynamic capsule is clipping. Don't know whether there's something wrong with the mic or if it's happening further down the chain.

[@Trevoire520]

Freethinksman it's something you can hear on a couple of the mics actually. Turns out some of them don't like the direct blast of air from the kick (which is a bit odd for mics designed for kick drum!) But I've been told it can be avoided by angling the mic a bit so its not straight on against the blast of air

[@strakhovmixing]

I had the same issue with dynamic capsule ATM 250 DE inside kick, but on really loud 4x12 guitar cab there is no clipping

[@underpressureman]

This may be a dumb question but when you say outside mic do you mean it's just outside the hole or do you mean farther out from the kick?

[@Trevoire520]

Diagram at the start of the video shows mic positions. Outside is your typical kick mic just in the port hole.

[@underpressureman]

@@Trevoire520 Hey dude, oh shit, I must have missed that lol. I guess I usually think of outside as the reso head, that's probably also why I was confused. Thanks buddy, great shootout!!

[@NominalTopic]

Thanks for listing the bass drum info (brand, size and wood... #SourceMatters!) 👍🏻 Which interface? Just curious.

[@Trevoire520]

Allen & Heath Zed R16. Analogue desk with firewire interface built in!

[@pepe7drum]

Dude your takes were clipping

[@Trevoire520]

L'Quik Shrtz there's been quite a bit of discussion in the comments about this already. Nothing was clipping, but there are some mics that don't like a blast of air straight into the diaphragm (which personally I think is a pretty poor design for a kick mic!) It seems the problem can be solved by either using a pop filter or by angling the mic so that the blast of air doesn't hit it straight on.

[@simcHyt]

Shure PG52 truly dissapointed me

[@Trevoire520]

Yeah didn't really like that one either.

[@simcHyt]

Im just about to record a band and I borrowed a friend's Beta 52a. I'm experimenting with placement and stuff, and I'm kinda shocked... It sounds like crap compared to a Samson q kick, which is a toy compared to beta. Maybe it's the kick drum or something, idk. The raw sound comes out very dull, no punchiness, no mass, more like a tom than a kick... Do you have any experiences with beta 52a?

[@Trevoire520]

Sompn Brurl I've only used the B52 a couple of times but remember having to eq it pretty hard. Good for capturing the subs when you have a 91 inside though. I was really impressed with the qkick tbh. Very cheap but nice and clicky for metal stuff

[@simcHyt]

Travis Whalley Could you suggest me the best to combine the two? Thanks :)

[@jamescassidy3902]

gain(or limiting) was too high on the inside mics

[@Trevoire520]

No limiting happening, gain was set to get them coming into the desk around 0dB.

[@jeroenfigee]

The 421 had the 'ohhh this sounds cool!' factor for me. [was listiening, not looking, then saw it was the Sennheiser] The D112 is banned bij JonTidey & Ryan Canestro of the HomeRecordingShow. Now I know why. brrrrrrr :-(

[@Trevoire520]

Yeah 421 has a cool attack, a bit lacking in lows for me though. D112 can work but you've got to be really heavy handed with eq, way too much mids imo.

[@king-kore-studios]

No Sure Beta 52a?

[@Trevoire520]

Afraid not, don't own one and wasn't able to get a loan. I've had chance to use one since this test though, it's a fairly thump thing, great low end but not much happening up top. Best used in combination with something like a B91A imo.

[@christopherdunn317]

0:47 0:57

[@Radeo]

I'll group kick mics into timbres: Goto Group: 52a) In: Fwoofy Out: Snappy Reso: Avoid. D112) In: Thuddy+Boom Out: ??? Never Tried Reso: Natural WhoomySub Group: RE20) In: Whoomy, some EQable boxiness Out: NT Reso: NT SM7b) In: Lazy Out: Sub-bass Shake Reso: So-so. Flat Group: MD421) In: Flat w/some beater slap (needs a complimentary out mic for thwoom) Out: Even, a little bit of sub. Reso: very flat PG52) In: Generic Out: Marching Bandy, Flat Reso: Taiko-y EQ Tier AudixD6) In: Brickwall, Pure Out: Whoomy Reso: Thundery E602) In: Like D6 but more reso and sub. Out: Kick membrane slapback effect Reso: Subby Crap Tier AudixD4) In: Just totally dead Out: Poor Reso: Weaker Thunder than its Big Bro. E606) In: Metally, able to hear pedal chain Out: Flat w/some resonance Reso: like D4 but less sub. Not so good. Shoutouts 91a) In: Very subby, helps with small kicks, overkill on large kicks. (Needs an out/reso mic for snap) ATM250DE) In all positions the two internal mics can be mixed to taste, hard to evaluate this one. ATM25) Underrated little bro of the 250, useful in all positions, not recommended for double kick action/super fast tempos. Not an aggressive mic.

[@adamoblivion8915]

I'm listening to this with a shit phone, but the D112 would be my pick. most bass, but still tight.

[@modvind]

The D6 just sounds over EQ'ed to my ears. Don't really like it

[@paulscire5763]

D112 is STILL the worst sounding kick mic of all time

[@Trevoire520]

It can be cool if you have a great drum, decent head tuned well and a drummer who hits consistently hard, but it still takes lots of eq to get there.