Drum Mic Shootout - Audix D2 - Sennheiser e604 - Sennheiser e904 - Shure SM57

Just wanted to put a video up that shows a simple comparison between some common microphones used on drums. I hope it helps some of you out there determine which microphone would work for your particular musical situation.
Enjoy!

[@markward3730]

Bravo for the test. The pearls sound nice. We drums like you who are intellectual. Great review.

[@DrumGalaxy]

Even though this video is 6 years old already, I still prefer the Audix D series. They just seem warmer to me. And your tuning is good enough for this demo, btw. Nowadays, a lot of drummers are using the Tunebot, including me. Best $99 I ever spent. Quick and accurate!

[@The192kHz]

Thanks for the video. I prefer the Sennheiser e904 as it sounds the most natural to me.

[@NominalTopic]

Perfect.Thank you for this!

[@koppinjo]

It's amazing how much this reveals the lack of low-end with the SM-57's to me. Thanks for the video and great job tuning - those drums sound awesome.

[@RobRathunde]

Thank you for the kind words. I noticed the same thing about 57's... They did have a little less fullness or body to them compared to the others but still produce a quality sound. There's something good to pick out of each microphone. It all depends on the application and what type of sound you are trying to achieve. Thank you for the comment.

[@christianmillsband]

I also noticed the lack of body from the 57's. Which is enlightening because I found video trying to decide what to replace our 57's with.

[@MeTuLHeD]

The e604 is the best sounding for my personal taste. I prefer a mic which brings out the low end of toms. You can always use a bit of EQ to improve the attack. But that solid low end 'whomp' can be harder to capture.

[@JasonWelchMusic]

For a deep/punchy tone, try an Audix D6 on your floor toms.... INCREDIBLE increase in low end. Or a Heil pr40 on floor toms will give it a warmer tone thats slightly less punchy. For higher toms, Audix D2 will give you punch or Heil pr31bw will give you a little warmer/softer punch. Watch some vids from Kenny Starretts on the Heil pr31bw. Its also the mic that Charlie daniels band used on almost EVERYTHING

[@MeTuLHeD]

@@JasonWelchMusic In my comment, I was referring to the mics used in this specific video. I personally have used a D6 live on toms for years now. Yes, it's technically a kick mic. But it sounds amazing on toms. I have heard the PR40 and it's a great sounding tom mic as well. Just never used it myself.

[@JasonWelchMusic]

@@MeTuLHeD OK. You'll love them both. Im saving now for four of the PR31BW mics.. I want them for overheads, and on my 10&12 toms... and I'll just use my d2 on the 8" tom. Currently, I have a Beta 52 in my kick, 57 on hats, i5 on snare, MXL R80 ribbon overheads, pvm 328 tom mics, pvm 321 on floor tom, pvm 325 under snare, and an sm58 as a room mic. All ribbon or dynamic. No condensers used. I get better isolation without them.

[@stormblast1000]

e604 for me

[@davidgoode7416]

Cool video, thanks....

[@eastbaymauiboy]

They all sounded very good and very similar on the small Tom, except the 57, it had less body and volume. I think the 604 might have had a little less volume then the others also?, but still sounded good

[@jimflys2]

Really like the D2. The sound pre eq'd

[@RobRathunde]

We've used the D2 for many years, mainly on toms and it has worked great. For those who want something more "natural" sounding, it probably wouldn't be the first choice but it has worked well for us in many situations.

[@brianjones3584]

Excellent video! The 604’s sounded the best to me. The 609 wasn’t bad either ... you can tell it has more highs to the mic naturally. All would work fo sho!

[@zebfernandez]

What 609??

[@brianjones3584]

@@zebfernandez meant the 904.

[@Itsallawesome]

0:24 d2 1:00 e604

[@laurosantos9839]

SM57 E 904 SAO OS MELHORES E ACHEI OS DOIS BEM PARECIDOS NO TIMBRE.

[@dalesimpson1140]

Seem's the d2 has more bottom punch ! e604 and 904 sound the same , 57 small loss of the bottom but more top end to it. All very good clean sounding mic's , would use any & have all but the 904 .

[@carlosrafaelduran8438]

Hi Rob, thanks for the video. I am not sure if you answered this question before but what interface are you using here and are you running anything else?

[@RobRathunde]

I am plugging the mics directly into an older Presonus Firestudio 26x26 interface. That is connected to my computer via firewire. I didn't add any processing to the audio. I wanted it to be as natural as possible for the comparison. Thanks for watching! Keep your eye out for a new video coming soon. I will be doing a kick drum mic comparison in the same fashion.

[@FidelinVlogs]

Sennheiser e904 the best ;)

[@iamrefu]

thank you brochacho

[@starless9829]

0:25 ---- 1:00 ---- 1:36 ---- 2:12 D2 ----- E604 ---- E904 ---- SM57 0:42 ---- 1:16 ---- 1:53 ---- 2:30

[@starless9829]

E604

[@onfiredrums]

Dude... Pearl extra maple shell 10" and 14" toms? Great video!

[@scsidrum]

Leo Fernandez - looks like it, in white marine pearl

[@GabrielGarcia-nb5zp]

D2 on high, E604 on low >>>>>

[@Vela_Isai]

I enjoyed the tone on the e604’s.

[@jannevaatainen]

The D2 sounds best here, as it propably is the most pre-EQ'd mic. Surprisingly good on the larger tom too. Is that a 14" tom? The Sennheisers aren't bad eather.

[@RobRathunde]

Yes, it's a 14" maple shell. All of the mics are definitely useful in the right setting. I had a hard time picking a "favorite" mic but I would probably use the Sennheiser mics for most situations.

[@gregwilliams2764]

Janne Väätäinen d2 good on 10” not on 14” ...need the d4 there..big difference

[@gregwilliams2764]

904 for me

[@d-rock737]

Put a D6 on that floor tom. D2 or D4 on the rack toms for me.

[@NeilHollomanDrums]

Is that a pearl master's retrospec? I have that exact same kit in that White Marine Pearl

[@RobRathunde]

They sure are! I wish they still made those. I think they are great drums.

[@NeilHollomanDrums]

Rob Rathunde I have a 7 piece in this kit. 22 kick. 8,10,12,14,16 and a masters mahogany snare 6.5x14. I LOVE it. I am actually heavily considering the audix mics. So crazy that I found a review video with my exact drums and mics I'm considering. Haha.

[@NeilHollomanDrums]

Rob Rathunde FYI I talked to Pearl a while back and you can still get these. There is about a 6 month wait or so but they can still do them. The wraps came from Del Mar wraps in the northeast. They sent me a sheet of the white marine pearl wrap to redo the bass hoops.

[@tomdrums06]

it seems like you just cant go wrong with either sennheiser e604 or the e904...audix d2 always have a good sound on drums

[@RobRathunde]

My favorites are the Sennheisers as well. The Audix mics are good but they do have a bit more color to them. Thanks for watching! Keep your eye out for a kick drum mic comparison video coming soon.

[@istifarlebihbaikdaripadadi2301]

D2 tom... d6 flour.. josssss

[@richardaling5278]

So nice basketball sound;)

[@hansoloist9756]

14 inch Tom should have Audix D4, not D2. More bottom end. Audix mic’s are simply amazing for the price.

[@aholder4471]

I think I dislike the tuning of the 14" more than any of the mics. It makes it hard to judge the mics honestly. Most mics can pick up the smaller toms pretty well, even mics not made specifically for them. So, I don't know. Hard to say. I usually love the Audix mics and everyone I know that has them or uses them, loves them. That says a lot to me. I'm a freelance sound guy here and there and I run across a lot of different drummers and I've used my fair share of different mics on drums. The Sennheiser's sound ok, but they aren't built like tanks like the Audix and Shure mics are, and when you place a mic on a drum, it's gonna get hit eventually, so they need to be metal and well built for this reason. Especially for live work.

[@Snowden74]

Ive been beating up the same e604s for the better part of 15 years. Still flawless.

[@willmason8421]

Sorry, but regardless of the mic, the 14" just doesn't sound as good as the 10".

[@KramGamesOfficial]

0:27

[@BamBam_PDX]

Are these Ambassador batter heads?

[@RobRathunde]

Sorry for the late reply. These are Remo Emperor.

[@drummerhammar]

Shure defenetly less body, the other three sound the same to mee....

[@KramGamesOfficial]

2:13

[@francisgarde]

e604 and SM57 for me

[@ChristianSandviknes]

E904 sounded the best to me for high tom, less scooped than the D2 - and oddly enough worse than the E604 on low toms - since the E604 got a wider range of bass from the recording.

[@TheBlinkisback09]

exactly what I thought. 904 for rack, 604 for floor!

[@einjarjar]

That's not the Audix D2. It's the Audix Fusion series tom mic. Totally different mic.

[@RobRathunde]

Incorrect... It is indeed the D2 but it's an older model; before they changed the size of the windscreen. The newer models are a bit larger.

[@einjarjar]

Really? I've never seen them with that body and I've been dealing with Audix mics over ten years.

[@RobRathunde]

Yeah, when I say "older model" I mean....OLD.... :-) These are from the first years of the D Series mics being on the scene. After a few years of them being out, they changed the size of the windscreens. My guess was to save on manufacturing costs by making the same size screen for many of their drum mics. They still sound great!

[@FanaticDrummer]

They sound like fusions to. Not clean, crunchy highs and muddy lows

[@dcp10200]

@@einjarjar www.ebay.com/itm/Audix-D2-Dynamic-Microphone-/202049614682?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l10137.c10&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true This is the same version of the D2 that's in the video

[@villimagg]

Don't hear any difference that would change anything in a complete mix. Honestly this changes nothing.

[@stubkar]

The e904 did the best job of exploiting the shitty tuning. A+

[@AMDpc067]

Tuning is great

[@Handsoffireband]

Drum needs to sound good before any mic, to my ears, tuning is terrible.

[@RobRathunde]

Thank you for posting a comment. I welcome all comments; good, bad, otherwise. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I can see where you are coming from regarding the tuning. I typically tune my drums lower but try to retain a good amount of sustain. The tuning isn't perfect in this video but definitely not terrible. Let's face it, not all drummers spend a ton of time perfecting the tuning before a gig. Some drummers simply don't know how to tune drums. I felt this was a good representation of what the "average drummer" could get out of these mics.

[@Handsoffireband]

Rob Rathunde hi...I take all back, I may have comment on the wrong video, in fact the do sound good.

[@RobRathunde]

No worries. It's all good!

[@dcgfhgjnzgfnjcbgn5828]

If you are a professional sound engineer, you'll prob use your mics on badly tuned drums more than on well tuned drums. In fact, it would prob be a better test.

[@Boxcartheband]

@@dcgfhgjnzgfnjcbgn5828 Haha. True True;)

[@marklane7847]

Toms need a major tune job. Sounds like your bottom head may be too tight.

[@RobRathunde]

I appreciate your comment. It's always interesting to hear/see other opinions. Sound and tuning is very subjective. What you think is a "good tuning" will differ from the next guy. I tune my drums pretty low compared to most drummers I know. My floor toms (14" & 16") are typically tuned as low as I can without them flopping completely. The top and bottom heads are tuned very close to the same pitch/tension. I found this is the sound I like at live shows and through a PA system. Other things to factor in are how I hit the drums and the type of sticks I use. All of that considered, this tuning (for me) usually results in the sound engineer getting a big/low sound with some extra attack from the heads being tuned low. That's my explanation of what you are hearing. Some love it. Some hate it. But I love learning from other opinions.

[@thomasrudder9639]

@@RobRathunde man I think your tuning sounds really nice.

[@tobyvattilano7846]

The tuning is good, especially the smaller tom. Drums have isolated mounts to resonate and then drummers want naturally gated toms? Leave that to the engineer! If you seriously don't think this guy can tune, I question your ear, sorry. The larger tom reso could possibly stand to go up slightly even for my tastes but you want the two heads resonating and VIBRATING in unison together. If you disagree, go buy concert toms and stop wasting everyone's time with uneducated comments.

[@christopherdunn317]

Cast hoops with create a higher pitch ! than triple flange.

[@neilroy4848]

Both toms are out of tune, but that 14” is brutal. Hard to even hear the tone from it. Sorry to sound harsh, just hard to make out the comparison between the mics.

[@vaughanxaviermusic]

that high tom out of tune bruh. it changes pitch so much

[@Assimilator702]

Vaughan Xavier When the bottom head is tighter you get a pitch bend effect. It’s not out of tune bruh.

[@vaughanxaviermusic]

@@Assimilator702 poorly tuned. In my opinion. But I respect yours as well

[@Assimilator702]

@@vaughanxaviermusic Were you listening on good headphones or through a phone speaker? But there could be some overtones you're hearing due to the room. Coated heads would improve that. I usually use coated heads which don't have those higher overtones.

[@kls3730]

wow!!! what a little lack of understanding of the demonstration... the sound source doesn't matter, it's enough to appreciate the coloration that each microphone adds to the signal of each source... the same could be done with a peo... for another part I keep 57 and then 604

[@stubkar]

The sound source does matter. It needs to sound like a tom in studio context.