Finally getting a set of drum mic's - rode nt5's + sm57's or audix?

[onetruth]

hey everyone,

i've been lucky enough to borrow drum mic's from a nearby studio but that's coming to an end soon and so I need to buy my own. I've read loads of old threads on here regarding good choices for drum mic's and just wanted to get a few opinions from you guys before I go spanking some cash!

Unfortunately, my budget isn't huge (£800 max!) and so I think this selection of mic's will give me decent bang for my buck without busting the bank!

Option 1 (Budget!):
Kick - Shure Beta 52A
Snare T - Audix I5
Snare B - Shure SM57
Toms - 3x Shure SM57's
Hats - Shure SM57
OH's - Rode NT5's

If I can get all these mic's 2nd hand off fleabay then i reckon i'll be looking at a total spend of around £600.

Option 2:
Audix DP5A drum mic set (1x D6, 1x I5, 2x D2, 1x D4)
Plus a pair of Rode NT5's.

The audix set never seems to come up on ebay uk 2nd hand so would have to buy them new along with some 2nd hand rode's. total cost, around £799.

I only record rock/metal/hardcore/punk so which bunch of drum mic's do you think will be the best value for money?? Is it worth spending the extra £200 on the audix mic's?

cheers!

 

[if6was9]

Do you have a 57 for guitars already?

I'd go with the 2nd option. I had both the shure set of mics, ( beta 52 for kick, 57's for snr/toms) and the Audix set. I prefered Audix by a long shot, but I use the 57's for guitars.

Look on the US ebay for the audix set. I got a demo set from a shop there for about 400e and I know other people who've done the same.

 

[amarshism]

I use the audix set regularly and highly recommend them. The d6 is also killer on bass. I also have used all of the mics on guitar cabs for various reasons. That being said I've never used any other mics on drums. I'd say for the price range though, any improvement will most like be out of the park. Pick up any old mic for a room. A ldc is nice to have but I've had decent results with any handheld dynamic in an assortment of weird places.

 

[Emdprodukt]

+1 for audix! I think it kills the md421 on toms but that's a matter of taste! I really like that thos mics a pre-scooped!

 

[nervirasme]

Then, unfortunately, I will be the first to vote for the first option. The main reason why I'm not a fan of Audix drum mics is their pre-eqed sound... That can work fine in live situation, but in studio it will be a nightmare when you realize that you don't have that middle in the mix, and you can't do anything to bring it back...

Although, IMHO, I think you'll have some problems with the first option - first of all, SM57s will do fine on smaller toms, but once you get to larger ones/floor toms you'll be missing a lot because they won't be able to capture low end, depth and body of the shell. In your budget, I highly recommend Sennheiser's e604, or AKG D40. I think NT5 will do a fine job as OH mics, although I personally always prefer LDC over SDC because they capture the tone of the drum better (in that case you might look for NT1A - I did my own shootout and they are now my top choice for OH among other mics that I own).

There are plenty of drum mic shootouts on the web - you can really get some picture as to how do they sound compared to each other...

Good luck!

 

[Revson]

I'd go for a modified version of option 1. You've got a little bit extra in your budget so what about ditching the 57's on the toms and get 3 CAD M179's? They're basically a poor man's 414 and get a lot of love on gearslutz as tom mics and some of the demos I've heard have them sounding pretty good. On eBay they have 3-packs of the mics for $400.

 

[greyskull]

Beta 52 sucks balls on Kick. great on bass cab though. I LOVE Audix stuff

 

[Sloan]

Don't buy the audix set, just get individual mics and save money brah.
I always try to use i5 rather than sm57 whenever i can. d6 on kick rules, beta 52 would rule for live rock/other usage, but stick with d6 for recording 'heavy' music

 

[egan.]

On drums I prefer the i5 to the 57 and the e602 to the B52.

 

[Nebulous]

Another vote here for the Audix option. Forget the fact they're pre scooped, the transient response of Senn and Audix mics seems to be better than comparable Shure mics IMO.

 

[onetruth]

hey guys, thanks very much for all your advice. I think I'm going to pickup an audix set from US ebay as they are going for around £350.....just gotta hope I don't get raped with the import tax/customs charges etc. anyone know roughly what I might expect to pay for import into the UK?

if6was9 - i have got a couple of 57's which I already use for guitars (freidman style) so i'm all good there. would love a 421 but stuggling with cashflow at the moment.

nervirasme - thanks for the suggestion of getting some LDC's for overheads. I've already got an nt1a which I use for vox....maybe i'll look into getting a stereo pair for OH's.

anyone else got any advice with regards overheads and whether I should go SDC's or LDC's? I've been using the nt5's previously and had good results but i'm always willing to try something different. If LDC's, are there any others I should be looking at other than NT1a's?

 

[Norsyna]

Audix DP5A all the way. Back in the day I bought a D6 and an I5 - I was so happy with the Audix stuff I brought them back in to swap for a complete DP5A pack. Great mics and the bang for buck is awesome!

 

[Melb_shredder]

I'll have to also be one for the Option 1 variant group. Again, the Audix pre eqd sound really does take out stuff you may want to keep. Great live, not as much in the studio IMO

 

[amarshism]

if youre mostly doing metal, youre only gonna be scooping the shit out of that 200-600hz range on kick and toms anyways, plus youve already got 57s.