Drum Mics

[Matus]

Yeah, and you just can't reproduce the sound quality and warmth of a real good pre with plugins. Anything the sound goes through will affect your final result. A good friend of mine who was a producer (sadly passed away a few years ago) always wanted to test how the mixing board affected the sound. He used to run tests of the audio going through the mixer just in case the analog component added something he liked to the mix.

[kinkymook]

I built my own home recording studio in my basement this year and bought almost all of my mics of Craigslist for pretty great prices. I'm using a Shure Beta 52 on the kick, 57 on the snare, Audix F10's on the 8, 10, 12, an F12 on the 14 floor, an AKG Perception 220 on the overhead (which can hear a whisper from a mile away) and a cheapo MXL 990-991 set for the hats and another overhead if I need them. I'm using a few ART Tube MP pre's (which are inexpensive for a home studio Pre and have a great reputation for sounding like mic pre's of subastantialy more money, like Great River), an old classic Bogen also as a Pre. Add Logic Express 9 and well, I get a pretty good sound here in the Man Cave. I've got carpet on the floor and the drop ceiling as icing on top so I do have to rely on some eq'ing and reverb ala the Logic box, but in saying that, I do believe that a great sounding room, kit, and Pre's do make a difference. The first mics I''ll end up replacing will be the Audix Fusion set from the toms with something that's just got a better frequency range, but for now they work ok. Gearslutz is a good place for mic and mic preamp info as well. Since putting together my studio I've gotten really curious about mics and pre's. It's like researching beer or wine; They're soooooo much to learn and read up on. Fun though!
I'm def gonna check in to the Heil stuff. Sounds like it's great and the prices aren't that outrageous.

[chris perra]

In my experience, I'd rather have a killer mic and a weak preamp then a killer preamp and a weak mic..

I've done extensive double blind testing with every component in a recording chain, and the difference between mics are way larger than the difference between preamps. I own a Universal audio La610 signature addition, and a Mackie mixer.. and the difference between an AKG perception mic and a Neuman Km 184 is way, way larger than the preamps.. I've done preamp tests with SSl, great River, Universal audio, Mackie, Behringer, Langavulin, Tl audio, Studio Projects, Neve..
While there are definitely differences between preamps in clarity, tone, any 2 mics have a larger difference...

The biggest differences between the recording components in a recording chain from most to least in a listening situation are:

Room/speakers, mics, preamps, converters..

I wet through exhaustive tests with a Radial JS3 testing so the performances were the same each time,.. the only thing that was changed was the mic or preamp or converters...

[Rhythmatist]

Of course you have to start with a great, well tuned drum kit . As the old saying goes, "you can't polish a turd."

[Brad Schlueter]

I read review of the Earthworks system and the conclusion was they were great for a natural sound and the kick drum insert was cool, but they wouldn't be the reviewer's first choice for a typical punchy rock sound. Probably better for Jazz, folk, or stuff with percussion. Close micing adds proximity effect with dynamics which is characteristic of that punchy rock/fusion/Nashville thing.