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Quick Kick Mic question

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:53 pm
by CD9266
Shure Beta 52A
Audix D6
AKG D112

Which one of these would you prefer to use for a kick mic and why?
(please only pick these, or microphones in the same price range 250 being the cap)

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:53 pm
by Knuckle Bones
D6....frequency response is already "tuned" to kick...boosted int he 63-80 range and in the 3K range. Thump and slap!

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:06 pm
by CD9266
Does it appear to you that the D6 is a "kick mic designed for metal"? I've read some reviews on all three of these mics on Musicians Friend and this one seemed to get the most responses that it's for "metal".

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:09 pm
by Knuckle Bones
Not really designed for it...you want metal the REALLY boost about 3K and totally cut about 450...and then boost 63. Metal has a LOT of beater in it.

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:13 pm
by CD9266
Listening to my friends in An Early Ending (hardcore/metal) they do have a ton of beater in there's and he uses double kick a lot too. I like having a bit of beater, and boom.

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:53 pm
by Ddjembe Mutombo
i like the d112. It is what I use in the studio (along with a u87 a foot or so away from the kick). I like the kick sounds I get.

Also, every kick will need a different EQ. You can use the same 80 - 400 - 5k range, but it won't sound sound its best. Mic placement, tuning, heads, shell wood, shell size, and beater placement all affect how you are going to need to EQ your kick

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:55 pm
by Knuckle Bones
It's all guide lines....not rules.

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:01 pm
by CD9266
Don't forget the beater material too!

There's the plastic stuff, then we bought some wooden beaters for the studio. Man those things have a crack.

Edit - I'd still like more opinions. So folks who are reading, if you know anything about these three mics, give some opinions.

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:14 pm
by NiallB
We have the D112 at college, it's a good all round mic, but I just prefer the results from my friends D6. The D112 is more suited towards Rock, whereas the D6 is a bit more jazzy..... I like jazzy!

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:41 pm
by CD9266
That's a first... Never heard the D6 and Jazz in the same sentence before. My band plays a variety of things. Hard rock, metal, and we are starting to write some hardcore style riffs but my singer isn't a screamer so we'll see how that turns out.

We also have a side project going on with soft rock stuff and lighter clean stuff. So that's the general range we of music we play.

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:47 am
by ESBlonde
I do a fair bit of live sound work with a variety of acts. My main object is to reproduce the sound of the natural bass drum and then if required eq it into a mix.

To that end, a properly tuned drum and a correctly placed mic are the most important things. Then a sound system adequately powered and tuned to the room is next. Finally the choice of mic comes into play.

TBO any of these mics and a couple of others like the Ev RE20 or the Audio Technica AT25 will all get you close, the Beta52 and D6 are more capable of the 'modern' click infused tone with less knob twisting but they will all get you there. There are plenty of engineers that use two mics on the bass drum or even the AT twin headed mic. You need to watch phase with multiple mics.

I'll vote D6 because its smaller size/weight makes it easier to place and less likely to make a boom stand fall over.

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 1:41 pm
by blacklight_uk
I voted for the D112 because out of all three it has the widest frequency response. From the FR graphs you can kind of see why the D6 would be more widely regarded as a "metal" mic. It's got a big hike peaking around 5-6kHz for that click sound and a big mid scoop to let the bass and guitars come through. The Beta 52a has a similar response curve but with slightly more upper mid response.

The D112 doesn't have this big mid scoop though, but it means that theoretically it would sound "better" on other genres, so you could use it for all kinds of stuff. If you were using it for metal you wouldn't have a problem carving out some of the mids during EQing, but it might not be so easy to add mid frequencies to anything you record with either the D6 or the 52.

One of the first things I was taught is that it's easier to take away from a sound, much harder to add something to it that was never there in the first place. Others may well disagree :)

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:13 pm
by CD9266
Thanks for the responses and info folks, keep it coming. I'm still waiting on my friend Steve's response via email, he's the guy that's been mentoring me with recording and sound.

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:36 pm
by Borderline Productions
Voted for the D112 because it was recommended by Alan Parsons (who also recommended ribbons for overheads). I got one on this recommendation and I have gotten a great sound out of it. It has also be great for live use and is pretty much indestructible.

Have tried large diaphragms for recording, but liked the D112 better.

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:54 pm
by Knuckle Bones
Honestly, you probably can't go wrong with any of the 3.