Bass drum mic and preamp test

[rockerdude]

Well I decided to to a drum mic and preamp test for my shot at the gold.
Our subject is a 22" Yamaha tour custom bass drum with a Remo powersonic bass drum head on the beater side and the stock Yamaha resonant head with a 6" hole for the mic.
Wind from the south at 4mph.I used a nylon beater.
The mic was placed at the same spot on every test,just inside the hole about 1" in pointed at the beater. Mic placement can have a huge effect on the sound of the drum so this is subjective to personal taste.I put the whole test on one mp3 seperated by me saying "one" two" ect....I think this will make it easier to compare without waiting for other tracks to buffer.
There is no eq,compression or anything on the test, just the Mic and Preamp.
I used three common Kik drum mics and two diferent preamps for this test so you can hear if a preamp really does make a difference. I have heard some people say all preamps are basically the same so you be the judge.I played this for a few people and they all said they could hear the difference in the sounds.

The first test is the sure beta 52a through a API 312 Mic preamp

The second test is the Sure beta 52a through a digidesign 003 preamp

The third test is the Audix D6 through a Api 312 mic preamp

The fourth test is the Audix D6 through a Digidesign 003 preamp

The Fifth test is a Sennheiser md 421 II through a Api 312 mic preamp

The Sixth test is a Sennheiser md 421 II through a digidesign 003 preamp.

I hope this can help somebody in their mic/preamp choice

Please vote if you find this helpfull, Rob
[ATTACH]4357

[dhassay]

I have been using the audix D6 for about a year now and it is my favorite bass drum mic. I am a drummer so you know I'm picky. I have a 421 and would never use it on a bass drum. its just too boxy and not enough low end. 421 on toms is great.

[maaaquemeseyo]

Hi, I´ve found it really useful. Since I usually use the beta and de 421, I´ve been surprised of how the preamp affect the sound, but are they recorded too hot? (I can´t explain me good enough in english, the question really is could be cut down a couple of DBs between both preamps, and so, the attack could be altered?).
The Audix didn´t like me at all.

[rockerdude]

yeah but the best tone from a api is when its pushed hard.They we not clipping just in the yellow....LOL....Those test were flat with no eq or anything just mic+preamp into pro tools.

[maaaquemeseyo]

I really liked Api.

[brandondrury]

Cool shootout! You can tell they reall scoop the living shit out of the D6! I just got one recently for my massive shootouts I'm conducting and I do like that mic.

In this context, it seems a little weird scooping THAT much, but that's basically what I would end up doing in a real rock mix anyway. I wonder what the non-rock guys think of that mic.

I could definitely hear an improvemment in tone with the API on the Beta 52. It's just "more there". I thought the difference was less obvious on the other mics. My gut says this is an issue of impedance, but for all I know it could be your foot too.

I wonder what this kind of difference makes in the whole grand scheme of things in a dense mix. If money were no object, it makes sense to just get the API. I wonder if the effects of the API or less apparent or more apparent when you get down to the real deal mix.

What are your thoughts?

Brandon

[rockerdude]

A preamp is a small part of the sonic puzzle.When your tracking and stacking lots of tracks, be it guitars vocals or whatever they make a bigger difference in the overall sound of the track.In these days of squashed mp3 files,listening on ipods and laptops can the average listener hear the difference between a API or a Presonus pre probably not.Imagine recording with dead guitars strings.Let's say seven guitar tracks.Would it sound better with new strings or old strings. API (New strings) Digi 003 pre ( old strings)A good preamp should be a little clearer with a little more punch,body or in alot of cases a little color.I am running a small home based studio business so I need lots of preamps for recording drums and other stuff so I decided to get the best I could afford at the time. I would say Preamps are about 15% of the overall picture.