Sixteen Samples Of Mics On Snare

[Audiodog]

SM57 - what a charm, too bad I couldn't have bought stock in Shure when they first released the SM57! What a mic. Nice presence and balanced freqs.

AKG 535 - pretty impressive, very bright, maybe too much so, but of course it's sold as a stage vocal mic, nice addition to the lineup!

Beyer M88 / Senn 409 / Beta57 - good balance and presence.

D2 - I can hear some of the appeal, but that mid freq belly makes it sound overfed or something! Might be good for some projects though

Senn 441 - decent freq balance for mid to lows but missing presence

MD421 - a bit disappointing, something about the freq balance just doesn't sit well with me

EV 468 - Kinda scary. strange freq peak.

e609 - pretty bad! Sounds like it has a built in Q right around its high freq slope off. Yikes. It's marketed for guitar cabs and brass... but I can't see how its sound would do any instrument justice... unless there's an instrument or room that naturally has a nasty notch right around that mic's Q peak!

Bent - thanks again for this! Useful and good fun too.

[fatso]

If there is room for placement, I really like the Shure SM7 on snare top. Rejects the hats pretty freaking well too.

[Steve@Russo]

Love my Omar Hakim, Also loved my Elvin Jones, this is a really good resource I hope to contribute some of these along with youtube videos soon.

[MuayThaiKid]

I'd use the D2 for sure on my stuff.

[MuayThaiKid]

I also thought the e609 sounded god awful. Sizzle fest.

[steinmanisk]

Thank you for the good work! I personally liked 441, 421 and 535 the best, as I was imagining the sound in a modern rock/metal context, where a lot of definition and clarity is needed. They kinda jumped out of the bunch.

I myself record snare drums with a MD441. It's a really great sound, but can get a little bass-heavy, which typically is not such a big deal in the studio. My only concern about this mic is that it is a pain in the *ss to position in front of a really intense drummer, as the microphone shell is not too durable against drumstick hits.. It's a shame Sennheiser didn't make the shells tougher..

[bardeonard]

Thanks Bent! Very helpful!

My favs are:

- SM77 balanced and cuts through
- C480 clear and warm
- Beta 98 clean, warm and understated
- 4050 punchy and broad frequencies