numberthirty wrote:If you can come across one second hand, a Peavey microphone called the PVM520(I've also seen it listed as the 520i) might be in this ballpark.Here's the Peavy spec sheet:- https://assets.peavey.com/literature/manuals/80301951.pdfIf you are lucky, the owner might even still have the little hard case that they used to come in.I have one of these 520i, paid $75 with the case! - for the money its a great mic, somewhere in the same usefulness as an MD421. I think it's in the ballpark of what FD wants, but switching on kick between that and D112 I end up leaving the D112 with the kick

The best placement for a Beta 52 is in front of a loud bass cab in a live mix.

garthplinko wrote:Frank Decent wrote:projectMalamute wrote:I've spent some time with the D112, RE20, Beta52, and D6. I've pretty much settled on the D112 and RE20. D112 for just a touch 'bigger than life' and RE20 for more natural.The Audix takes the all-boom-and-click concept to an insane level. Check out the frequency response on one of those things some time, from the bottom of the mid cut to the top of the presence peak is almost 20dB. A lot of live sound guys out here love them, and I get the attraction. If you want a super-hyped cannon of a kick drum sound it pretty much does it out of the box. I used one for a while when I was doing a lot of death metal shows. They are good for that.The Beta52 is somewhere between the D112 and the D6, but seems to have the worst qualities of both to my ear. I really don't like those things.Wow. I've just found a cheap deal on a Beta52 and for a second got excited. Then I heard it in some videos and you've put it exactly how I feel. I just don't like the scooped sound. I don't like the Audix at all. Hate it, in fact.Can anyone recommend a large diaphragm dynamic with more of a flat response?Here's one of the more comprehensive kick mic shootouts still to this day and I didn't see it posted here: http://recordinghacks.com/2012/06/08/ki ... -shootout/ Sure, not perfect, but it's something at least. Based on your description, I think you might be best served by an RE20.I've got one that I use for bass and vocals. It's my favourite mic. I should just get another one. Or 4.

In the time since I last posted in this thread I've had the chance to use the Beta 91 a few times and I really like it. Now my first choice for a 'naturalistic' bass drum sound.The cheap Audix (F6 I think?) is better than you might think. Not as hyped as the D6, at least as far as I recall. I have never actually had them side by side for a direct comparison. I've been using one at work a lot and finding it easy to get the bass drum sounding good. Several drummers who use in ear monitors have gone out of their way to mention how good it sounds to them. Didn't see that coming when I got the drum mic pack in a deal with a bunch of other stuff. The tom mics don't suck either.This is all from the point of view of a live sound engineer working with competently deployed systems.

bishopdante wrote:Placed 6" outside the resonant head of a kick drum for a very quiet jazz band, the D112 works really well. Stuffed into the port of a very loud metal drummer onstage... it sounds like a plastic bucket being used as a punchbag.I don't disagree but I think that's more the technique than microphone. Plus, that's the desired sound for a lot of metal/fast punk (w/ the mids scooped out).

it's not terribly hard to get a variety of non plastic kick sounds out of a D112