Best clip on mics for toms

[Ex is Moor]

Hi all

firstly apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, I have tried searching the forum without success!

I have an old AKG drum mic set, including a D112, 2 x C1000s and some clip on mics for toms and snare. Only ever use the D112 on a drum kit as I have better alternatives. The clip mics (I forget the model no., they're at the studio right now so I cannot check) sound horrible - really wonky response (sort of thin and smacky without much body).

My question: what are the best clip on mic for toms? I have used SM57s in the past but am sick of playing tetrus with mic stands, cymbal stands etc and don't have the space!

What are you using in your toms?

Cheers

[andy cross]

You could try something like a Sennheiser MZH504 Drum Mic Clip with an SM57.

[Guy Johnson]

a good start.really good littlt mics and clips, slightly to my surprise!

[Bob Bickerton]

Audix D2 mics with K&M clamps if you want the best solution.

Bob

[TheReson8or]

+1 for the D2, and when you master them the audix clips are quite good...but they do need practise. Dave

[Ex is Moor]

Thanks all for your tips so far!

[Jack Ruston]

I'm going to be that annoying person ...

I've never liked clip on mics of any sort for a couple of reasons.

1. I've never heard one that did a better job on toms than some of the more obvious choices. Eg 421's

2. Attaching things to the rim of a drum affects it.

3. If you want to tune the drum it becomes a pain to take the mic off between ever other take.

4. The tom mic stands are hardly ever difficult from a position point of view. It's always that fiddly area around the hat, snare and left crash stands, where you're trying to get snare top and bottom stands to fit that causes most of the problems.

5. Almost all these designs affect how freely you can position the mic.

If your primary goal is results in a studio setting, I'd go for a more traditional approach. But it's a personal thing, and I appreciate that you've said you don't want to do that. Sorry for being 'that guy'.

Jack

[Dave Rowles]

For Studio? Then I'd go with what Jack said. Clip ons are all a bit of a compromise. I've never had a difficulty in positioning short stands to get good tom mic positions, but some kits can be difficult I agree.

However, in my live sound experience, in no particular order:
Beyerdynamic Opus
Shure Beta 98a
Audix D2
Sennhiser E604 or E904

All of which are great live. Never used them in a studio setting.

[The Elf]

+1 for Jack. Why would you want a mic moving around?

[TheReson8or]

Hi, I should add that mic stands are preferable to clip ons but if you have so little space,as I have , then they are a necessity.Dave

[James Perrett]

Short stands with round bases take up hardly any room and give you a much better choice of mics and positions. I like the Sennheiser 504's but I rarely use the clips as they just don't let me position the mics where they sound best.

James.

[grab]

Got D2s myself. The sound on toms is nice. But they're supercardioid, and I've found they seem to cop a fair bit of cymbal spill from that rear lobe, with a typical rock drumkit setup. Suitably gated they're good, but without gates there's a lot of unwanted sizzle.

[Guy Johnson]

I was assuming clip-ons for live, in the studio I'd usually prefer 'normal' mics.
D2s etc. are very good, as long as you've got a huge live budget, and a good point about the hypercardioid pattern ... but in most live situations, I'd rather spend on monitors, in-fill speakers, vocal mics, desk — bearing in mind that...
1) the difference between the best clip-ons and the budget Thomann ones in almost all gigs is minimal
2) these mics are very near drum-sticks ... and I'd rather have good cheap mics for drummers to bash!

Hope that all makes sense this early in the morning.

[Ex is Moor]

Thanks for all the helpful comments. I was thinking for live situation (sorry didn't make this clear) but ideally would get some studio use too. Think I may opt for the t bone set for now and upgrade to D2s and shorts stands for the studio when I have the budget

thanks again!