Kick Drum Mics with EQ – Audio Samples

You can listen blind to the following kick-drum microphone samples. Once you’ve determined which you like, click the button at the bottom to reveal which microphone recorded each track.

(The audio players will take a few seconds to load; please be patient.)

If you somehow landed here directly, you’ll want to read the “AKG D12VR / Telefunken M82 Kick Drum Mic Shootout” article to understand what this is about.

“Deep” Placement

For these tracks, each mic was placed inside the drum, 4–5 inches from the beater.

Kick Mic 1

Kick Mic 2

Kick Mic 3

Kick Mic 4

Kick Mic 5

Kick Mic 6

Kick Mic 7

Kick Mic 8

Kick Mic 9

Kick Mic 10

Kick Mic 11

Kick Mic 12

Kick Mic 13

“Shallow” Placement

For this test, each microphone was placed just inside the port in the resonant head, pointing at the spot where the beater strikes the batter head.