Budget vs. Pro Drum Microphones!

Want to hear what a set of budget microphones sound like compared to pro mics? This is the video for you! I'm comparing a set of CAD mics with my other mics, to show that you can still get a great sound without breaking the bank.

0:46 Budget microphone (unmixed)
1:30 Pro Microphone (unmixed)
2:56 Budget microphone (mixed)
3:41 Pro microphone (mixed)

The CAD Pro-7 Drum microphone set is a seven piece kit which contains two small diaphragm condensers, a kick mic, snare mic, and three tom mics, and sells for about $199. Compared with the microphones I'm using (AKG 214s, Shure SM57/58s, Beta 52a, Sennheiser 421), you can hear a bit of the difference, but both options provide totally useable results! What are the differences that stuck out to your ears?

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Shoot me a message if you’re interested in jamming or some session work, I’d love to help!

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I play Tama Superstar drums with a 22” kick, 12”,14”, and 16” toms, and a Pork Pie Little Squealer 13” snare. For cymbals, I use Zildjian 14” K Hats, 18” & 20” Medium Thin Crashes, a Sabian 21” AA Raw Bell Dry Ride, and an 18” Agazarian China cymbal.

Microphones Used:
AKG C214’s: Overheads
Shure SM57s and SM58s: 14” and 16” Toms, Snare top
Sennheiser MD421: 12" Tom
Shure Beta 52a: Kick Drum

*All running into a Focusrite Clarett 8pre and Saffire Pro 40 interface

[misterxeric]

0:46 Budget microphone (unmixed)
1:30 Pro Microphone (unmixed)
2:56 Budget microphone (mixed)
3:41 Pro microphone (mixed)

[trespantalons]

Awesome vid Alex. No BS, no jibber-jabber, just 2 straight comparisons and a short round-up. Really easy to watch and learn from. Would love to see one of the Lady DMK-7 as these are on my radar atm. Thanks

[spareroomstudio]

I've used several brands over the years, and always come back to CAD. Yes they are a budget mic, but for live sound and even for the studio (with a little eq'ing), I have found they have a great crisp, punchy sound. With the right placement, and if you include batter and reso positions, they do the trick. Expensive and more top of the line pro mics are great if you can afford them, or afford to get them repaired or replaced. When your kit has 18+ pieces to consider, CAD for me is the way to go !!! thanks for sharing your comparison video. Loved that you did both raw and mixed versions.

[anthonycronk]

Sounds like the phase needs to be flipped on the budget mic overheads

[theblowupdollsmusic]

Thank you for taking the time to do this. Great drumming.

[TheCIScommander]

I have a set of those CAD mics. They sound pretty damn good. I think the overheads are fantastic. They sound pretty crisp and clear, and I like that they have a built in high pass filter. Means I don't have to process them as much. I like the snare mic, too. Quite punchy. The tom mics are a bit too midrangey, but when you EQ them out they sound much better. The weak link for me was the kick drum mic. It was a bit too muffled for me. It took a lot of EQ to sound good but I did get it to sound good in the end. Even though I had to add in a fair amount of treble to get a nice click it had the girth that I want in it. I thought this was a great comparison. The pro setup did sound better, but the CAD mics really held their own and definitely feel like 20% as good as the pro mics like the price would suggest.

[danielkalk]

Yeah! Did the responsible thing and bought a 7 mic cad setup saying screw it they can't be that bad after a bit of research(not a lot) Glad i found this. Because although its not a pro mic the amateurs listening will have no idea. I appreciate the video good work!

[fredoakmanmusic]

Love your cable holders in the background.

[canadajamz]

The main difference I noticed was with the over heads. I found the budget overheads made the cymbals sound kind of hollow, even in the mixed version. The expensive mic’s are better but not that much. I think I could have fixed the budget overheads by placing them differently. Maybe not. Nice video

[mcpribs]

Great video! Even the raw sounds very usable hearing what they each sound like.

Goes to show 1. Tuning, 2. Mic Placement, 3. Drummer (bad drummer on $100k ain’t going to sound good). 4. Mic selection

[johnnysewardjr]

The cad mic sounds good, especially if you’re a non pro drummer. I’ll be able to sound a whole lot better than unmiced for sure thanks for the video. And thanks for looking out for the little guys

[ClbnaVGM]

Very instructive ! Thank you, I dig your philosophy of "get the best with what you have".

To my ears, the pro mics have more definition in the low end especially the kick which is fatter also the mids are snappier more rich.
The CAD mics sound more "airy" but for a budget kit it sounds quite OK !
In the end, it really depends on what you wanna do and also a solo snare or kick might sound very good by itself but in the context of a mix it's a whole different thing where often...less is more.

[NorthernNegatives]

You should have way more subs. Your videos are so informative and easy to understand! I'm new at recording drums and to be honest drums in general and you've helped me a bunch recently!

[DamianS]

I just ordered the CAD Pro 7 Mic Kit today... I got them on sale New for $140.00. I appreciate your video. Definitely can hear the Quality difference between the CAD Mic's vs Professional Mic's. I think I will stay with the CAD Mic's for the money. But the professional Mic's sound clearer, thumpy, and crisp

[halseyballistic]

Nicely done! Not much else to say, you pretty much explained it all in the ending. It is all about you using what you have and not needing a ton of money to capture sound. Some of the best produced albums have been recorded with budget mics or simple mic techniques. Heck all of the original Woodstock Concert was captured with only Shure

[steimystein]

My setup is quite the mixture of different brands. My kick mic is a Sennheiser e902, my tom and snare mikes are Audix F series, and the overheads are Behringer C-2s. It's what I have available so it's what I use.

[LaceChaser]

I learned EVERYTHING I needed in this video. I’ve recorded multiple albums in studios with my old $350 5 piece shure kit.

One studio made me use theirs insisted they knew what they were doing. The track recorded with 12 microphones that were all $500-2500 in price was the worst sounding tack I’ve ever played on.

The 5 mics I paid $350 for in a kit along with the 2 Condenser mics I got on sale for $80 each(usually $125). … just… come on. It’s clear as day.

Cheap equipment with talent behind it being made and especially being worked on in the studio is such a better experience than spending the cost of your entire kit on mics that youre terrified will fall or get hit and if your engineer doesn’t know how to MAKE TRACKS SPICnSPAN CLEAN???? You should get rid of whoever is finalizing the songs instead of getting mics that from what I’ve noticed will last 50% the lifetime of the VERY BOTTOM COST mic bundle at your local guitar center.

Trust me. I hit heads for a living.

[coffeehigh]

have you tried the presonus DM-7 mic kit ? goes for $300 -- for that price point, i personally have not found anything better! let me know what YOU think.

[ryanryan]

The big thing for me was you could really hear the extra snare buzz/ring with the kick hits in the cads. The pro sounds tighter and more detailed like you said.

[mana]

Interesting that you mixed from the drummers perspective, hats panned left etc. Good sounding kit!