Quite a few people saying the D2 sounds so much better than the D6 and D4 on this. That's because these mics are built purpose-specific. They are made to sound good for particular drum types and sizes. Therefore, it's natural that a D2, which is internally EQ'd for toms, would sound great here, while a D6, internally EQ'd for bass drums, not as good. The D6 is built to boost lower frequencies than an 8" tom is capable of producing. For 15 years I've used D2's on rack toms, D4's on floor toms, and D6's in bass drums, live and studio, and have NEVER been disappointed. I can essentially leave the EQ adjustments on my mixer flat in most cases. For my ears, curiously the D1, built for snare drums, doesn't sound quite as good as an i5. But it's all a matter of taste.
Great insight! I'm more than pleased with my D6 bass drum mic and have been researching this week to upgrade my tom mics. Your comment has helped solidify my choice in getting the D2's for my rack toms and the D4's for my floors.
@@audiovega55 You mean for bass drum? Funny you should ask. A few months ago I saw a bass drum mic shootout, and my two favorite sounds were the S6 and the Beta52. When I directly a/b'd the two, I found I liked the Beta52 better. It has more of a presence around 100hz and sounds a touch more natural - to MY ears. I'm talking studio subtleties here; live, both are excellent and not that far apart. I've had excellent results both live and studio with both, but the Beta has won my heart these days.
Yes, I think that's it. The D2 is voiced to be a bit smoother on the highs. The D6 sounded decent, but has some presence for kick drum beater click click which makes the rack tom sound more brittle. Didn't like the i5, SM57, too much upper mids for rack tom (same reason they are good on snare). I like the Audix approach of voicing these slightly differently, helps them to not crowd each other in the mix. D4 for floor tom, and D2 for rack tom being a good match. That said, I prefer the Shure Beta 52A to the D6 for kick drum. With a 3 tom kit, with a bigger floor tom. D6, D4, D2 might be a good mix. Have a D4 for floor tom, going to order a D2 on the back of this. D6/D4/D2 can be nice for different types of bass recordings too (D6 goes subby / dubby, D4 is in between, and D2 has more mids, but smoother top and without that SM57 upper mid nasalness).
@@thedharmaviolets ....he is all over the place hitting that Tom....hard to really tell what any mic sounds like compared to another...on the SM57 part he is hitting closer to the edge of the rim on on other mics he is hitting the center of the head...and when he just hits the head for 10 or 15 times in a row the stick is hitting all over the place....I appreciate his efforts but his method is not that great.
Great comparison!! I'm really surprised how close these mics sound, I thought the differences would be much more pronounced. Having said that, the sound was in keeping with what I expected. The i5 and SM57 definitely brought out more high-end 'bite' to the attack. The D2 to me seems perfect on this rack tom though. The D2's built-in EQ seems to be perfectly set to bring out a nice mix of attack and tone. - I'm fairly convinced you could adjust the EQ in your DAW to get the D2's and D4's to sound very similar - so not really a big deal if you own a D2 and want to put it on a floor tom, or have a D4 and want to stick it on a rack tom. No one is ever going to detect the sonic difference in a recording.
D6 misses a bit of body. Too much low mid resonnance on D4. D2 is perfect! Other mics are to weak in the low range. I'm currently sampling my drumset. Tried D2/4/6 on toms, i5 on snare. I finally sampled all the drums with a vocal condenser mic: Audix C112B. So full of body and attack. Thanks for this vid!
Audix are great but placement of a mic is also crucial. In a mix you often want to highpass lower frequencies also. Close mic + oh mics is the final result of great tom sound. Then a little room mic blend or use a fitting drum reverb. Even if the sm57 sounds thin on its own it might fit in the bigger picture they often have good mid freq definition.
Thanks Robin - I really like the D2 on Small Toms, it captures the pitch change that occurs immediately after the hit. That said, I use a 421 on the Mid Toms exclusively (to be fair, you can put a 421 on anything...but mid size toms just call for it). I love the D4 on a floor, not so much on the small tom - but it would be OK. Rounding out I like the D6 on the Kick. BTW - Avantone's Mondo has a superb 4k beater click and worth a try for short money. I've never warmed up to the i9 - I know Clapton blends an it with an AT4047 on his amp, and you can certainly use it as a utility amp mic in a club - but definitely not on a tom.
SM57 and i5 sound quite natural with the room sneaking in there. D2 and D4 sound the best on this tom because of the pre EQ shaping. The higher frequencies and smallness of the 8" tom aren't a good match for the D6.
D2 and d4 are the exact same size. Also they didnt get mixed up at all. The d2 and d4 are pre-EQed mics with the d4 concentrating on boosting lower frequencies for things like floor toms. So naturally the d2 would sound better some a rack tom such as an 8 inch
Not sure I get the logic of using an 8" tom for this test. These mics are 'specialist' mics for various parts of the drumkit (SM57 and i5 for snare, D2 for rack toms, D4 for floor tom, D6 for bass drum and ADX51 for overheads). A more 'middle of the road' size tom like a 12" or 14" tom would probably have given more nuance.
D4 sounds perfect, at least with no mix to hear it in. The D6 & D2 sound very similar and more distant/muffled than the D4, likely a more ideal tone for kick. Heck the D2 is almost half the price of the D6 for kick.... (I have the F6 and really like it, about $130, as is the D2).
Yes, but the fundamental of your kick is not just a bit lower then that of an 8" tom. You might find a difference in response between a D2 and a D6 in those lower regions ;-)
D6 sounds the best to me. It has more high end in the initial attack than the d2 or d4. Really surprised about that. But in a studio situation, the overheads would probably fill out the missing tone in the d2/d4 and the difference would probably be minimal.
Shame that a sennheiser md421 wasn't used on this. Generally next to nobody uses SM57s on Toms. Would also like to hear an omni measurement mic in the same position.
It's the D4, for me. The D6 is all wrong, and what is up with the D2, it's like in a whole different range? The ADX51 is obviously the best of all of them, but I won't be using condensers on toms, ever. The SM57 and i5 are OK, but the D4 is noticeably better.
Gemma Seymour ADX popped. It was a more even sound but definitely not for low end and vibrations that make pop sounds. Would like to have heard it on a snare, only other option other than cymbals.
Whoever says the D2 and D4 sounded similar must be deaf, and it won't make a difference which mic you choose or use because you're deaf. Now that that's out of the way, I agree that the D2 and D4 must have been mixed up. The sounds for the D2 in this video have significantly more low end than the D4.
And after so many years. Audix D2 still the king for ALL TOM TOMS. D4 is a let down. AUDIX what happened there??? D4 on floor toms sounds thinner than the D2. So now I ignore the D4 and just use D2 on all percussion instruments no matter the size. Its the new swiss army knife in dynamic mics.
Exotic Rock Productions I honestly do not know why???? On this planet you would use a SM57 on a tom seriously? I have never been satisfied with the sound thank comes from it.
@@MacAudio74 - I had nice results from SM57's on all my toms over the years and (I used a Beta57 on my snare because I watched David Byrne sing in one for his tracks - which I went out and bought myself years back for him) I recently tried a U87 on my snare sounded great b4 it died (not sure why - I might've whacked it) but a freind just gave me a bunch of Audix's and I'm using them now (although using the similiar EQ settings as the SM57's but need to cut the low end a bit. If you look through my vids, the song 'Nephilim' is recorded with SM57's on drums before I obtained the Audixs'
@@MacAudio74 - No problem replying - I have one Sennheiser ME66 and I exclusively use that for film dialog - would probably make a good overhead but I've got a pair of Ocktava Mk 012's for that - right now I'm happy with my drum sound - To add, I broke out my ADA MP-1 Pre Amp and using that with a Speaker Emulator like they did in the 80's - Cheers!
D2 sounded best. D4 was close. D6 is weird in the attack with such a small tom because the Peak is at like 7 or 8kHz. Didn't care too much for the others.
The model is written on those mics. So unless he mixed up the cables, they're labelled correctly. Either way, the mic size won't be the indicator for incorrect labels in this case.
The D2 as a tom mic is fantastic. So much fuller and considering the D6 is primarily a Bass Drum/Bass Cab mic that's pretty awesome.
D2&D4 is great on Tom,Kick In is too
The Tom isn't within the frequency range of the D6. You should hear it on floor toms.
@@DruGaTecH exactly ;)
D2 kills it, so glad I just bought 3 for my 12" 14" toms and 14" Roto Tom, going for the D4 for floor
Quite a few people saying the D2 sounds so much better than the D6 and D4 on this. That's because these mics are built purpose-specific. They are made to sound good for particular drum types and sizes. Therefore, it's natural that a D2, which is internally EQ'd for toms, would sound great here, while a D6, internally EQ'd for bass drums, not as good. The D6 is built to boost lower frequencies than an 8" tom is capable of producing.
For 15 years I've used D2's on rack toms, D4's on floor toms, and D6's in bass drums, live and studio, and have NEVER been disappointed. I can essentially leave the EQ adjustments on my mixer flat in most cases. For my ears, curiously the D1, built for snare drums, doesn't sound quite as good as an i5. But it's all a matter of taste.
Great insight! I'm more than pleased with my D6 bass drum mic and have been researching this week to upgrade my tom mics. Your comment has helped solidify my choice in getting the D2's for my rack toms and the D4's for my floors.
Hi luc.
I was using the beta 52 and moved to the beta91 but the audix d6 sounds so good.
Do you recommend it?
@@audiovega55 You mean for bass drum? Funny you should ask. A few months ago I saw a bass drum mic shootout, and my two favorite sounds were the S6 and the Beta52. When I directly a/b'd the two, I found I liked the Beta52 better. It has more of a presence around 100hz and sounds a touch more natural - to MY ears. I'm talking studio subtleties here; live, both are excellent and not that far apart. I've had excellent results both live and studio with both, but the Beta has won my heart these days.
Yes it is. D6 it's more for Kicks or something low. D2 sounds good on toms. Same with D4 on floor toms.
Yes, I think that's it. The D2 is voiced to be a bit smoother on the highs. The D6 sounded decent, but has some presence for kick drum beater click click which makes the rack tom sound more brittle. Didn't like the i5, SM57, too much upper mids for rack tom (same reason they are good on snare). I like the Audix approach of voicing these slightly differently, helps them to not crowd each other in the mix. D4 for floor tom, and D2 for rack tom being a good match. That said, I prefer the Shure Beta 52A to the D6 for kick drum. With a 3 tom kit, with a bigger floor tom. D6, D4, D2 might be a good mix. Have a D4 for floor tom, going to order a D2 on the back of this. D6/D4/D2 can be nice for different types of bass recordings too (D6 goes subby / dubby, D4 is in between, and D2 has more mids, but smoother top and without that SM57 upper mid nasalness).
I own a Audix D7 set...those D2's are incredible.
I agree. Gonna shovel some snow and mow in the summer to get some gear! My goals haha
How is the d2 on a 14" floor?
AUDIX D2 hands down for rack toms, and for the kick and big floor toms D6 and D4
The AUDIX D2 is my go to mic for percussion.
That's the proof that the SM57 is not good for everything...
Yeah, compared to those great Audix mics, the SM57 did not sound good at all.
Why doesnt it sound good? What is different?
@@jonascarrillo8699 Complete lack of bass information.
@@thedharmaviolets ....he is all over the place hitting that Tom....hard to really tell what any mic sounds like compared to another...on the SM57 part he is hitting closer to the edge of the rim on on other mics he is hitting the center of the head...and when he just hits the head for 10 or 15 times in a row the stick is hitting all over the place....I appreciate his efforts but his method is not that great.
An 8” tom is probably not the best example to do a mic shootout
D2 wins for me !
Gracias por todo el trabajo de los microfonos 👍 me he decidido por las Audix D2
Great comparison!! I'm really surprised how close these mics sound, I thought the differences would be much more pronounced. Having said that, the sound was in keeping with what I expected. The i5 and SM57 definitely brought out more high-end 'bite' to the attack. The D2 to me seems perfect on this rack tom though. The D2's built-in EQ seems to be perfectly set to bring out a nice mix of attack and tone. - I'm fairly convinced you could adjust the EQ in your DAW to get the D2's and D4's to sound very similar - so not really a big deal if you own a D2 and want to put it on a floor tom, or have a D4 and want to stick it on a rack tom. No one is ever going to detect the sonic difference in a recording.
the first one sounds amazing. its so full and so warm. I need to get that!
D2 built in Eq filters out everything. Love it.
D2 is made for small toms. D4 for floor toms, D6 for bass drum, and they are fantastic. SM57 snare only.
D6 misses a bit of body. Too much low mid resonnance on D4. D2 is perfect! Other mics are to weak in the low range.
I'm currently sampling my drumset. Tried D2/4/6 on toms, i5 on snare. I finally sampled all the drums with a vocal condenser mic: Audix C112B. So full of body and attack.
Thanks for this vid!
Audix are great but placement of a mic is also crucial. In a mix you often want to highpass lower frequencies also. Close mic + oh mics is the final result of great tom sound. Then a little room mic blend or use a fitting drum reverb. Even if the sm57 sounds thin on its own it might fit in the bigger picture they often have good mid freq definition.
I like D6 and D2
me too
Thanks Robin - I really like the D2 on Small Toms, it captures the pitch change that occurs immediately after the hit. That said, I use a 421 on the Mid Toms exclusively (to be fair, you can put a 421 on anything...but mid size toms just call for it). I love the D4 on a floor, not so much on the small tom - but it would be OK. Rounding out I like the D6 on the Kick. BTW - Avantone's Mondo has a superb 4k beater click and worth a try for short money. I've never warmed up to the i9 - I know Clapton blends an it with an AT4047 on his amp, and you can certainly use it as a utility amp mic in a club - but definitely not on a tom.
SM57 and i5 sound quite natural with the room sneaking in there. D2 and D4 sound the best on this tom because of the pre EQ shaping. The higher frequencies and smallness of the 8" tom aren't a good match for the D6.
I bet the D4 and D2 got mixed up there because there is no way that the D2 has more lows than the D4.. ;)
D6 you are the best as usual!
Salvador Peláez right!!!!??
Its also bigger lol
D2 and d4 are the exact same size. Also they didnt get mixed up at all. The d2 and d4 are pre-EQed mics with the d4 concentrating on boosting lower frequencies for things like floor toms. So naturally the d2 would sound better some a rack tom such as an 8 inch
I use the D4 on the Floor tom....
Not sure I get the logic of using an 8" tom for this test. These mics are 'specialist' mics for various parts of the drumkit (SM57 and i5 for snare, D2 for rack toms, D4 for floor tom, D6 for bass drum and ADX51 for overheads). A more 'middle of the road' size tom like a 12" or 14" tom would probably have given more nuance.
D6 and D2 FTW !
D4 and D2 are Great. Now pair with Burl Audio B1 Preamps and you got Grammy winning sound.
The D6 and the D2 is perfect.
Now I know what to get for my congas d2
Wow that Sm57 is adding that 500 ~ 800 freq i always kill with EQ lol
The D6 sounded best to me. I liked the dry sound. It sounded more controlled. My next choice would be the D2, and then the D4. But NONE of the others.
The D6 sounded the best to me but it’s supposed to be a bass drum mic
Could you do this same test with a 10”, 12” and 16” floor tom?
D4 sounds perfect, at least with no mix to hear it in. The D6 & D2 sound very similar and more distant/muffled than the D4, likely a more ideal tone for kick. Heck the D2 is almost half the price of the D6 for kick.... (I have the F6 and really like it, about $130, as is the D2).
Thank you for watching .I will test 10" 12" 14" 16" Tom.
Yes, but the fundamental of your kick is not just a bit lower then that of an 8" tom. You might find a difference in response between a D2 and a D6 in those lower regions ;-)
Yeah! we are waiting for those videos man. I'm more interested on the 12' one. Thanks
D6 sounds the best to me. It has more high end in the initial attack than the d2 or d4. Really surprised about that. But in a studio situation, the overheads would probably fill out the missing tone in the d2/d4 and the difference would probably be minimal.
Would like to hear the same on a more usual sized tom, like a 12". How is the D2 so boomy? You didn't mess up D2 and D4?
10 inch rims are very common. Haha
@@candelariocardenasjr You're correct in that statement, but that is an 8" tom in the video.
@@paullambert7376 ahh, that made me laugh 😂😂
D2 and D6 sound very closely alike
Shame that a sennheiser md421 wasn't used on this. Generally next to nobody uses SM57s on Toms.
Would also like to hear an omni measurement mic in the same position.
It would be cool if you changed the title to be in order of the mics in the video, since I don't know exactly what each model looks like.
It's the D4, for me. The D6 is all wrong, and what is up with the D2, it's like in a whole different range? The ADX51 is obviously the best of all of them, but I won't be using condensers on toms, ever. The SM57 and i5 are OK, but the D4 is noticeably better.
Gemma Seymour ADX popped. It was a more even sound but definitely not for low end and vibrations that make pop sounds. Would like to have heard it on a snare, only other option other than cymbals.
D2 for sure
Do it on a floor tom men...
Saya suka yanf Audix D2
D2 the best sound
Whoever says the D2 and D4 sounded similar must be deaf, and it won't make a difference which mic you choose or use because you're deaf.
Now that that's out of the way, I agree that the D2 and D4 must have been mixed up. The sounds for the D2 in this video have significantly more low end than the D4.
Jasper Carnivore Its also much bigger lol
d2 is the winner
well,the D6 is for kick and for bass,sounds cool but i don´t recommend them on toms or snare :)
And after so many years. Audix D2 still the king for ALL TOM TOMS. D4 is a let down.
AUDIX what happened there??? D4 on floor toms sounds thinner than the D2. So now I ignore the D4 and just use D2 on all percussion instruments no matter the size.
Its the new swiss army knife in dynamic mics.
D2 nice for tom 👍
D2 is the best 👌
Wow HUGE difference - Audix's have so much more lows than the Shure 57 - and the D2 could be better on the Kick than the D6
Exotic Rock Productions I honestly do not know why???? On this planet you would use a SM57 on a tom seriously? I have never been satisfied with the sound thank comes from it.
@@MacAudio74 - I had nice results from SM57's on all my toms over the years and (I used a Beta57 on my snare because I watched David Byrne sing in one for his tracks - which I went out and bought myself years back for him) I recently tried a U87 on my snare sounded great b4 it died (not sure why - I might've whacked it) but a freind just gave me a bunch of Audix's and I'm using them now (although using the similiar EQ settings as the SM57's but need to cut the low end a bit. If you look through my vids, the song 'Nephilim' is recorded with SM57's on drums before I obtained the Audixs'
Exotic Rock Productions Thank for the reply. Audix sounds great. Great you should try the Sennheiser e604 or e904 keen to hear what you think?
@@MacAudio74 - No problem replying - I have one Sennheiser ME66 and I exclusively use that for film dialog - would probably make a good overhead but I've got a pair of Ocktava Mk 012's for that - right now I'm happy with my drum sound - To add, I broke out my ADA MP-1 Pre Amp and using that with a Speaker Emulator like they did in the 80's - Cheers!
I'd personally choose to tune the tom first although it sounds fairly delightful under the D2 regardless.
im shocked about the d6
I've had D6s on all 5 of my toms for about a year now, I'll never use anything else
the d2 blows all of these out of the water
D2 was perfect
Hi！ Everybody. Thanks for your watch.This is micphones & audio interfaces test.Use 14" Floot Tom
ua-cam.com/video/RIJVGOC2WOc/v-deo.html
Qual a serie dessa pele? Ppr favor
D2 y D6😍
Definitely D2 but the D4 would work too.
D2, D4, D6
All shures < 1x Audix
D2 sounded best. D4 was close. D6 is weird in the attack with such a small tom because the Peak is at like 7 or 8kHz. Didn't care too much for the others.
D2 COOL
D2 🤘👍🔊🎊
Audix D6
1) D2
2) D6
Beyer Dynamic M201
They all taste the same except for the D2.
D2 for me
D2
D6 sounded best
D2 and D4 are definitely switched. You can even tell by the size. So folks that like the D2, you actually like the D4. Which makes sense.
The model is written on those mics. So unless he mixed up the cables, they're labelled correctly. Either way, the mic size won't be the indicator for incorrect labels in this case.
D2 wins for me
tune that tom :)
placement
Klingt alles gleich Ist zum Lachen. 😊 Kauf das billigste und spare Geld🤪
nenhuma diferença significativa.
what the fuck kind of a test was that?
last and first
placement