Snare Mic Shoot Out - 30 Different Microphones - Which Do You Prefer?

December 10, 2019 James Ivey

Ask most recording engineers (other than our own Julian Rodgers) which mic to use when recording a snare drum and most will say the Shure SM57. In this article, we are going to show that there are other options by testing 30 different microphones for recording the top of a snare drum.

Our New 5 Star Tests

As we are sure you can appreciate, at Production Expert, we get a lot of microphones to test and review. Up until now, we have had no real “system” in place by which to evaluate and compare the different mics we try other than recording some instruments and a vocal track or voice-over and letting you hear how the mic sound in a real-world recording situation, which has its place. However, we are now aiming to change that with our new 5-Star testing program.

All microphones, unless it is not appropriate to do a test with a specific microphone, will be put through the following 5 standardised test.

Snare Drum top from a distance of 7 inches away just above the rim of the drum
Acoustic Guitar from 12 inches away in front of the 12th fret.
Electric Guitar with a distorted tone on a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker 3 inches off the centre of the speaker
A Voiceover read from 6 inches away through a pop screen
A Male Rock Vocal from 6 inches away through a pop screen

Microphones that are built for a specific job may be excluded from some of these tests. For example, a Sub mic for kick drum is pretty much a one-trick pony so there is no point in recording a vocal with that.

The same music, rhythm, lyrics or paragraph will be used for each of these tests.

When microphones come in for review and test we will test them against our 5 point test.

The aim is to build up a comprehensive collection of audio files of a great many of the microphones available today both new and not so new.

Recording Snare Drum Top

The Drum

The snare drum we are using for this test is a bell brass 1958 14”x4.5” Ludwig WFL and the mics we are starting with are those that we felt offered a good starting point for our new tests. We will continue to grow the list as and when new mics come in for “review”. These mics will, of course, get their own testing articles and their recordings will be added to this and future 30 Different Microphone articles.

The Microphones

Where applicable, all pick-up patterns are set to cardioid, low pass and high-pass filters are off and pads are off. (LD-Large Diaphragm, SD-Small Diaphragm)

You will notice a lack of large-diaphragm tube or valve mics in the list below. As most of these mics are from James’ own mic locker we did not want to damage any mics during testing so these mics have been made exempt from the Snare Drum test. We know that you can use a Valve Condenser on snare top but if you did you would probably be recording jazz or lighter playing styles. The example track is a full-on rock groove.

A Full List Of The 30 Microphones Tested

Small Diaphragm Condensers

Sontronics DM-1S

Sontronics DM-1T

Sontronics STC-1

Lewitt LCT 040 MATCH

Vanguard Audio Labs V1 + Cardioid Capsule

Ribbons

Audio Technica ATH 4080

Audio Technica ATH 4081

Royer Labs R10

Modelling Microphones

Antelope Audio Edge Solo (LD)

Antelope Audio Edge Duo (LD)

Antelope Audio Verge (SD)

Slate Digital ML1 (LD)

Slate Digital ML2 (SD)

Townsend Labs L22 (LD)

Dynamics

Shure SM57

Shure SM58

Telefunken Electroakoustik M80 SH

Electro-Voice RE320

Sontronics Solo

Sontronics STC-80

Sontronics Halo

Large Diaphragm Condensers

Audio Technica ATH 4050

Audio Technica ATH 4047

JZ Microphones Vintage 67

JZ Microphones Vintage 11

JZ Microphones Black Hole BH-1S

Lauten LS-308

Simple Way Mic 1

Vanguard Audio Labs V1 + Lolli

Warm Audio WA-87 (-10dB pad used)

Position Is Everything

You can see from the scrolling images below that every care has been taken to make sure that where physically and practically possible the diaphragm or capsule of the mic is 7 inches away from the centre of the drum and raised up by about 2 inches. Remember that not all mics have their diaphragm butted hard up to the grill so this has also been taken into account as best we can with the information available.

The Audio Files

For each of the 30 mics in this initial test, you will hear 2 audio examples. The first is just the snare drum top mic soloed. Each audio file starts off with 8 single hits. The first bar of hits is a medium force with the tip of the stick striking the centre of the drum. The second bar is a more powerful rim shot where the stick hits the centre of the drum and the rim at the same time to give a bigger more rock and roll sound. You there hear 16 bars of groove so you can hear how the off-axis pickup of the mic sounds with the other elements of the drum kit around it.

The second audio file is a mix of the test mic and 3 others. For stereo overheads, we are using a pair of Lewitt LCT 140 AIR mics and in the kick drum, we have a Shure Beta 91. These mics are on a static mix to give the snare mic sound some context.