AKG D550

I've been making music for about 15 years or so and recording for about 8-9 years. I run through a Tascam 2488 and import into Sonar for a DAW.

I've seen poor reviews for the D550 as a kick drum mic as well as a need to rig a certain placement for a good sound. However, another user's review on here totally hit the nail on the head. FLOOR TOM!!! If you buy a mic, even a cheap one, then it is your responsibility not to limit yourself on what to use it on. It didn't work good for me as a kick drum mic, but man, you put that thing on a floor tom and you will get ALL the floor tom you need (for a home recording scenario anyway. Got cash? Sennheisser 421 on toms then). Place that puppy up a few inches from the head, angle in toward the center if more stick attack is desired or vice versa and record away. I only paid $50 at Guitar Center for it, so I feel I scored major!!

I've been a musician for 11 years, been recording for most of that time. I enjoy making really cheap stuff sound like a million bucks by upgrading, modifying, and sometimes almost re-engineering "budget" gear. I've rebuilt shanghai condenser mics as per both Scott Dorsey and David Royer's designs; re-capped, re-chipped, and re-routed direct outs on my mixer; upgraded the signal path of an Altec 1612A compressor/limiter- the list goes on.

My current recording medium is 24 bit/ 44.1 mHz Roland hard disk recorder. A rebuilt Ramsa 10 channel board serves for preamplification and mixing down to a Tascam CD recorder.

I bought this mic because it was $50 at GC, and i wanted to try somethig made specifically for the kick drum. Being one of the few people on the planet who has no use for an SM57, this mic seemed like i might not hate it.

Specs: Dynamic, intended for low frequency (bass, kik) usage. cardioid pattern; looks like it's got some kind of resonsnt chamber behind the capsule- a trick initially developed and quite successfully implemented by Electro Voice, IIRC. This accounts for the improved LF response compared to, say, i don't know... an SM57?

This mic is fairly average. The reason i keep it is because with the right placement, it actually can produce some of the best metal-sounding clicky kick drum sounds i've ever gotten. I read about the technique in an issue of Tape Op- it was an interview with a guy named Dave Mattacks, a professional studio drummer who's played for Paul McCartney as well as some other famous folks.

The idea is to use the physics employed by PZM's and boundary microphones. You stick the mic inside the kick, but instead of pointing it at the batter head, you point it more towards the shell than the head, at a distance of about an inch or less from the shell. Since the mic isn't pointing towards your source (where the beater hits the batter), the ratio of reflected to direct sound pressure is increased to the point where you're not actually hearing the direct sound. Crown has a lot of info on their website regarding why this is true, but basically because it's all reflected sounds, evrything is in phase, so you don't have to be concerned about phase problems. You also get a much hotter signal, due to the fact that "in phase" sound waves reinforce each other.

Probably because of the neodymium magnet material and the aforementioned "tone chamber", this is actually not a bad mic. Then again, i'm kind of from the school of "no such thing as a bad mic". Even the most terrible-sounding mic must sound terrible in an awesome way on *something*!

Musician since the early 80s, home recording almost as long, moved from tape to DAW in the mid 90s, but only recording acoustic drum kits for the last 4 years or so.

I have a basement studio, where I have my Sonor / Ludwig / Pearl / Premier frankenstein hybrid drum set, miced up with 10 mics.

Very lightweight, weak sounding toy of a mic. Do yourself a favor and save up for a better mic.

I am writing this review for the benefit of anyone wanting to get into drumset mic'ing for home recordings or gigging.

I was gradually adding mics to my 9 piece, starting with just one condenser overhead. The bass was getting lost, so on a lark I tried to stick an old SM57 in there. It helped a tiny bit, but I knew I needed a proper bass mic, so for $50 I tried the AKG D550.

I was very disappointed with the D550; it sounded little better than the SM57 that was there before. I needed to crank the bass freq on the mixer to get it to even be heard. I returned it the next day and bought a Shure PG52 (a way better mic, by the way. I make this comparison because lots of people might be considering which one to buy... definitely spring for the Shure.)

The D550 was so light that I was worried about its physical strength. (You would need to use a very stable stand; literally, the cable will be heavier than the mic itself.) The PG52 on the other hand is very hefty and seems like it will be able to take a few knocks.

I spent considerable time trying different mic placement positions along with different board EQ settings, and in the end, nothing made it sound "not weak". Just no balls. (By comparison, the PG52 sounded great even with the board set flat; very full, lots of lows and overall strength.)

I returned the D550 the next day. (Ask your retailer about their return policy before you buy; many chain stores don't allow the return of mics, presumably because of "spittle effect"? you may need to ask them "hey, since this is a bass drum (not vocal) mic, can I return within 24 hours if needed?"? I'm very glad I asked, anyway.)

Another note to budding drumset recorders recording to digital audio: Be prepared to invest in some limiters. I picked up two DBX166XLs (used as limiters only), and they help a lot. Drums are very "peak-ish", and it is easy to clip you?re A/D - D/A inputs. I run bass & snare through one, and mono overhead and summed toms through another. I lose stereo imaging, but I gain by having a much stronger drum sound hitting the inputs without clipping.

Hope this helps. I am very glad I sprung for the PG52; it's helped bring my recordings to the next level. Forget the D550 (for bass, anyway).

I've been working around studios for 5 years (more or less). I'm a guitar player, but lately i'm working as a sound Engineer. I own a Behringer DDX3216, thru a RME Digi9636 Hammerfall on a Dell P4/2 GHz PC (512 Mb RAM). I can't complain about anything. Sounds really good (It's a bitch for first-timers).

I own 2 Shure SM58's, 3 SM57's and a AKG C3000B.

I've recently Aquired a D550 because I needed to record drums. I thought of a cheap Microphone for bass drum, so it was between a PG for bass drum, or this one.

The AKG D550 is a bass mic. Dynamic. Cheap.

This is a good microphone. of course, it's no t the BEST or the most appropiate choice for a pro sound, still it's not bad.

I recorded a Mapex Drum PRO M with Sabian AA Cymbals.

The sound that this mic brings on the bass drum is a very punchy, still kinda flat sound. You have put up some EQ for it. It was expected, i guess.

Still I tried it, again, but this time, i used it on the Floor tom. When I heard it i said "That's it! The floor tom!" The mic's job works tremendously great on the floor tom. There can be no other mic that can do the same job like this one. it gives the floor tom a very deep and clear response to the beat of the drum.

If you're gonna buy it, it better be for the floor tom. That's his key of existence. NOT FOR BASS DRUM.