Behringer Drum Mic Kit Review: The Best Bang for Your Buck Drum Mic
The Behringer Drum Mic kit is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a high quality drum mic kit in 2022.
Would you like to record the well balanced and smooth drum tones that would lay down the foundation of your mix in a studio? Or in either case, have you been searching for drum mics that present an acoustically accurate sound?
But recording a drum in a studio is a tricky process that requires proficiency from the drummer as well as a conducive space to record it.
You can, however, record drums with ease and efficiency by using a high quality drum microphone’s kit.
If you’re looking to get your hands on the best drum microphone available, then look no further than the Behringer BC 1200 drum microphone kit.
Behringer has built a sterling reputation over the years and in doing so many people have become familiar with the brand and their products.
So today, we’ll be reviewing a full set of top-notch Behringer BC 1200 best drum mic kits that won’t break the bank.
The Behringer BC1200 is the world’s most famous drum mic set used for recording drums. If you want to sound like Van Halen, AC/DC, or the Foo Fighters, this is the mic you really need.
Behringer BC1200, you could lie to your friends and tell them you bought the Behringer BC1200 Studio Dynamic Super Drum Mic because it’s the best microphone for kick drum sound, capturing toms and snare as well as great overhead mic for cymbal.
But we all know the truth: you wouldn’t have gotten it if it wasn’t cheap. Save your money for better things: like a new mic stand, or beer money for tonight’s gig. Nice try, though!
A package of 7 high-quality set of mics provides accurate reproduction of the entire drum set for both live and studio applications. Various high-grade microphones are tuned to capture kick drum, tom/snare and cymbals efficiently. Compact and versatile microphones are suitable for precision and close recordings.
Behringer BC1200 includes:
- 1 KM1200 premium microphone for bass drums and Instruments.
- BC1200 bass drum mic is ideal for kick drum and tom/snare recordings, is set of seven mics with clamp and windscreen
- 4 TM1200 mics nail both tom and snare drum sound that offer a fantastic performance all around.
- 2 CM1200 overhead mics capture brightness of your cymbals.
KM1200 Premium Microphone for Bass Drums and Instruments
Most drummers all over the world fall in love with the KM1200’s wide dynamic range mic. As it is especially tuned for kick drums.
KM1200 kick mic is the most popular mic for capturing every pronounced and heavy attack.
Drummers can choose the KM1200 because it boasts the build quality of many drum mics. One of the most notable things about its ruggedness is its close-micing capabilities.
Mount this mic onto a short microphone stand, then position it just inside the kick drum opening. Aim the mic directly at beater for more attack, or toward the far edge of the drum for more resonant tone.
TM1200 Mics nail both Tom/Snare Drum
The TM1200 are high-quality medium diaphragm dynamic mic especially tuned for full response of toms and snares. The mics come with mount clamps that attach to the hoop of a tom or snare drum.
Get a Clear Recording with the TM1200 Mic…
Should be conscious of the angle and distance from mic to drum head, which is adjustable according to the requirement. Position each mic toward the center of the drum head for excellent results.
CM1200 Overhead Microphones Capture Brightness of your Cymbals
We tested the CM1200 mic and found it our favorite mic for capturing pro-quality sound of cymbal.
We prefer small diaphragm condenser overhead mic to focusing only on cymbal sound. My previous microphones couldn’t deliver a crisp sound, but condenser overheads do, and I’m able to hear everything. The clarity of the overheads is much better than I expected when I mute individual drum mics on playback. I use a Soundcraft multitrack mixer.
The CM1200 directional small diaphragm condenser mic with durable case is especially tuned for crash, hat and ride cymbals. We put it between the Bell and the Edge on the outside half of the ride cymbal that reduce bleeding from the other drums. It sounds great and is easy to use. You’ll minimize some concrete wall reflections and hopefully give you a better sound from your overhead microphones this way.
For proper mic placement to get best result our team mount the mics onto a pair of tripod boom stands and position them to get the desired delicate/silky highs. Each mic should be positioned about 1 m (3 ft) above a ride cymbal and hi hat, pointing directly down. You can also have both mics positioned directly above the snare drum in an “XY” pattern, with capsule ends nearly touching, one pointing at ride cymbal and other at the hi hat.
Its sleek and rugged, reliable metal die-cast body construction make it ideal fit for Crash cymbals, rides, and hi-hats.
Key Specification
| Polar Patterns | Cardioid |
| Number of Microphones | 7 |
| Microphone Type | Dynamic, Condenser (CM1200) |
| Max SPL | 145dB (TM), 150dB (KM), 136dB (CM) |
Pros
- Premium large-diaphragm dynamic microphone for unmatched sound quality.
- Super-cardioid polar pattern offering the crispest, and most focused sound.
- Sleek, sturdy and elegant design to withstand wear and tear.
- Its high pressure level and optimized frequency range to grab overheads, hi-hat, and snare drum.
- Budget friendly and affordable.
- The microphone has a crisp attack and a more "clicky" sound than a dynamic mic, despite being a little thinner in the low end.
Cons
- The microphones are not available individually.
- The clamps can be recommended with reservations.
I think introducing one of the most powerful and diverse drum mic packages in Behringer’s line is a good idea. The Behringer BC1500 is a drum microphone package that comes with 7 mics and is highly suitable for both live and studio applications.
This set provides a lot of flexibility in terms of usage, since the user can choose to use one or more microphones depending on the application type. Most electronic instruments demand a variety of noises, with the bulk and best drums having snare, toms, and cymbals that sound best when captured using a condenser microphone.
The Behringer BC1500 is an amplifier specifically designed to reap these sounds cleanly in high-resolution audio. Its built-in mixer supports 16 channels of input and output simultaneously without latency or stutter; individual microphones can also be adjusted manually via their own gain knob.
If you’re looking to get your hands on the best kick drum microphone available, then look no further than the C112.
The CM1500 microphones, with built-in “10 dB pad” and “low frequency roll off,” are directional small diaphragm condenser capsules especially designed to pick sound of crash, hat and ride cymbals.
Drum Mic Kit Buying Guide
Durability
Top most priority in choosing a drum mic kit should be durability. The microphone must withstand weather, fall off drummers, and choose a close mic technique.
The BC1200 features a rugged, solid metal body with an elegant design that appeals to drummers.
You can mount them easily on clamps without having to worry about them falling off. Sometimes drummers put them so close to kick drums, snares and toms that they can pick up every note. But, this isn’t always the best approach. The idea is to get a good, clean sound without bleed from other drums in the kit. You also don’t want to over-mike the drums, which can result in a muddy sound.
Drum Mic Sound Quality
If a drummer is looking for a very natural sound, this type of mic is the best option. But for a more aggressive sound, a close mic technique is the way to go.
The BC1200 can handle extremely high sound pressure levels without distorting. You can rest assured that you’ll get a clear, well-balanced and smooth drum tone that will lay down the foundation of your mix.
Other times, they might want to go for a more ambient sound and use a few room mics in addition to the close mics. It all depends on the genre of music being recorded. Castle says, In jazz, for example, the emphasis is more on the overall kit sound, whereas in rock ‘n’ roll it’s all about getting each element of the kit to cut through the mix. This is where the Behringer BC1200 comes in, as it is a versatile mic that can handle any situation you throw at it.
Key Considerations for Drum Mic Kit
Fun with Experimentation
Number of Mics for Recording Drum
You can experiment by placing the microphone close to the drum and mounting it on the tripod stand to get the perfect sound. However, Smith says that you should experiment to get a thumpy drum sound.
For over couple of years, companies have designed mics specifically aimed at drum and percussion. Mic’s are designed based on the acoustics of drum sound to create a more natural drum sound.
However, using 2 to 4 microphones to capture acoustically accurate drum sound is pretty valid approach used by professional drummers.
As the kick drum is the most prominent part of the drum set, it is very crucial to capture this sound accurately with a microphone.
Drum Mic Placement Techniques
Engineers use a combination of three broad placement techniques for mics; namely, spot or close microphones, overhead or stereo microphones, and room mics. In particular, they differ in their distance from the drum kit.
As a conclusion, you should remember that 3,4 or 5 good quality mics record a good sound, but sometimes a combination of 16 to 20 different mics is necessary to record a drum kit in a studio.
Special Drum Mic Set up to Record Drum
Here we follow the Glyn Johns drum recording method
The method requires:
- Two overhead mics
- One kick drum mic
- Possibly forth mic put close to snare drum
In order to achieve 100% phase coherency for the snare sound, two cardioid stereo overheads are placed above and to the side of the kit.
In the third microphone, a close kick drum mic picks up the low frequency detail of the kit, so that the overheads won’t produce phase in coherency at these frequencies.
An additional microphone can also be added as a close snare mic if the stereo pair fails to achieve the desired snare definition. The figure below sown Glyn Johns drum recording method.
Conclusion - Behringer Drum Mic Kit Review
The Behringer BC1200 7-Piece Drum Microphone set is a great way to capture the resonance and power of your drums.
The kick drum microphone (KM1200) is a dynamic mic that can handle the low frequencies very well. The snare mic is a condenser mic that captures the higher frequencies. The tom mics (TM1200) are dynamic mics that are designed to capture the lower frequencies. The overhead mics are condenser mics that capture the higher frequencies.
I would appreciated that Behringer included full technical specifications for the BC1500 mic set. Now, we can fully see what each component offers and I’m pleased to say that it exceeded my expectations.
The C112 has a peak at 3-4kHz with a rising boost from 200Hz and below, which creates a defined and impactful kick drum sound.
The TM 1500 tom mics have a more neutral response than I anticipated, but that’s not inherently bad. You’ll just have to put in a little extra effort with the EQ.
It seems that the weak point from the given specs is the CM1500 condenser cymbal microphones. The data indicates that they start to lose audio quality steeply at around 7kHz, which is not ideal for a mic that is supposed to be capturing sound from cymbals.
However, it is important to keep in mind the price point of this mic pack and accept that there will be some limitations.
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