AKG Drum Set Session I

I was thinking of buying some mics to expand my little mic collection so i can record acoustic guitar, drums, maybe small live acoustic band. I needed a matched pair of small condensers, a bass drum mic, and some dynamic mics for toms and guitar cabs, maybe some bacing vocals. So I was looking for individual mics like AKG D112, Rode M5 and that was my budget. I was suprised when I found out this mic pack and its price. It was every mic I wanted and it was cheeper then buying each mic seperate. I know that D112 and Rode M5 maybe better than these, but I took a chance and bought this pack. Man...if you buy 4 seperate P4 mics you end up spending 200Eur, but with this pack you save a lot of money.

(The mics)

P2 is really great Kick drum mic, nothing bad i could say about the sound. It has a high and low frequencey boost that is nice sounding, and it is sounding more like Shure BETA 52. The only thing that looks not that great is the part where you srew in mic stand and connect your XLR cable, it is made from plastic, but I don't know how much it will last. I just hope that it doesn't break.
P4 These are just great. I love them for toms. They have just the right amount of high frequencey boost . Would want some more low end, but for the projects i record i love the tom sound. These are great in every way. And the clamps that come with these are superb. It is so easy to use them, just clip on them to your drums and done.
P17 are very nice for overheads. They are very linear, but you can defenitely hear 10k boost on them. Somethimes hihat or crashes are to harsh, but that depends on the mic placement and the cymbals you use. But i like the sound.

Even if I like the High frequency boost on all of them , it can get harsh very fast, so you have to place the mics with that in mind. The noise from these are audible, so they are not the worlds quietest mics, but it has not made provlems in the past with these.

I think for the money these are just great. Buy them if you don't have more money. These will be great for live and studio. And it is an AKG brand name, so you don't have to feel bad about your cheap mics.

I'm the sound engineer of my band and I recently bought this set for my drummer. Tired of samples, we recorded acoustic drums for the first time and sounds surprisingly good. It's a sound that I did not think we could get it for this price.
Pros :
- the mics seems very solid and reliable. An OH mic fell on the floor and it's perfectly fine.
- It's nice to have 7 mics for this price. You can use them in different ways..like one on each tom/floor or top/bottom snare..etc.
- the kick mic is sounds nice
- can get a decent sound and mix it to sound great

Cons :
- the overheads have a subtle harsh sound but I guess the room is a big factor too. Anyway..that's easy to fix.
I recommend it.

I purchased this kit on behalf of a drummer who I work closely with. After mixing a few events using this microphone kit as well as a studio session, I can honestly say that I am blown away with the value for money.

The physical feel and construction of the mics are great, reassuringly heavy with metal construction. The only slight letdown on this kit is the clips to connect the microphones to the rims of the drums, however, most sub-£500 kits suffer from this. And, they come in a solid carrying case!

So, how do they sound? In my opinion, pretty great! The kick mic is punchy with a little bit of 5khz boosted, just don't expect D112 punch. The snare mic is good as are the tom mics. The pencil condenser overheads give a good image of the kit with a pleasing amount of clarity.

I recently used the kick mic to mic a bass cab and the snare mic to mic a guitar cab, both of which worked well which just proves how versatile this kit it.

In conclusion, you cannot go wrong with this microphone kit from AKG!

These inexpensive AKGs get the job done, and the quality of sound captured is mind-blowing for the price. I have an all-maple Mapex Orion, and the overheads are pristine and get the sound as clear as possible. All mikes go through a Soundcraft Signature 12 MTK, and if you have a decent knowledge of a good software (I tried them using Ableton Live, Cakewalk and Cubase), you will have NO REGRETS at all. Every now and then I might get the help of that ol' faithful SM 57 (and its clone, the AMAZING tbone mb75) for a more magical snare sound, but it's all about taste and what the song and mix is asking. I love my AKGs!