TESTED: Pro Drummer’s Favorite Drum Mic Kits

If you’re looking to record your drums or boost their sound for live gigs, getting a pre-packaged kit that is filled with drum microphones is one of the most cost-effective routes to take to mic your kit. 

Most musicians end up owning a locker of microphones, but for drummers, it often starts with their first drum microphone kit. 

We’ve picked out some of the best options to consider, and we’ve made sure to include a wide variety of options that differ in features, price tags, and accessories.

Top 3 Drum Mic Kits

The Audix DP7 Plus Bundle wins the spot for our Top Pick. It’s one of the most popular full drum mic packages available, and the included mics offer professional sound quality that is good enough for any setting. It also has a relatively attainable price tag compared to other professional mic sets. 

The Behringer BC1200 Professional Set is our Budget Option. It’s a good inexpensive option for beginner drummers who are looking to get started with drum recordings. You’ll need to do a bit more work with the mixing process to get good sounds, but that will also train beginners on how to utilize the microphones as best they can. 

The Earthworks DK7 Drum Kit System is our Editor’s Choice for this list. This is a set of high-end microphones that are regularly used in some of the best recording studios in the world. Earthworks is a luxury microphone brand, and these mics will get pristine sounds out of your drum set.

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Best Drum Mic Kit Reviews

Audix microphones are incredibly popular among drummers, and all of us have either owned or played gigs with the mics offered in this set. You get a very balanced set of microphones here, with each one offering very specific qualities that cater to each part of a drum kit. 

The i5 for the snare drum and the D6 for the kick drum are our favorite included microphones. They bring immense detail out of both drums, and they give you enough depth from each side of the frequency spectrum to have a very full drum kit sound. 

You get D2s for your rack toms, and you get a D4 for the floor tom. The D4 picks up low-end tones a bit better than the D2s, which makes it ideal for booming floor toms. 

Our highlight of this pack is the inclusion of three ADX51 condenser mics. That third mic just gives you so many more possibilities.

Verdict: The Audix DP7 Plus Bundle is a compelling option for drummers looking for a large set of mics. While most packs offer you seven microphones, this one gives an extra condenser mic that you could use for your hi-hats, the bottom of your snare, or as a room mic. The pack is fairly expensive, but it doesn’t cost nearly as much as some high-tier microphone pack options.

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While this is undoubtedly the lowest-quality set of microphones we’ll mention for this list, we appreciate the value that this set offers. You get a full set of mics for under $200, allowing anyone to get a full drum kit recording with a very low budget.

We found that these microphones mainly lacked responsiveness, but we were able to get a fantastic mix with some finely detailed EQing.

So, we’d only recommend these mics for drummers who have never worked with drum mics before, as they’re an excellent starter option to have. The process of aiming to achieve a good drum mix will also train you to get better at post production.

We found the biggest downside of this pack to be the included mic clips. They’re quite weak, and we can’t see them lasting years of live gigs. The mics themselves are very durable, but you may find yourself needing to get new clips quite quickly.

Verdict: The Behringer BC1200 Professional Set is a good option for drummers with a very low budget. While microphones have a bit of a reputation for being pricey, you can get a decent drum mix with these inexpensive ones. We’d only recommend them to inexperienced microphone users, though. Also, note that the included mic clips are very likely to break.

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We found these to be the types of microphones that make you never want to go back to anything else after using them. There’s a very good reason for Earthworks being one of the leading brands for professional studio audio at the moment, especially with drummers. 

The pack includes four DM20 cardioid condenser mics that are intended for the toms and snare drum. They have a gooseneck design, making them very easy to position comfortably. They also bring out all the fine details of each drum. 

We were most impressed by the two SR25 overhead mics. You could use these alone and get an incredible drum mix but mixing them together with the other mics is a recipe for something beautiful. 

The SR20LS is intended for the bass drum, as it brings out all the deep, low-frequency tones. We appreciated how much oomph it added to the overall mix. 

The downside of this pack is the incredibly high price tag. However, it’s a mic pack that you only need to buy once, and then you most likely won’t need to buy a new one ever again. 

Verdict: The Earthworks DK7 Drum Kit System is our best recommendation for drummers that don’t have budget limitations. If you want the best mic kit available, this is the one. You get such clarity from every mic, and you’ll be able to get some of the best drum sounds possible. We wouldn’t recommend these to newer drummers, though. They won’t magically make your drums sound good if you don’t already know how to mix well.

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The Shure SM57 is an industry-standard microphone option. It’s mostly used for snare drums, but we’ve found that it works great for toms and overheads as well. You get three of them here, offering you several setup possibilities. 

The Shure Beta 52A is also one of the best kick drum microphones on the market, so you get a solid option for your bass drum and three dynamic mics to place anywhere. 

We tried a few different microphone placements with these, and we were able to get epic mixes with each variation. So, you could easily use these mics to get a full setup. You’ll just be a bit limited when it comes to close miking. 

Another good reason to get this pack is if you plan on getting more mics at a later stage. You’ll save cash by getting these as a bundle, which is always great! 

Verdict: The Shure DMK57-52 Drum Microphone Kit is a unique package that gives you some of the most widely loved microphones in the music industry. While it doesn’t offer the conventional microphone numbers and types for a standard full setup, you can still utilize these cleverly to get a great mix. Otherwise, you could purchase this pack as an add-on to a microphone collection that you may already have.

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While sE Electronics isn’t a brand that is as popular as Shure or Earthworks, these V Pack microphones have been growing in popularity in recent years. We’re big fans of the sE8 overheads, but it’s the V7 X snare drum mic that hooked us on this microphone kit. 

We found the snare mic to have some of the best bleed rejection out of any snare drum mic on this list, making it an excellent mic for drummers who like to position their hi-hats quite low. It has a large body, though, so that’s something we had to get used to. 

We found the V Beat tom mics to be very reliable, and the V Kick mic brought out very boomy tones from the bass drum. 

Overall, this is a fantastic kit to consider. The Audix kit just edged past it, as it offered an extra microphone with a similar price tag. 

Verdict: Reliable would be the best word to describe the sE Electronics V Pack Arena Drum Microphone Package. It’s a great set of high-end mics that can be used for any professional setting. The snare mic was the standout piece for us, but just note that it has a large body that may make it tricky to position comfortably.

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If you’re looking for something affordable but weren’t impressed with our main budget option, you should consider the slightly more expensive Samson mic kit. It seemed as though every drummer owned this pack at a stage, which goes to show popular these mics are. 

They’re not great compared to the higher-quality professional options that we’ve listed, but they’re a good pick for drummers who don’t have big budgets.

The C02 pencil condensers are our favorite inclusion here. They pick up the overall sounds from your drum kit very well, and we found that they act as great hi-hat mics too. 

The drum mics are impressive, but we also found that you’ll need to put a bit more effort into getting a good tone out of your drums. They can often sound quite boxy if you’re not careful. 

Verdict: The Samson DK707 Drum Microphone Kit is a good option for budget-conscious drummers that want mics that are passable in professional settings. The C02 condenser mics stood out to us the most, but all the mics in the set work together nicely to give you a good drum sound. You just need to pay special attention when mixing to get rid of the boxy tones that these mics typically bring out.

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The gooseneck mount designs were the first thing we noticed when checking out this microphone kit. Typically, gooseneck designs are hit or miss, but we found these ones to feel very solid and stable, and we were able to get much easier placements on the drums compared to mics that mount with clips. 

In terms of sound quality, we found the two TG D57 mics to be very sensitive. These are the mics that we’d suggest placing on your snare and floor toms to get extended clarity with ghost notes and subtle strokes. The TG 58 mics weren’t as sensitive, so those worked better as rack tom mics.

The TG D71 kick mic is a boundary microphone, which is the name given to mics with a unique body. It works similarly to standard kick mics, and we loved how much low-end it picked up. The TG I53 overheads were fantastic as well. 

Verdict: The Beyerdynamic TG Drum Set Pro Large Microphone Kit is a cool option for drummers who want something slightly different in terms of physical designs. While these mics look very different from most others, they still work in exactly the same way.  The drum mics have gooseneck designs that we can confidently say work very well.

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The e600 microphone kit is the final microphone kit option that costs around $1000. If that’s your budget, you’ll be choosing between this pack, the Audix pack, and the sE Electronics pack. 

When we tried these out, we were highly impressed with everything they had to offer. The e602-II kick drum micgave the most impressive results, as it allowed us to get a seriously rich and powerful bass drum tone. 

The e604 mics for the toms and snare drum were also great, as they have wide frequency response numbers that cover everything you need for high-pitched snare drums and low-pitched floor toms. 

The e614 overhead mics offered surprisingly rich tones for their small size. We found that they very accurately reflect what your drum kit sounds like in person, and that flat response is excellent for drummers who want an intensive mix and EQ. 

Verdict: The Sennheiser e600 Drum Microphone Kit is the final drum mic kit to consider that costs around $1000. While it competes closely with the options from Audix and sE Electronics, the flat response you get from the included mics makes this pack a compelling option. As with the sE Electronics mic kit, the downside here is that this kit also doesn’t come with a hi-hat microphone.

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If you loved the sound of the Audix mic kit that we mentioned earlier but you don’t have the funds to get it, consider getting this dual drum microphone pack. Apart from the overheads, your kick and snare mics are your most important ones, so you should upgrade those if you don’t have high-quality ones already. 

We love the idea of this dual microphone bundle, as it saves you a bit of money when looking to buy kick and snare mics. We also find that the Audix i5 and Audix D6 work incredibly well together. 

The i5 picks up every subtle note you play on the snare while simultaneously handling aggressive rimshots with ease. 

We find that the D6 mic gives your kick drum plenty of punch, no matter where you place it near your bass drum. 

Verdict: The Audix KD-COMBO Kick and Snare Microphone Pack is one of the best available options for drummers who just need microphones for their kick and snare drum. These Audix microphones work very well together, and it’s worth getting this pack to upgrade from any lower-quality mics that you may already have. Just note that you won’t be able to get a good full drum mix with just these two mics.

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Shure’s PGA56 mics are incredibly popular for toms, even in professional settings. This kit includes PGA mics for the other parts of the drum set as well, which aren’t as high-quality as the popular options like the SM57 or the Beta 52A. However, they’re still very decent. 

We were pleasantly surprised at the sound quality that we could get when hooking all these microphones up. The sounds were very clear, with the obvious weak points being the snare and bass drum mics. 

With this pack being so well-priced, we’d suggest it as a good option for taking on a tour. Drummers can often worry that their expensive microphones will get damaged on stage, so these are cheaper mics that won’t make you worry as much, but they’ll still work very well. 

Verdict: The Shure PGADRUMKIT7 Drum Microphone Kit is a good mid-level option from Shure. It’s an excellent set for beginners and intermediate players. But if you want to get pro-level recordings, we’d suggest switching the snare and kick drum mics with better options. We’d also strongly recommend this mic pack if you’re worried about pricey mics getting damaged at live gigs.

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The Yamaha EAD10 is an incredibly popular option for drum kits, as it only has one microphone. It takes away all the pressure of mixing several microphones together to get a good drum kit sound. 

We simply had to attach the included mic to the rim of the bass drum, and it picked up the sounds from the entire set. 

The beauty of this option is that it works as a trigger module as well. You have set options on the included module that will change the sounds of your drums. We were also able to add even more customizability with the included extra Yamaha trigger. 

While the whole experience of using this module is epic, we’d only recommend it for beginners who aren’t savvy with full microphone sets and recording interfaces.

Verdict: The Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module Bundle with Mic and Trigger Pickup is a great option for drummers who want the easiest path possible for recording drums. You can use the single microphone and trigger to get a good overall sound from your drums using only the EAD10 module. However, you can also hook it up to a DAW and further tweak the single-channel mix. You just don’t get nearly as much control over your drum sounds as you do with several mics.

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How to Choose the Best Drum Mic Kit

Number of Mics

The first thing to look for when choosing a drum microphone kit is numbers. Not every kit offers the same number of microphones, and a full drum microphone setup will include seven to ten microphones. 

However, it’s not always required to use that many mics. It also depends on the size of your kit and the amount of control you want to have with your mix. 

A standard drum microphone setup will look like this:

• 1x snare mic
• 3x tom mics
• 1x kick drum mic
• 2x overhead mics

If a microphone kit comes with seven mics, that’s typically what you’ll be getting. If a mic kit comes with an eighth mic, it’s usually intended to be used as a hi-hat mic. 

If a mic kit comes with fewer mics than that, then you should look to see what types of microphones are included. If there are no condensers, then the kit isn’t offering mics to use as overheads. 

Mounting Accessories

Some mic kits will come with mounting clips for the drum mics, while others won’t. If they don’t, you’ll either need to use microphone boom stands or purchase rim mounting clips that fit the mics you get. 

You’ll often see mics with something called a gooseneck design. Mics with this design have a small pickup zone with a long neck that you can move around to position. We’d only suggest getting gooseneck mics if they’re high-quality. Low-quality ones tend to loosen within the first few years of using them. 

Microphone Quality

Quality is another majorly important thing to check out when buying a microphone kit. If you’re inexperienced with using microphones, differentiating the quality between different microphones can be quite difficult. 

It’s for that reason that we’d suggest inexperienced drummers purchase more affordable microphones. The higher quality of pristine mics often goes lost, so you’d be better off saving your money. 

However, high-quality mics are a lot easier to work with. They bring better tones out of your drums and cymbals without you having to do much tweaking in the mix. 

Price

Microphone kits range from $100 to $5000. However, the most readily available ones on the market only cost between $100 and $1500.

Kits that cost between $100 and $400 are considered entry-level mic kits. Kits that cost between $400 and $800 are intermediate ones. Any kit that costs more than $800 would be considered a professional option. 

This also depends on how many microphones or accessories come with the pack, as some single professional mics only cost around $200.

Other Essential Gear

When buying a microphone kit, you also need to consider everything you need to make the mics work. If you want to record your drums, you need to have a recording interface. You also need to have computer software to read all the signals that you’re recording. These are referred to as DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations).

You’ll need to have XLR cables for all your mics, and you’ll need phantom power for any condenser mics that you have. Most interfaces offer phantom power. 

If you just want mics to play live gigs, then you’ll need a small mixer to hook them up to if you’re running the sound yourself.  

All these things are extra costs, which is why setting up drum kit mics is known to be an expensive process.

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Final Thoughts on the Best Drum Mic Kits

There are so many good microphone kits available, but the ones we suggested above are typically the options that most drummers go for. 

We suggest getting the Audix DP7 Plus Bundle if you want the most complete package option to use professionally. That extra hi-hat mic is what puts this kit at the top for us. 

The Behringer BC1200 Professional Set is the cheapest mic kit we know of that still offers relatively decent sounds that beginners can use to learn how to mix and create recordings. 

Finally, the Earthworks DK7 Drum Kit System is the ultimate drum microphone option. It costs a few thousand dollars, but the pristine quality you get is well worth the investment.