Superlux Pro 218A

I have had this mic for a while now, and have used it on a variety of instruments and voices in the process of testing it.

The build quality is impressive. The mic is nicely heavy, and the grille feels tight to the body. I don't imagine the mic would be easily damaged if cared for well.

I recently got the chance to test it against industry standards, the AKG D112 and the Sennheiser E602, on a nice kick drum in the studio. I recorded the three mics with the kick on its own and then again as part of a full kit performance to see how they compare in the mix.

First things first, the AKG and Senn both beat the 218A out in both tests, as can be imagined. Also note that I prefer the sound of the 602 to the D112 in general.

The Superlux is noticeably duller and boomier that the other mics, due to its mid scoop and bump in the bass. This means that dry, there was no question which I would use. However, with some clever EQ the dullness and boominess were corrected to within completely usable levels.

If you have the mentioned industry standards, don't be fooled, you will not get the same sound from this mic. However, if, as with me, budget is an important factor, you could consider this mic, knowing that it requires a bit of work to get the best from it.

I have not had a chance to test other budget kick mics in this price range, but I was impressed with the performance of this one, and consider it a worthy purchase for those on a budget.

We just recorded drums for a demo with our band and because of busy schedules we found it hard to get everybody in a studio at the same time. As a consequence we decided to do it all by ourselves and spread the recording out over several sessions. That meant getting our own microphones and for the drum sessions we used this microphone for the kick drum.

This microphone performed well. Off course, you can get better results with more expensive microphones but we managed to get some really great drum recordings using the "Glyn Johns" method that (for us) involved this microphone on the kick drum, a SM58 on the snare drum, an overhead condenser pointing down at the snare drum, and a matching condenser positioned to the right over the ride, also pointing to the snare. Combining those four tracks turned out to give us some great drum sounds for the demo.

I would buy again!