The best microphone for recording tom toms for most people is the sennheiser e604.
Best mic for floor tom.
Sennheiser e604 condenser mic.
So the karma mics can t be bought anymore but they are cheap and cheerful mics that achieve a surprisingly decent sound.
So what you are hearing is the raw sound from each microphone.
An option that s great for capturing the distinctive sound of a floor tom is this swivel mounted dynamic mic from shure.
Frankly their e604 is just about as high quality as it comes for tom mics and deserve to be recommended as the best microphone for toms and even for snares as well.
Akg c414 condenser mic.
Like so many others i like the u87 on floor toms.
The e604 delivers a fantastic frequency response range of 40hz 18khz with a tight cardioid polar pattern to capture the direct sounds of rack and floor toms.
One thing i learned from michael stavrou s book mixing with your mind about recording drums in general is to find the best placement for the set in a room by walking around banging on the floor tom until you find the most resonant spot easier to do with two people one to bang and one to listen then placing the floor.
Not only does this offer most of the features of the other products mentioned ruggedness ease of use and the ability to take a beating the sound quality is truly exceptional.
The mics you hear are.
They are flexible enough to work in both live and studio applications.
The e604s have clips which enable one to affix them directly to the rim of the drum.
It s designed for use with mounted toms but will capture the sound of a floor tom equally well especially if you use a more compact kit.