Loose the "poof" and gain focus and body in your kick drum sound. 
by Alan Moon from Macon, GA, October 2006
Music Background:  Recording/Mixing Engineer, Producer, Live Sound Engineer

It seems like Shure has had a big hit in the Beta 52 for the crowd that doesn't dig the slappy AKG D112 sound. However, there are times where I feel that I'm getting too much of a pillowy "Poof" to the kick when I use a Beta 52. What to do, right?

Enter the Sennheiser e902. While it's not just a re-eq'd Beta 52, it gives me what I feel to be an overall balanced kickdrum sound for most situations. It's not slappy nor is it boomy. It IS, however, focussed and gutsy.

My only complaint is the mounting apparatus. Sennheiser hasn't really "gotten" it when it comes to this seemingly small part of the mic's body. While the arm is a little more flexible than other integrated-mounting-arm kick-drum mics, the handleless screw and nut configuration sends you looking for tools instead of just grabbing and twisting a small handle to tighten the sucker down. This is no small thing that Shure did very well when designing the Beta 52 and the Beta 56.

To Sennheiser's credit, they were probably more concerned with how the mic sounds and equating that with how it performs. A little thought in the art of ergonomics goes a long way and hopefully Sennheiser will correct this in a Version II of this otherwise fantastic kick drum mic.

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