New Music Gear Monday: Earthworks DM6 Kick Drum Mic

While many engineers and producers don’t worry about capturing the perfect kick sound in the studio anymore thanks to the many great sample libraries and drum triggers available, it’s a different world in live sound, where so much depends on the mic used on the kick and the bass. While many of us at one time used a home-made sub-kick mic or some commercial variation to get that bottom end thump, many microphone manufacturers now have developed a mic with those same characteristics and more, the latest being Earthworks with its new DM6.

The DM6 is designed to be plug and play so the engineer doesn’t have to resort to spending time and resources trying to determine the perfect EQ curve. That said, the DM6 is also versatile enough to take whatever creative EQ that you might want to apply for add flavor.

The EQ curve shows a large boost in the low frequencies below 100Hz and peaking at around 30Hz, while also adding about an 8dB dip at 400Hz or so. There’s much more to a modern kick drum sound than just low end though, and the mic adds a gradual boost above 1kHz peaking at about 8kHz at 11kHz for definition.

Like most microphones are are meant primarily for kick drum, the DM6 will work on other low end sound sources as well, particularly on a bass amp.

The mic already has a lot of admirers with a long list of celebrity artists, engineers and producers like session drummer Omar Hakim, engineer Kevin Madigan, and many more.

The Earthworks DM6 retails for $399 and ships with a Triad-Orbit M2-R Ball Mount for fast, easy, and precise mic placement. Like all other Earthworks products, the DM6 is designed, tuned and assembled in Earthworks’ New England mill-building factory.

You can find out more here, or watch the video below.

---