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Red5 Audio RVK7 Drum kit mic set

19-Mar-2024

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Red5 Audio RVK7 Drum kit mic set



Category:  Products / studio-gear + dj / dynamic microphones

Added: 19-Dec-02  |  Author: admin

New price: £199.00 !!  |   S/H price: Not listed


Red5 Audio RVK7 Drum kit mic set

More mic's to review!... Loverly!... I just got thru doing those T-Bone mic reviews which was great fun, & it makes a change to doing the s/w or soundcard or other reviews we usualy get. It's nice to be able to do some reviews that pertain to a wider audience than the typical sort of gear many people might associate with 'dance' music creation - Sometimes I wonder that 'non-regular' visitors might think Dancetech doesn't relate to them unless they make strictly dance music, I worry about it, I wonder sometimes that mebbe we should have called 'Dancetech' by a different broader name!... But that's between me & my therapist anyways!.. heh heh....

The reality is, many of our 'regulars' DO play all types of music, many started out playing as regular band players and some still do play in other types of band... I spent a few years working on a small 3-5k rig back in my younger days and still play rock & acoustic/band style music and funk and reggea etc live and in studio-time... and does not 'dance' potentialy include live shows & bands with a real drummer?... yes indeed it does!... anyways, pre-amble over... on with the show!




The 'RVK7 Drum kit microphone set' was delivered to Dancetech by courier, courtesy of RED5 Audio up in Scotland. Angus from Red5 setup the delivery, and was interested to see what we thought.... I beleive this was an exclusive for Dancetech!... ew!

Red5 are the brand owners and sole retailers which helps keep costs low to the end punter by removing a distributor mark-up... You order direct via their website or on the dog & bone and it arrives by courier... Red5 mic's are exceedingly cheap, but well made, being of Chinese manufacture I believe...

There's been alot of interest in Chinese or Korean OEM branded mic's in the last year or so, ever since the Studio-Projects mic's got rave reviews on Pro-rec.com... one mic in particular was being compared to a U87 but at only 200 quid or so in cost!... Anyways, this is how things are going, the interest is there as people NOW know these Chinese made mic's CAN be quality too, not just rediculously cheap!!... Thus I was VERY interested to see what this new wave of eastern manufacturing would yeild. Also, our chief technician owns a RED5 large diaphragm condenser mic for his studio, which I tried and loved... So I was expecting good things from this drumset package... Did it measure up tho?

Well.. ripped open the box... The first thing I thought when I saw the case & set?...

"F**k me!.. they look bloody GREAT!!"...

Well... vernacular or otherwise, sorry, but that's what i thought!... The set costs ONLY £199.00 quid remember, and I knew that when I opened the package...

The set really does look superb!!... The same day they arrived, we had a client in to do some advertising-score work. We showed him the set.. "What do you think this set cost?", we asked him. He took a look at the set and replied, "I dunno, about a thousand quid?" - Ok, he's mebbe not up on the new low-cost of eastern-made mic's these days, but the set DOES look the biz and looks 'quality' & expensive!.. I guess he looked and thought to himself, "Well, a decent mic looking like that is about a couple of hundred each, so... a grand for the lot with a good case?" - They certainly look WAY more expensive than they cost as a starter...



So, you open up your purchase & feast your eyes!... The row of chunky and compact RVD9's, the slim sleek RV4's and slap-bang in the middle, like the rook on a chessboard, is the hefty space-age looking RVD1 Kick Drum mic, looking like it's going to just muscle any kickdrum into shape that dares cross it's path!... it looks like something Judge Dredd would use to take radar detections for speeding fines!... There are no hard edges on these RED5 drum mic's... all is smooth sweeping contours, and the whole set is finished in a dark glistening satin metallic grey for the dynamic's and satin black for the RV4's...



Also in the case is two foam popsheilds & two slim sized mounting clamps for the RV4's. This set we received was missing the additional clamps which will be included with sets for retail. The 4 tom/snare mic's, (the RVD9) each have a special clamp to fix them to the drums. Those will also be in the case therefore with 'production' sets I presume once they start sending them out.

So, great initial impressions... they look very nice, with a smooth aerodynamic casting shape, and smart compact sort of 'cam' nut to tighten the mic's up once they are fitted to stands.

The case, looks GREAT, well made, solid, cromed metal handle, chunky latches, rivetted. Inside you get the whole works...




The kit test

Ok... First up, a BIG thankyou is in order to Mr Bobby 'Sox' at Community-Music in Southwark for helping out with the live testing facilities - thanx mate! :) - We got some nice samples out of the sessions too btw, which I'll be adding to Dancetech sometime next week - The way we tested it was this... we setup the Yamaha power kit, we didn't use some echte zuper kit, we wanted to see what an average kit (of the type a pa or local studio might face regularly) would yeild.

We wanted to also try out a set of AKG's which Bobby had already, and which he uses regularly for his live gigs when he uses his acoustic kit - This set in fact:



http://www.akg-acoustics.com/english/sets/set02.htm

We wanted to not only review the RED5 set, but also compare the two sets as part of the test and see how the RED5 set fared against a respected brand-name like AKG... So we setup the RED5 set, did some test recordings, tweaked the eq & relative levels slightly to arrive at a good stereo mix, then recorded some stuff... single hits and licks, plus some grooves played to a VSTi 'Junglist' bassline & metronome...

Then, leaving everything set the same on the mixer, we changed to the AKG set and did it again, re-tweaking the eq & balance a bit to suit the AKG mic's as best as we could, just as we did for the RED5 set... The comparison results were very interesting.

For both sets we applied slight eq tweaks to ONLY the snare, hat & kick drum mic's, the tom mic's were left flat. For the RED5 & AKG set audio examples, we used the same RV4's from the RED5 mic set for the hats & single overhead, as the AKG set didn't have any overheads included to use.... So when listening to the audio comparison accompanying this review, bear in mind that the difference between them is just the drum mic's, not the overhead or hats which for both audio examples is identical.



Second, the kit was set in a room of perhaps 400 sq ft. - The room was bigger than the playing/spectator area of say the Monarch or the Dublin Castle, (two well known London circuit venues)... similar/typical club/venue acoustic's too - low ceiling, carpeted, plaster walls, quite a live sound but not boomy or cavernous. So bear in mind, whatever results we got here could be improved upon of course in a more controlled studio environment playing-area and/or with the addition of more attention to EQ, gates, compressors etc... but overall, it allowed us to see how the set would sound in real-life use with a live pa setup as well as recorded to h/disk.

The audio examples resulting therefore are of a basicaly mixed STEREO kit with NO outboard added, we didnt record drums to seperate tracks on the VST laptop and then remix them afterwards, so this is as ruff as it'll get soundwise!

We fed the mic's into a Mackie 16 channel mixer and ran that out to VST on a lappy via a Midiman USB pre-amp i/o unit thing... Playback/monitor was wired both to the small pa the room was equipt with & to cans... While the pa itself wasn't huge, it was plenty loud enuff for a big loud live sound which shook the room on playback.

Although alot of people will look at this drumset for their studio, the live guys often don't get a thought. As mentioned earlier, I did the London rounds for a few years on a 3-5k rig, and I play now and again live in rock setups, and so wanted to see how this set would work with recording, AND playing back LOUD on a cabinet-based pa system in a venue-sized room!...

Let me say before we look at the set and appraise each mic, that the final sound was MONSTER!... it was a SUPERB sound for such a small pa, very 'pro' sounding, the drums having real beef and power, thumping you right in the correct area's, & with only fractional eq use & no outboard either!

The Eq we used for the test

  • rolled the bottom off the hat mic (RV4) and racked it's mid eq back to 8-9 o'clock.
  • The kick had a slight top rise, just a few db, and that's all...
  • The snare mic (RVD9) had the bottom rolled off to around 10 o'clock, and a fraction of top boost
  • Everything else flat.



On playback, the kit just was just pumping out, the kick drum really thumping you in the guts and body and the toms really clear and sweet sounding with that loverly solid 'thud' & 'after-boom' of a good full tom sound but without any nasty resonant-shell artefacts.... Overall, even tho we used NO gates or anything else at all apart from some mild eq tweaks, the kit sounded like it DID have at least a few gates on it!... a VERY well defined sound, tight, no intrusive artifacts or booming resonances & a full deep sound which had power when played hard, but also with all the right subtleties when played more gently - You didn't get only a good sound when the kit was hammered basicaly.



The RVD9 used on the snare wasn't 'pinky' or honky or whatever. Even tho the snare itself actualy DID exhibit some timbale-like 'honk', when it was mic'd with the RVD9 in the mix thumping out of the pa and on cans as part of a recording, it sounded just tight and with just enuff included overtones to make the snare sound solid & 'wooden' - No nasty after-lingering resonances or ringing sound then... tight & clear and well defined!... warm somehow too as a consequence.

By comparison, the AKG set made the snare sound very 'ringing' - the AKG set overall picked up alot of these artifacts & resonances compared to the RED5 set it has to be said... The mix using the AKG set didnt have the same solidity, cohesion, or 'mixed' quality to it as with the RED5 drumset when we swapped them around and compared recordings side by side.



Overall, we discussed this and thought possibly the AKG set, being all condensers, might be more detailed and fare well in a studio with a deader room and more dynamic control via the fx rack... I thought possibly the AKG might be better compared under certain other more 'studio' conditions.... BUT, the plain fact was, the sound of the RED5 set was so far and away, better!... it really sounded thumping and tight yet with detail, and sounded 'well mixed' with no effort at all.

Somehow i got the feeling this had something to do with the weight of the mic's... the 4 RVD9's are chunky for such a small stubby mic, and somehow this solidity seems to get a tightened sound, rather like the difference between a vinyl played on a 'tight' deck with a weighty solid plinth, or a cheap hollow boxy plinth... do you get me?.. if the weight of the mic body is solid then to my mind the vibrating foil will be more defined & tighter mebber?..

Anyways, you can judge because there is mp3's to compare further on in this review.




Right let's go thru the set with thoughts on each mic.


The complete kit includes:


1 RVD1 Kick Drum mic.



It's weighty!!... that's the first thing you notice!... I liked that... and it yeilded a really solid, full, thumping kick drum as it turns out, but which also sounded 'phat' when played gently... First off, you'll need a good stand for this one, cos it's heavy. I actualy found with this test setup the best sound was OUT-side the kick shell round at the back of the kik-drum, facing the kick-drum head by the beater.

The sound was monster!... This mic in common with the other dynamic's in the set must be hypercardiod, & seems to really reject any off-axis sound well. The kick sounded really isolated with the RVD1, despite the fact the mic was right near the floor-tom it picked up no ringing/resonance from the floor-tom, whilst the AKG D112 we compared it to picked-up from it's rear as well as it's front-facing silver-grill with green-band.. it picked up the floor tom humming away quite severly by comparison and overall, the RVD1 was tighter & way way more defined & isolated & offered WAY superior rejection of off-axis sound.





4 RVD9 Dynamic Snare / Tom Mics.



I tried these on guitar too, and they are fine, just like using any decent dynamic mic with a nice solid body. They are a gorgeous shape, tapering down to their built-in angle-clamp, small & un-obtrusive onstage, especialy useful for smaller venue work where you dont want a load of long oversized & heavy 'SM58 type/size' or bigger dynamic mic's being weilded around. And the drummers happy cos he's not concealed behind a wall of big mic's right at eye-height above his two overheads.





2 x RV4 Small Diaphragm Condenser (overhead) Mics + foam windwhields & stand adaptors.



These two are interesting... I compared one to a Calrec 1051c, recording some acoustic guitar with it back in my studio for a tester & doing a side-by-side with the 1051c.

[acoustic guitar RV4 demo here - recorded with old strings]

The RV4 has a boost around 8k-11k on the paper chart, and you can hear that little extra top-end presence to the sound but it's a little difference. The Calrec wacks out more level it seems, so the RV4 needs mebbe a few db of extra gain to match, but if you add some slight 8k eq boost to the Calrec there's little in it, if you want the RV4 to be a bit 'airy-er', knock out a few db of tight-ish 8k eq to taste - however, that slight boost i thought might be useful in it's intended role as one half of an overhead pair...



When we tested the RV4's in their 'overhead' role we indeed found that to be so... added in, the RV4 overheads just gave the kit sound all a more unified feel, and cymbals came out nice and clear... a good balance overall. That 8-11 khz hump picks up the cymbals great so that they cut thru all crispy, and you dont get any loud clutter from the rest of the kit, just and overall upper-end 'frosting' as it should be, like adding an enhancer or whatever in live situation.

after we tried the RV4's as a pair, we finaly setup with just one RV4 overhead center, 3-4ft above to get the cymbels & top-end...



We used the other RV4 on the hat, which i found sounded best on this set of hats by being placed underneath, (we finaly changed it after the image above was snapped), facing up toward the edge of the hat on the other side from the drummer, and also angled out away from the rest of the kit... It got the hats NICE and crisp... the hats weren't top quality, but they sounded good on playback thru the pa & cans for sure.

To refresh from above: I rolled the bottom EQ off the hat mic (RV4), and racked the mid back to 9 or 10 o'clock.... so that eq cut, and angling the mic out away from the snare & rest of kit, isolated the hat more & produced a nice crisp, fine & isolated hat sound.

All in all the RV4 sounds very good, not quite a fine as the Calrec but near enuff which is excellent for such a budget pair of mic's added to a budget drumset... They dont sound cheap is the thing, so they can be used for other studio tasks like acoustic or whatever, but they work well in their intened role here, especialy for live use.



Additionaly, the RV4's take batteries! - wonderful! - so you can use the whole set without having to have phantom power.





4 RVD9 mounting brackets and a solid flight-case.



Well as mentioned, the case looks superb, and certainly doesn't feel at all cheap. It got alot of 'looks' on the Tube for sure when I was travelling over to the studio where we tested them on the kit.... The set we got sent, (we were told) had not gone out to anyone else, so it is sort of a 'first edition' preview review - the '4 x RVD9 mounting brackets' were NOT in the package/case, but these will be available apparently soon according to RED5, so if you're interested in this set to purchase, (and you should be if you're currently after a drumset of mic's!), you'd best check that situation out with RED5 prior to purchase.





Summing up

Is there anything I could fault... only that they use Parcelfarce for delivery, who in the best Parcelfarce tradition of 'Dennis Nordern Cock-ups', claimed that they 'tried' to deliver 2 times to an address that didnt exist because they got the 2 address lines back to front!!... Yet oddly, when applying the postcode which they had been supplied with and which was on the parcel, it yielded the address the right way round!!... The Parcelfarce depot manager had a great time being creative trying to explain how they could have 'tried to deliver' as claimed to an address that didn't exist!..... i suggested Amtrak to RED5's guy already. :)

Those balls-up's, so typical with Parcelfarce (hey, i've BEEN an office manager in the past ok!!), kinda takes the edge off things if you've paid and are eager to get the goods I'd say...

One other thing to bear in mind is that if you have a 5 piece kit to do and want stereo overheads too, then you'll also need an extra mic for your hi-hat. The rejection of off-axis sounds is so good with the RVD9's that you won't be able to use one RVD9 for BOTH the snare AND hat by placing it in the middle between the two... it just doesn't work. But as we did it, with one of the RV4's on the hat, and the other RV4 as a single overhead to get the top-end, the set worked just fine! - anyways, it's a thought to bear in mind for mic-ing bigger kits. But as I mentioned already, for larger pa companies or studio's with a touch more cash to spend, you could get two sets for 400 quid and have PLENTY of great mic selections available for any situation, even for monster RUSH style kit setups, remember these mic's will all function great on stuff like cab mic-ing duties :)

The build quality is rugged overall & they all feel hefty and chunky with nice solid thick wire pop-baskets.... with build quality like they have, I think they'd fare well under pa warfare conditions as we know they exist, and will still be pumping it out once they'd been dragged round the block a few times & were looking 'road-worn' :) - anyways, at the loopy low-price they sell for you could have two sets, with one set in reserve & for extras where you encounter bigger kits! - or frankly after my tests, I'd say that any spare RVD9's and RV4's could be used very sucessfuly on other stage mic-ing jobs like cabs or percussions etc.

Anything else?... um... nope... apart from their choice of courier, I can't find a single fault!...and er... I'll be honest... I told RED5 already they aint getting them back!.. lol!

The conversation was sorta like:

Me: "So, what do we er, do with these mic's when we're done reviewing them then?.."

Red5: "well, normaly you'd send them back to us to pass on to the next reviewers"

Me: "well look... you're not getting them back!" - etc..

lol!

Seriously... the guy said, "Well.. we could do you a deal mebbe" - They'd better!!!.. cos otherwise they'll have to use the bailiffs to get them back cos these mic's are NOT leaving, period! - no way!!


So, in conclusion, the set looks GREAT, which is good because after all, when you work your nuts off for something you want it to also look good and give you some sense of it's worth, and this whole set does just that. For any studio owner seeking a mic drumset, (especialy if they are on a budget), or for the local or even much bigger pa system owner, or for just a band who wants a good drum sound at each gig, or for a band rehearsal room etc, at the price of £199.00, they are unfaultable.

This set offers the small studio owner all the studio mic's they need in one go, (apart from a main large-diaphragm/vocal mic), & SOUNDS great too, totaly belying their budget price & offering a really balanced controlled sound without any additional outboard if you're on a total budget.. and even if you are NOT on a budget and have lots of outboard, it's still preferable to have a drumsound which from the OUTSET requires little tweaking to get a really good tight & controlled sound!... There's nothing more irritating than having to spend ages in a studio or at a gig messing about trying to get the drum-mic's to sound even half-good!... I'm frankly amazed at this price how good the set sounds!... Knockout stuff from RED5, well worth a 10/10 rating!!

Anyways, checkout the audio examples below...!





UPDATE - SEPT 2004 - We'll just wanted to add a few lines now I've had the set for a while - I used them at a few gigs - Once using a low-quality PA in a large venue/hall (about 3000 sq ft) with a VERY high ceiling... great sound! - monster kik!... I also got to use them at the playhouse in Berwick-on-Tweed, replacing their set of Sure drum mic's before the gig - That venue had a really nice PA of Hi-quality cabs/amps and a big Ghost mixer - again, GREAT sound! - Also have used the RVD9's on guitar cabs/combo's and again they work GREAT!... Good off-axis rejection and a nice full balanced sound with plenty of ability to take high levels... you can think of them as a 57/58 for use in such situations.

Also the RVD9 clamps arrived and they are well made.

I ended up buying the set from Red5, and I wouldn't part with them for anything! - The RVD9's are as good as anything you'd want from a dynamic mic, but isolate the individual drums way better than the 'usual suspects' due to their hypercardoid design & are WAY easier to position even with flimsy mic' stands due to their small size & slightly lighter weight than typical/traditional dynamics (plus you get the clamps so you save on stands & clutter!)... the RVD7's are VERY decent condensers and well worth the money, and the RVD1?... heh heh... You'd have to prise that from my dead, still-warm hands!

















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User Comments

Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Dave
Email: Email supplied but hidden
www.ashbygrange.freeserve.co.uk
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 12-May-03

I've been using these mics for about 5 months, and they are kick-arse, a great purchase.

Product rating out of 5: 

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Mike Hopkins
Email: Email supplied but hidden
www.towpathstudio.co.uk
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 18-Jun-03

I've just bought the RV1 bass drum mic and what a difference it's made!
I was previously using a dynamic vocal mic and I was getting no bottom end.
The RV1 captures all the thump you'd ever need.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Brad King
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 02-Jul-03

Well they can certainly hold its own with rack and floor toms, never used the RVD9's on snare however (Always a beta 57). Used the RVD1 for about a month before starting to use the Beta 52 again, just didnt seem to have enough 'omph' in a large PA situation, have used it for trombone and other brass though and its really great. All resist feedback so well i've never come across this, and although some of the paints been chipped off the RVD9's they stand up to abuse (hap hazard drummers) really well. nice.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Dan Richards
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.thelisteningsessions.com
Activity: Professional
Date: 25-Nov-03

We have over 100 mics here and the Red5 Audio mics have definitely gotten
noticed! The RVD1 large dynamic and the RV8 large diaphragm condenser are
awesome mics. The best in their class.

Dan Richards
Contributing Editor, Digital Pro Sound
http://www.digitalprosound.com
Producer/Engineer, The Listening Sessions
http://www.thelisteningsessions.com

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Bob
Email: No email added
Activity: Professional
Date: 14-Jan-04

Hi,
Sounds like (and looks like according to the AKG photos) that there was no overhead AKG mics, which would explain why the AKG drums sound so dull.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: admin
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 15-Jan-04

each session was identical - all that was changed was the drum close mic's - the akg's gave a sound more 'loose', like the new metallica album sorta sound, you may like that sound... I don't UNLESS I want hat sound by CHOICE... Personaly i found the RED's tighter, less inclined to pick up spill, and way more controlled which for smaller pa's etc would be a bonus. wether the single overhead was AKG or otherwise brand is irrelevent to this test as it was the same mic exactly in both cases in the same position. However, the RED5 set DOES give you two decent overheads whereas the AKG set does not - so there's a bonus already, and of course those two can be used for other studio jobs.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: mark
Email: No email added
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 10-Mar-04

thinking about purchesing for recording use. my band is punk/rock/metal. would this seem a good idea to buy, also, do they come with the clips? im poor enough already to go buying 7 mic stands

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: admin
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.red5audio.com/acatalog/stands.html
Activity: Professional
Date: 12-Mar-04

yes they come with 4 clips for the dynamics, but none for the overheads or kik-mic - however they do sell a very nice TRIPOD kik-drum stand cheap and boom stands for 17 quid INC vat & leads too - I cant imagine you'd get a better set of mics for 200 quid anyways, & certainly it'd be hard to get cheaper, unless you bought 4 VERY cheap dynamics and a very cheap kick and forgot about overheads or bought cheap products secondhand from the free-ads.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Mike Coleman
Email: Email supplied but hidden
thefoxhat.com
Activity: part-timer
Date: 15-Apr-04

I'd not used mics prior to purchasing the RVK7 set, and so cannot offer a comparative review. What I can say is that I have been absolutely delighted with the perfomance of all of the mics in the set. The pre gig set up is readily enabled by the uncomplicated and versatile mounts, the sound quality is excellent delivering subtlelty in terms of tone range and clarity re drums and cymbals as well as power when required. Oh! and they look good as well!

All things considered, excellent value for money and a great sound. Thank you Red5. Also, thank you from my 'drum tech', Judith, who actually assembles the mic set at gigs and deals with that least desireable of activities.........taking it all to pieces again after the gig!

MCC

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Ross Lewis
Email: No email added
www.thebulbs.co.uk
Activity: Professional
Date: 22-Jun-04

These are great mics full stop. The price is a bonus but shouldn't be the main reason for a purchase. I attended music college and when I purchased these mics I took them in for my tutors (all industry professionals with years of experience) to have a listen to. All of them were very impressed, especially by the kick drum mic. When I told them the price they were blown away...remeber that a AKG D112 costs more than half of the total price of this set.

I now have a small studio and use this mic set everytime a kit needs to be recorded, they have never let me down. Buy them and love them.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: ChaD
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 30-Sep-04

is it just me or do Red5 take bloody ages to send an order confirmation after completing an order/payment......it's been a whole week and no reply, and i know that the funds have been sucsessfully transferred via the online payment

.....worried, very worried

chad

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Joseph
Email: No email added
Activity: Professional
Date: 04-May-05

Both sets sounds crappy to my ears sorry. But the AKG set is the crappiest.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: admin
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 06-May-05

well, it's a live not STUDIO recording. No fx, no processing, nothing added - i suggest you burn it on cd and play it thru a nice pa rig LOUD - then comment

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Rimshot
Email: No email added
Activity: Professional
Date: 20-May-05

Sorry - but there's something wrong with that AKG drum mic test. I've used AKGs many times and never heard such a tinny recording.. there's a reason why many performers insist on having AKGs for mics - and they sure don't sound like that recording!!!

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: admin
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 04-Oct-05

well i used to have a deal with akg some years back & could buy mics direct at trade and also we could buy ex-'conference rental' mic's which had been out on one conference tour with perhaps are politcal party conference or whatever (not band gigged). I never used the akg drumset before but am quite familiar with all the common classic akg dynamics, and they are ok, but i dont have any brand loyalty particularly. My favourite was the old classic d202. I dunno what to say, we added the akg set and recorded it and that's the result. the owner doesnt say the mic's are faulty and uses them regularly.

as already mentioned that's the raw sound of both sets un-eq'd and with no fx or outboard, dunno what else to say really.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Anton
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.digitalcameras-store.info
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 31-Mar-06

I want mp3 player. What will advise?

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Spence
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.myspace.com/ondemand06
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 05-Apr-07

I'm part of a three piece punk/ska band and we are looking for a decent way to record at my house. From what i can hear the Red5 set is far better than the AKG set, and for £150 on there website, its a bargin. I think that we will definatly be investing in a set.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Marvin Querido
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 01-May-07

i have the akg drum mic set. in fact, i bought 2 extra c419's so i can have full
range
clip mics for the lower toms. in general, i'm happy with those mics. the
hypercardioid pattern on the c418's and the c419's gives those mics excellent off-
axis rejection. i have a love-hate relationship with the d112 (even with the
earthworks kickpad), but today, i love it. but i got an extra audio technica atm25,
just in case tomorrow i hate it. haha.

one comment about the recordings, though. they akg mics don't sound that way
at all. well, at least mine don't.

anyway, about the rvk7, i've heard enough good reviews about it. i'm getting it
tomorrow. at that price, i can still afford to keep the akg set.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: randy furlong
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 18-May-07

how does this set compare to the samson 7 kit? or the superlux kit?

i have used the samson set before and it sounded ok but nowhere near as good as that recording. although it may well be down to lack of experience/room/kit.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: willowhaus
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 06-Jul-07

To be fair, this really isn't a good test. Forget for a moment the 'tweaks' you say you added to each mic - you're testing apples & oranges. Of course a dynamic mic is going to sound different than a condenser mic!

Also, what you're saying about the snare mic is that it didn't replicate the sound of the drum itself. In this case it worked for you, but how about if the snare itself wasn't "ringy"? How does the mic fare on a decent, properly-tuned drum?

In my experience, the AKGs are very touchy. They can sound amazing, but you really have to work with their placement to get them to shine. I think it would have been far more useful to compare this kit to another dynamic-based drum mic kit.

All that said, they do sound pretty decent.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: admin
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 06-Jul-07

Thanks for comment, but I dont agree at all. if you run a small venue you dont have time to tune drum kits & ask for ideal situations. This was a fair comparison between 2 sets and we chose a well known akg comparison. Too often equipment is tested in ideal conditions which reader will not have. We've also produced 'better' results for the red5 set in 'better' conditions too, where we took time to tune drums and used a better mixer etc and mixed it more judiciously, but we dont publish those because the object here on this site was to test a budget drumkiit set of mics in a typical small venue situation both in terms of room size and acoustics and without too much tweaking-time. We tried to show these 2 in such a typical small pub venue setup sized room with an unkinown but not cheap kit. I have also used these mics on a very good kit at a fairly main venue (Berwick on Tweed Theatre) thru a Ghost console with a high quality PA, and they sounded huge; easily as good as the 'in-house' Shure drum-mic set which we replaced before the gig. have also done gigs with the red5 set in a large un-treated hall thru a 2k PA and again they delivered very good results. These mics sound good, and reject off-axis sound very well as they appear to be slightly hyper-cardoid. That is the point I think for those seeking a budget reliable decent solution for drum mic-ing. In conculsion, I've owned the old classic D12 and the newer D112 for me is nowhere near as good as the old D12, and the Red5 kick mic imo is unarguably a better kikdrum mic in a live situation, tighter, fatter and rejecting more off-axis sound if mic-ing the rear kikdrum head. I've also used the D9 drum mics on guitar cabs etc and they deliver results on par with SM57's, and we've provided audio of an acoustic guitar recored with the rv4's which also sound passable for such duties. So a good all round set of mics is our opinion. Cheers. Admin

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Ben Jordan
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 17-Jul-07

What an odd comparison you've shown here. I have no idea how you've gone about making them poor akg's sound so god awful.

I just picked up the AKG set myself, well the one with the overheads that costs slightly more. Im thinking you should at least compare the sound of the one with overheads with the red5 so you've got the same amount of mics in the same positioning.

I actaully heard this recording on the night that id bought my akgs but didnt have the opportunity to do my own test recording right then, and my heart dropped, I thought id wasted my money. When I actually put them on my kit the next day and recorded they sounded incredible. Way better than how your red5 s sound in that test. Im not saying the red5s arent good for the money but this just isnt a fair test.

If your kit actually sounds anything like it does in either of those recordings thats horrific and not a real representation of what anyone is going to use a set of mics for surely!? I certainly have enough pride to keep my kit well tuned and spend time making it sound great. Ive played enough gigs and run enough gigs to experience that every band ive put on has a drummer that thinks the the same way - they bring along a well tuned kit.

Id be interested in putting the red5s on my kit and seeing how the sound. I bet the weird sounds and ringing that the akgs have picked up are actually how bad your kit sounds and the red5s are dulling down and not picking up these frequencies that sound so bad on the akgs. I figure they'd make my kit sound very cardboard boxy and plain and lack the character that my akgs pick out of my kit so well.

So why this essay? Because i'd hate someone to be put off of high end mics like the akgs because of this test - im being defensive because I think the akgs need defending.

thats all,
ta
Ben

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: admin
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 18-Jul-07

"but this just isnt a fair test" - why not? both used same kit, both used flat eq, identical setups, so thats fair surely?

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: admin
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 18-Jul-07

also you say: "Ive played enough gigs and run enough gigs to experience that every band ive put on has a drummer that thinks the the same way - they bring along a well tuned kit."

well i'd love to find that gigging utopia you live in, if you're trying to tell me local pub gigs means each band has it's own kit i'm sorry but thats completely untrue, it's rare for a local gig to setup a different kit for each band, sometimes you see a change of drumkit, but in 30 years of local gigging i've not seen that as a regular thing, it is unusual for that to happen. For a start what typical pub gig venue has room for 3 or 4 drumkits to be sitting by the stage waiting to go?

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Ben Jordan
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 18-Jul-07

To the admin, well you said yourself that you werent running overheads when you did the akg test, so to say it was identical placement and setup is stretching it a bit right?

Also, my point about having always had good well tuned kits live - I never said anything about each band having a different kit for their set - but the headlining band normally does a kitshare, letting all the other bands use their shells and hardware, and these bands have always provided a well tuned kit thats great for a live sound. If you're playing in a pub gig, whats the likelyhood of having the kit mic'd anyway? I was talking about proper gigs, at venues that need to be mic'd! Anyone playing on stage at even a small gigging venue should have a well tuned kit.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Jerry
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 11-Aug-07

I see this has been going on for a few years now, so I will chime in finally. I have
purchased the RVK7 with 1 extra RVD9 and 2 extra RV4's, actually the extra
RVD9 is on its way. Anyhow, I have purchased 2 AKG sets with 2 added C430's
for overheads. Beginning with the AKG's, the 430's are nice for the top because
they limit the lows, are small, are durable, are condensers and cost under
$200.00 for the pair. The rest of the set, 418's and 112, are an industry standard,
really. The 112 is the most copied kick mic/ low end mic ever. Now these mics
are a bit brittle or harsh. The recording is messed up I must say, and like many
others, I have never heard the AKG's sound like that. Because the kick sounds
ok, it sounds like there may be a phantom power issue going on, like the wrong
wire is charged. Most of the AKG set is condenser, unlike the RVK7, and so
again, the earlier reviewer stating apples and oranges is also correct. One quick
issue about tuning drums. They are fine. I have been playing percussion for
over 30 years. The drums are fine.

RVK7, good sound. Especially for the price. Well balanced from the RV4's to
the RVD1. They work well together, all have similar volume, and can take a
licking on SPL. The clamps are hugh, but strong. Mine actually arrived in
pieces, probably due to all parts screwed together as opposed to cheaply riviting
it together or, like in the AKG's case, made of plastic. I can hit the RVK7's with
my sticks. When I had done that with the AKG's, not only did I blow a speaker,
hurt the audience, and now have to pay for the sound persons hearing loss, but
they went flying. They don't clamp securely. It is nice they are so small, but I
forget they are there, especially in the dark, and they get hit.

The RVK7 needs to be compared firstly to CAD, Nady, Samson, or the dozens of
other China made drumset mic packages that come closer in the price range, and
you will see that the RVK7 is at the top of the heap. Then needs to be compared
in the Sennheiser, Audix, Sure league. AKG is close, but a different animal, so
are Earthworks and Beyer. But no matter how you compare it, the RVK7 is a
very good product at an amazing price. The US guys are very friendly and are
willing to answer questions immediatly. I ain't gonna find customer service like
that on any other mic company.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: TheGoodCaptain
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 11-Dec-07

Sorry but I find it hard to make a purchase judgement on the Red5 kit based upon those recordings.

They are among the worst ever examples of recorded drums I have heard. I have had far better, clearer results using 3 or 4 mics on a kit.

The Red5 could be a great buy but that demo is appalling.

And yes, there IS definitely a fault on one of the AKG mics.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: john o groats
Email: Email supplied but hidden
none
Activity: part-timer
Date: 13-Dec-07

i'm sure your mics are very cool, they sound fresh on the recording, if the first one is indeed the red5 mics. i'm sure they're good

just put a new example up. give us a link, anything

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Buzz
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 05-Jan-08

People who are complaining about the test conditions of these mics are off their trollies lol.

Both Sets:
Were used in the same environment. They were on the same kit (with all its inaccuracies and tuning problems), they were going through the same mixer, into the same laptop, they were both given the same levels of EQ, they were in the same room recording the same acoustics and the Red5 mics come out far, far better. It's no use complaining "you should have used the AKG mics with the overheads" because you can hear it in the recording that the entire kit apart from the hats and the cymbals sound dull and lifeless. My mum could hear the difference straight away and she hasn't a clue about any of this sort of stuff lol. Are people finding better sounds because they are using a better kit and EQ? Almost certainly. Face it, Red5 mics make a poor kit sound better than the AKG mics did. I'd be interested to hear how good they sound on a great sounding kit. Another useful fact is I do not own either of these mic kits so I have no bias either way. Red5 own. I'm going to buy some as soon as I have the money together. Great review btw. Buzz

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Alex
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 11-Jan-08

I have just got these mics and think they are really great but am having trouble getting all the eq right. could you be more specific on the eq for each mic?
Thanks

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Sean O
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 08-Mar-08

Hey folks

I was listening back ti the audio samples of the kit being recorded. I'm sorry but i find it very hard to believe that the 2nd recording is a Genuine recording of AKG Mics. AKG Mics just don't sound that bad...However, if the 1st sample is the Red5 mics then i would be happy purchasing them...

The AKG Mics are out of my budget...

Any advice??

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Sam Foster
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 07-Jun-08

Hey i was wondering if you could send me that MP3. off the RED5 recording, you see the link doesn't want too work and im really interested in how it sounds. I just read the whole review and now i can't listen to it you see im a bit buggard!

If anyone could send me the mp3 to sam9909@hotmail.co.uk i would be more than greatful thanks alot. Sam

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: admin
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 08-Jun-08

the links work fine, you must have browser issues with confused file types. to download, right click the dload link and SAVE AS

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Alex
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.stpetersband.com
Activity: part-timer
Date: 09-Jul-08

Hello people, couldn't resist putting my penny's worth in ( cos it seems like everyone else has.

The AKG are condensers. Their off-axis isolation is less and their detail is higher.

The dullness of the AKG recordings - it's the room you're hearing.

Live sound people - use your red5's, studio people, - use red5's if you have a crap sounding room, and akg's if you have a great sounding room, or mix and match according to your room modes and kit characteristics.

Can we go home now??

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Dave Drummond
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 17-Aug-09

Got this set on the strength of your review and have been using it live and in the studio. Results are fab. Great work guys.

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: MikeK
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 19-Jan-10

I'm quoting exactly what I see in this article. There are no links anywhere to listen to audio samples. Can some one put the links right in one of these comments please?

"Anyways, checkout the audio examples below...!"


***************NOTHING IS HERE TO LISTEN TO *******************


"UPDATE - SEPT 2004 - We'll just wanted to add a few lines now I've had the set for a while - I used them at a few gigs - Once using a low-quality PA in a large venue/hall (about 3000 sq ft) with a VERY high ceiling... great sound! - monster kik!... I also got to use them at the playhouse in Berwick-on-Tweed, replacing their set of Sure drum mic's before the gig - That venue had a really nice PA of Hi-quality cabs/amps and a big Ghost mixer - again, GREAT sound! - Also have used the RVD9's on guitar cabs/combo's and again they work GREAT!... Good off-axis rejection and a nice full balanced sound with plenty of ability to take high levels... you can think of them as a 57/58 for use in such situations.

Also the RVD9 clamps arrived and they are well made.

I ended up buying the set from Red5, and I wouldn't part with them for anything! - The RVD9's are as good as anything you'd want from a dynamic mic, but isolate the individual drums way better than the 'usual suspects' due to their hypercardoid design & are WAY easier to position even with flimsy mic' stands due to their small size & slightly lighter weight than typical/traditional dynamics (plus you get the clamps so you save on stands & clutter!)... the RVD7's are VERY decent condensers and well worth the money, and the RVD1?... heh heh... You'd have to prise that from my dead, still-warm hands!"

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: MikeK
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.dancetech.com/aa_dt_new/hardware/ra/dt_acf11af1433516.mp3
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 19-Jan-10

Nevermind, I found the link on the right sidebar to the audio file. Here it is:

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: admin
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.dancetech.com/red5_drumset/red5_acoustic_rv4_demo.mp3
Activity: Professional
Date: 19-Jan-10

also there is this demo of the rv4 condenser mic recording an acoustic guitar (old strings) see link of this post - this link is also in the text above but you maybe missed it?

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Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Jake Blenheim
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 23-Nov-10

Decided to take the plunge based on the review here (I've come to trust the guys at DT). Was seriously seriously blown away by how good these mics sound. I've been a professional engineer for over 20 years and i've used gear at 4 and 5 times the price that are arguably, not as good. I'm going to go back now and buy the extra overhead condenser as they're doing an offer. The clamps are for the toms / snare mics are pretty good. Only downside is you need stands for the kick drum and overhead mics.

(Oh. . and they delivered them fast as freakin lightning).

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Last added comment

Product:  Red5 Audio - RVK7 Drum kit mic set
Name: Colin Allcars
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 01-Mar-17

[quote] Mike Hopkins wrote: Ive just bought the RV1 bass drum mic and what a difference its made!I was previously using a dynamic vocal mic and I was getting no bottom end.The RV1 captures all the thump youd ever need. [/quote]

Yes, Mike. This is a very good mic. I bought one after hearing it on Jem's kick at your studio. It sounded really good just inside the drum at Tintern last year. I just have to persuade Jem to cut a hole in his new kick.

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