Review: Audio-Technica ATM250DE

At a time when it’s hard to know whether to worry more about climate change, religious wars, natural disasters or the bloody drought, it’s comforting to know the folks at Audio-Technica are creating products that provide solutions to some of the world’s pressing issues. The new ATM250DE dual-element instrument microphone provides a neat solution to a significant problem audio people face all the time: how to get a great kick drum sound.

Dynamic mics are usually the first choice for kick drums and generally deliver a solid, punchy sound, especially after removing some low-mids. Condenser mics also offer good qualities to kick drums; they pick up lower and higher frequencies than dynamic mics with a more natural sound. Consequently, it’s become quite common to use two separate mics in the kick drum to capture these different qualities, and blend the two together. Audio-Technica’s ATM250DE caters specifically to this trend by cleverly combining a hypercardioid neodymium dynamic capsule and cardioid condenser capsule within a single solidly built all-metal housing.

PACKING A PUNCH

Part of the recently released Artist Series, the ATM250DE is similar to the AE2500 dual-element instrument mic from Audio-Technica’s top-of-the-line Artist Elite Series, but smaller and lower in price. Like the 2500, the 250DE is designed specifically for kick drum but is also recommended for bass cabs, guitar cabs and general instrument use. The dynamic capsule in the ATM250DE is designed to emphasise punch and attack from a kick drum’s beater, while the condenser capsule accurately captures the sound of the drum shell and sports a built-in 10dB pad and 80Hz roll-off. One of the great benefits of this ‘dual-mic’ design is that the capsules are aligned so the two signals are always in phase.

The mic itself has a five-pin socket and comes supplied with a customised five-metre cable. This connects the dual-output, single five-pin XLR at one end to two normal three-pin XLRs at the other. They’re colour-coded and clearly labelled so you know which is the dynamic and which is the condenser. The cable then connects to two desk channels (or external preamps) in the normal manner, with the condenser mic requiring phantom power. The mic itself attaches to a stand with a newly designed isolation clamp that dampens mechanical noise transmitted through the stand with aplomb. It’s easy to use, secure and allows the mic to be placed closer to (or further away from) the clamp for greater positioning flexibility.

CASTLEMAINE ROCK

My first test of the ATM250DE was on the kick drum for Sara Storer at the Castlemaine Theatre Royal. Sara’s band plays medium level, country/pop where the drums and instruments need to be clear but nevertheless behind the vocal. The Theatre Royal is a medium sized stage and I was pleased to discover that the five-metre cable was long enough to reach the stage box – no need for extension cables this night. On a bigger stage you’d obviously need to extend the cable with two conventional mic leads (if you weren’t using a drop-box nearer the kit).

The ATM250DE was a cinch to use once I’d made the connections. Placing the mic where I’d normally position a dynamic for this type of band – just inside the hole in the front of the drum – provided instant results. I normally use an AKG D112 or an Audio-Technica PRO25 on kick and tend to start with a big cut of the low mids and sweep the frequency to find the best sound. In a sign of good things to come, the ATM250DE’s dynamic mic sounded good at the desk straight up with no EQ. Adding some condenser mic channel filled the sound out nicely. I spent some time during the soundcheck and throughout the show subtly tweaking the balance between the two faders and was struck by how important each capsule was to the overall sound. The gain is almost the same from both mics but the dynamic did most of the work with the condenser providing the proverbial icing on top. I ended up with low-mids removed from both channels – only a few dB – and I was very happy with the sound. The frequency response plot for the dynamic capsule shows a fairly scooped shape, centred around 500Hz with peaks at 80Hz and 3kHz. The condenser is flatter with a shelf-like boost above 2kHz.

STUDIO CAPERS

Next up for the mic was a trip to the studio. By recording a kick drum into a DAW and looking at the waveforms it was easy to see the longer attack of the dynamic mic compared to the condenser. The capsules sound in-phase, although curiously, the condenser appears to arrive a little before the dynamic. Reversing the phase on one capsule quickly illustrated just how different the two mics sound. There’s some cancellation down low but lots of mids remain and the level only drops about 8dB.

As with the live show, in the first studio session, the dynamic provided the punch in the bottom end with the condenser adding colour and realism to the sound. Most impressive was the range of kick sounds I could get by changing the balance between the two capsules and adding EQ. If I swapped betweenwooden and felt beaters the whole range was covered: fat for rock, clicky for metal, open for jazz… all from the same kick drum and mic setup. I was impressed.

FROM VOX TO BASS

A test recording with vocals didn’t fair as well, perhaps understandably – but hey, I had to give it a try! Predictably, the frequency response of the dynamic was all wrong for vocals, and the condenser sounded surprisingly thin. Moving around the mic demonstrated the tight cardioid pattern of both capsules. The frequency response and level were quite even to about 45 degrees off axis, dropping off sharply at all frequencies beyond that, with very little sound from the sides and rear getting through. Indeed, the mic seems quite ‘deaf’ to sounds from the rear.

The ATM250DE was quickly back in its comfort zone when miking up a bass guitar cabinet. For this task the dynamic mic produced a powerful, fat bottom end, with the condenser giving good control of the speaker sound with the ability to dial in lots of rattle if required. Bass cabs are not as demanding as kick drums in general, so if you only had one ATM250DE to record rhythm tracks you’d almost certainly use it on the kick.

MORE STAGE WORK

Next it was back to Castlemaine and one of Australia’s favourite performers, Ross Wilson, with his band The Urban Legends. The music was pop/rock, amplified to reasonably loud volumes, where the kick could be prominent and clear. The drummer, Davey Porter, had a great kit and a very solid, tight style so there was plenty of punch coming from the kick drum itself. The ATM250DE’s dynamic capsule filled out the bottom end easily, but because it was such a good sounding drum, I found I was using more of the condenser capsule to capture the character of the drum. I ended up running the condenser louder than the dynamic mic for this show, unlike my previous experience the week before at the same venue. I also tried a high-pass filter on the condenser capsule, but immediately missed the bottom end. As for the pad facility on the mic, I’m not sure what you’d need it for quite frankly, as there was no sign of overloading and the maximum SPL (at 1% distortion) is quoted at 148dB SPL… miking gunshots perhaps?

The following week I took the mic to the National Celtic Festival at Portarlington for a test on what the monitor operator unkindly called “diddly music.” The headline act was Australia’s own Celtic rock powerhouse, Claymore, and there was nothing diddly about their sound: full blown rock drums, loud guitars, loud vocals… and even louder bagpipes. Played with a wooden beater, Claymore’s kick was full volume through the PA and the ATM250DE was terrific. With both capsules at about the same volume and a little bit of cut to the low-mids, it produced a loud, clear, full range sound that pushed you slightly backwards on every beat. The other acts were (admittedly) more diddly, but here too the ATM 250DE was a success on bodhran and especially good on the bottom end of a grand piano.

My only slight concern with the ATM250DE was the connecting lead. It’s well made but not as robust as your average mic lead. It also has little kinks so it doesn’t lie completely flat on the floor, which increases the chance of tripping on it. And as with any mic that utilises a custom built lead, if it were damaged, the lead would have to be fixed in order to use the mic, and if lost you’d need a replacement. The same lead is also used on several other Audio-Technica models and the distributors advise me replacements are available for a fairly steep $48.

In summary, I was very impressed with the ATM250DE and would be happy to recommend it as a kick mic for any style of music. The price is reasonable and the mic is very solidly built. I’ve had some Audio-Technica dynamic mics in my kit since the ’80s that still work well, so if they’re anything to go by, the ATM250DE should last for years.

The best thing about the ATM250DE is that it made me forget about the world’s problems. I want one!