If you’ve been buying or looking for drum microphones for some time, you would have undoubtedly come across a few Neumann mics. The brand is known solely for making high-quality microphones that are quite expensive. It’s a luxury microphone brand, and all their products are amazing.
One of their more affordable mics is the Neumann KM184. While it’s affordable in comparison to other Neumann mics, it’s very expensive compared to other options out there. In this review, we’re going to see if it’s worth the high price. We’ll also see how well this mic works for recordings drums.
The Neumann KM184 is a small-diaphragm condenser microphone. It has a small body, but it feels heavy and secure enough to be very durable. It also has a cardioid pickup pattern, making it ideal for being used as either an overhead drum mic or a close-up hi-hat mic.
A few of the standout features it has are the low self-noise, high sound pressure level, and the clear reproduction of sound. These things are what make it such a fantastic microphone.
As it’s a condenser microphone, you need phantom power to make it work. So, make sure you have an interface or mixer that supplies that.
The quality of the Neumann KM184 is its highest selling point. It produces such a clear sound that it makes you feel as if you’re in the room with the drums that are being recorded. It perfectly represents the bright shimmering of cymbals and captures every nuance of the drums.
It requires minimal EQ to get the sound you want from your drums, making it an easy microphone to work with. It’s also is incredibly reliable as you learn that it produces a very stable sound no matter where you use it.
The sheer quality you get from the mic is surprising considering how small its body is. You’d assume that to get the clearest and most powerful sounds, you’d need a large mic that is backed with lots of power. The KM184 proves that wrong.
The mic is very solid, and it will survive multiple stray drum stick hits over its lifespan. Speaking of lifespan, there are so many people in the music industry who have been using these microphones for decades. The KM184 came out in 1993, and some people are still using the exact one that they purchased back then. The construction quality is incredible.
As we said earlier, you really don’t need to tweak too many EQ settings to make your drums sound excellent with this microphone. If you use it on your hi-hats, you’ll get a very clear and crisp tone.
If you use it as an overhead, it will capture most of the details and nuances of the kit. However, you’d get the best results if you used two of the KM184s in conjunction with each other as overhead mics.
You’d get an even better recording if you used 3 of them – 2 as overheads and 1 as a hi-hat mic. Not everyone has the luxury of that choice due to the price, though. Speaking of price, let’s move on to the price-to-value ratio.
There’s no getting around the fact that this microphone is very expensive. All Neumann mics are. However, the KM184 is one of the most affordable microphones from the brand. It costs just under $1000 while most of their other mics cost well over that.
If you want more than one of these to use as an overhead, you’ll be paying a large sum of money. It’s a fantastic investment, though. The mics will last decades, and they’re so high-quality that you most probably won’t need to get better overhead mics at any point.
Every studio owner has one or more of these mics in their locker. So, the price is highly worth the payoff you get from using the Neumann KM184.
The KM184 thrives in studio environments. It’s such a clear and articulate microphone and as we said earlier, it makes you feel as though you’re in the room with the drums when you listen back to the recordings you did with the mic. That is one of the most sought-after qualities to look for in a microphone that will be used for studio recording.
Neumann microphones are used mostly in recording studios. Their luxurious nature makes it more ideal to use them in controlled environments. We’ve personally never heard a bad recording when Neumann microphones have been used.
The biggest reason for this is that experienced sound technicians will use a mic like the KM184. We wouldn’t suggest using it for studio recording if you’re new to the whole process.
The KM184 is great for live gigging as well. You’ll get just as much sound quality out of it as you would in the studio. However, some of the nuances go lost. That’s the nature of live sound. You’ll play in varying venues that alter how the sound travels.
Live gigging also has more room for things to go wrong, and it’s often scary to use luxury microphones in those environments as they may get damaged.
If you want some of the best drum recordings you could possibly get, you should get a pair of Neumann KM184s. You’ll be paying close to $2000 to get both of them, but the investment is highly worth it in the long run.
However, we don’t advise spending so much on microphones if you’re not experienced in sound technology. You won’t hear the nuances this mic brings, making the cost not worth it. There are cheaper microphones to get that still produce great drum sounds.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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