Sound Advice by Brent Handy Contributing Writer December 07, 2004

Sennheiser e 903 dynamic handheld vocal/instrument microphone
Sennheiser e 604 dynamic drum/percussion microphones with Easy Clamps
Sennheiser e 602 dynamic kick drum/bass microphone
Sennheiser e 614 condenser hi-hat/cymbal/instrument microphone

It has been a while since my last contribution. In the past year, We have started a new record label, designing a new studio, planned a tour, recording a very interesting Christian rock project, and completing some church installs. This review was done while working said projects.

Sennheiser is a well respected, long time manufacturer of professional wired and RF microphones, headphones, IEM's, etc. It is the parent company of microphone manufacturer, Neumann. Sennheiser is one of those brands that brings a sigh of relief to the touring and recording engineer.

Let's dive in. I was sent the above mentioned mics. All of the mics arrived in individual cardboard boxes. Each box contained a mic, a zippered pouch, documentation, the appropriate mic stand clip and diameter adapter. Nearly all mic manufacturers have prepackaged drum mics now. Most of this mic package has been designed, built and voiced for specific drums/applications. But a few may be used in non-percussion applications. This works out well for the church or studio on a tight budget.

The e602 is the kick/bass mic. Like most modern kick mics (Audix D6, Shure Beta52, etc), it has a built in boost for a pre-EQ'd sound. When placed in/around a kick drum or bass amp, you are pretty much ready to go. I found the Sennheiser e602 to be placement friendly. I always got usable results with/without EQ. Of course, no EQ is best.

Louie Weaver (of Petra fame) came in for some drumming sessions. I placed the e602 just inside the hole of the front head, on a 22" DW kick drum. I then tried the mic one inch from the head, just above the beater. Lastly, I placed it in the jazz position with the mic outside of the kick, just above the hoop on the floor. The e602 performed well in all locations. If you want clickity-click attack, you can get it. If you want more shell resonance, you can get it. If you need that 40Hz that people want nowadays (that doesn't really come out of a kick), just add EQ. Kick wasn't all that we tried it on. Next I tried the e602 on guitar cabs. The modern rock music demands more low-end out the guitar cab. I placed the mic dead center of speaker in a Mesa 4x12 and Marshall 4x12 cabinet, loaded with 30's. Each powered by Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifiers, Marshall JCM900s and a Marshall Plexi. I favored the e602 over the original American-made Shure SM57 for this application. It took the SPL without wimping out.

The e604 tom mics have been around for a while. Some of my friends/engineers told me that these mics didn't sound good. What I determined in recording and live sound tests is that they really are not too drastically different from MD421's on toms. What I believe to be the reason people slam these mics is the variance in sensitivity and electronic output. Sensitivity differences are often the cause for perceived differences in sound quality. This is true in amplifiers, speakers, etc. That is a whole other topic. If we were to mic a sax or vocalist, I suspect that the 421's would win. But that is unfair. On toms, they are close enough for rock and roll once the gain was matched. There certainly isn't a difference worth $125.00 per mic, per tom. And how many times does the drummer hit the toms anyway? On the session Louie played on, e604's and 421's were used simultaneously with great results. You will be able to hear said results on an upcoming CD. There will be some subtle gating, NO EQ and slight 2:1 compression.

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