Expensive vs. Cheap Drums -- What Is The REAL Audible Difference? (Time Stamps in Description)

Regarding sound/tone quality of a drum kit, what are the audible differences between expensive drums and cheap drums? Which ones are better for you? Can you get good sound from 'bad' drums? Come join me as I compare a lovely DW kit with a modern 'stencil' drum kit to see how their sonic performances differ.

As always, it'll be the most fun you have all week! ;)

0:00 Introduction and Explanation
5:03 Drum kits used for comparison
10:10 What to listen for during these comparisons
15:40 FULL MIX (Borg)
16:44 FULL MIX (DW)
18:05 CLOSE MICS (Borg)
19:09 CLOSE MICS (DW)
20:28 ROOM MICS (Borg)
21:32 ROOM MICS (DW)


DRUMS USED IN THIS VIDEO:
DW Collectors Maple (Sugar Maple shells) in Natural Maple finish:
22x18 bacs drum
12x9 rack tom
16x14 floor tom
14x4.5 snare drum
Borg MD764 (poplar (basswood?) shells) in silver sparkle wrap:
22x14 bass drum
12x8 rack tom
16x16 floor tom
14x5 SPL Unity snare drum in Champagne wrap


DRUMHEADS (USED ON BOTH KITS):
Kick batter: Aquarian Super Kick I
Kick reso: Aquarian Regulator, black
Snare/tom batters: Aquarian Texture Coated
Snare bottom: Aquarian Classic Clear Snare Side
Tom bottom: Aquarian Classic Clear


CYMBALS (USED FOR BOTH KITS):
14” K Zildjian Hi-Hats
18” Sabian XS20 Medium Thin Crash (Brilliant)
21” A Zildjian Sweet Ride


MICROPHONES USED:
Internal bass drum: Shure Beta 91
External bass drum: Shure Beta 52
Snare top/bottom and toms: Earthworks DM20
Kit (or ‘Wurst’) mic: Shure Beta 57
Overheads: DPA 4011
Hi-Hat: AKG P170
Near room: Extinct Audio BM9 (ribbon), Blumlein pair, 20 inches off the floor
Far room: Schoeps CMC series Omnis, Jecklin disc configuration, 7 feet off the floor


PREAMPS / CONVERTER
Allen & Heath CQ-20B mixer (gain only (no processing), USB out to MacBook Pro running ProTools)