The Audix D1 is a dynamic microphone that is suitable for use in the recording studio or on the stage. I only do sound in the recording studio, so this is my experience with the mic, and is what I'll be basing this review on. The mic has a hyper cardioid polar pick up pattern, meaning it's best to aim the mic directly at the source of what you're recording, which will usually be a drum. In fact, I'm sure that it has a hyper cardioid pick up pattern so that it can be used to record drums up close and minimize bleed. The mic will pick up frequencies between 46 Hz and 18 kHz. It's overall a pretty small microphone, making it easy to place on drums without blocking the drum or taking up too much of the drummer's space.

OVERALL OPINION

The Audix D1's are definitely a good choice for recording drums. I've only used them on tom tom drums to date, but for this application they did a great job in the studio. I would imagine that this good sound would translate well for use on the stage, but I can't speak from experience. The D1's are cheap enough where you could pick up a few for your studio or live rig if you wanted a few cheaper drum mics for recording tom toms or whatever other drums you'd want to record. I don't know how well these mics would work for other applications, but they do seem to be tailored for recording drums anyway. I will say that I like some of the other mics in this line a bit more than the D1, like the D4, but they are all pretty similar sounding microphones. I'd recommend that anyone looking at drum mics to check out the Audix D1's for sure...