The Audix D2 is probably the second most popular of their D line of drum mics, behind the more often used Audix D6 kick drum mic. The D2 is tailored to be used on close miking rack toms. It is light-weight and short, which makes it a lot easier to mount it on the rim of drums and still be able to point it at the skin right on, which gives you a more punchy and direct drum sound. It is a dynamic moving coil mic, so it doesn't need any phantom power. The pickup pattern is cardioid, so that will help it to reject any off axis sound from nearby drums or hi-hat. This will connect to your preamp or mixer with an XLR cable. The frequency response goes down to about 50Hz or so, which is plenty low enough for rack toms. There is a little bit of a bump around 200Hz, which is nice for making your toms sound more full and weighty. There is also a presence peak in the upper mids to help give your drums a better attack.

OVERALL OPINION

I have been using these for a very long time on toms. I feel that they usually don't do as good of a job as the tom mic king, the Sennheiser 421, but on some drums the Audix D2 just fits better and you'll get a better sound with them. They are also a lot more convenient to physically attach the drum. I've always found the 421's very cumbersome to work with. The drum sounds you can get with the D2 tend to sound good right away, which helps to minimize time spent fussing with EQ to get a passable drum sound. The D2's are also very cheap, which means that they're going to be a great value if they're nearly stacking up with the 421's. I like these mics, and would recommend them.