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Audix F5 Snare Drum Microphone

By Joseph "Stix" Davis - 1/25/19

The Audix F5 is part of the Audix Fusion Series of microphones. The F5 is a dynamic hypercardioid microphone designed for all purpose use. I use it on my studio snare drum, but it can also be used on toms, guitar and bass cabs, acoustic, brass, woodwind instruments, and even vocals. It can be used live, or in the studio.

 

Price

Prices listed are an average from several different online stores.

New: $80

Used: $70

 

The Audix F5 is also available as part of various drum microphone bundles, such as the FP5 and FP7.

 

Technical Specifications

 

Microphone Type: Dynamic

Polar Pattern: Hypercardioid

Connector: XLR

Frequency Response: 55 Hz - 15 kHz

Output Impedance: 580 Ohms

Sensitivity: 2.2 mV / Pa @ 1 K

Full specs can be found on the Audix website - https://audixusa.com/docs_12/units/f5.shtml

 

Drum / Head / Tuning

Before getting into the sound test, I want to share the drum, heads, and tuning that I'm using.

 

Snare Drum: Pearl Masters MCX Maple - 14" x 6.5"

Batter Head: Aquarian Texture Coated

Resonant Head: Hi-Performance

 

Tuning (Values Are Approximate)

 

Key

Batter: 2 Turns

Resonant 3 Turns

 

DrumDial

Batter: 82

Resonant: 72

 

Tune-Bot Studio

Batter: 260 Hz

Resonant: 380 Hz

 

Sound Test

For this demonstration, I have the microphone about 2" above the head of the drum, right inside of the rim, and pointed towards the center. This focuses on the fundamental note of the drum, and less on the overtones. I'm testing without any muffling, as well as an Aquarian Studio Ring and Moongel.

 

No Muffling

Studio Ring

1 Moongel

2 Moongels

3 Moongels

 

Five different sounds total. I start off with just the overhead microphones (Audix F9) capturing the snare drum. I use that as a reference, to give you an idea of what everything sounds like in person. Then I play the snare drum by itself, with the F5, then the whole kit with the F5, F9s, and an Audix F6 on the kick drum as well. Finally, I use the same clip of me playing the kit, but this time, I only have the snare drum track enabled. This lets you hear everything the F5 is picking up.

Final Thoughts

 

The Audix F5 gives me great snare drum sound without any EQ or compression. I'm currently using the Audix F5 on my studio snare drum, and recording country rock and hard rock music. A solid, all purpose microphone, and for only $80 brand new.