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The Audix F6 is part of the Audix Fusion Series of microphones. The F6 is a dynamic hypercardioid microphone designed for bass instruments, such as kick drums, floor toms, and bass guitar cabinets. It can be used live, or in the studio.
Price
Prices listed are an average from several different online stores.
New: $129
Used: $110
The Audix F6 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: 40 Hz – 16 kHz
Output Impedance: 580 Ohms
Sensitivity: 1.2 mV / Pa @ 80 Hz
Full specs can be found on the Audix website – https://audixusa.com/products/f6/
Drum / Heads / Tuning
Before getting into the sound test, I want to share the drum, heads, and tuning that I’m using.
Kick Drum: Pearl Vision VX 22″ x 18″
Batter Head: Aquarian Super Kick II Clear /w Double Kick Pad
Resonant Head: Aquarian Regular Black /w Port Hole
Tuning (Values Are Approximate)
Key
Batter: 2.5 Turns
Resonant 2.5 Turns
DrumDial
Batter: 75
Resonant: 75
Tune-Bot Studio
Batter: 56 Hz
Resonant: 56 Hz
I like my kick drum heads tight. The Super Kick II drum head does have a ring of foam on the inside of the head.
Sound Test
For this demonstration, I am using three different microphone positions, each with and without a muffling blanket inside of the kick drum.
Mic Position #1 – Close To Kick Batter Head
Mic Position #2 – Middle Of Kick Drum
Mic Position #3 – Close To Port Hole
Six different sounds total. I start off with just the overhead microphones (Audix F9) capturing the kick drum and the drum kit as a whole. I use that as a reference, to give you an idea of what everything sounds like in person. Then I play the kick drum by itself, then the whole kit with the F6 and F9s. Finally, I use the same clip of me playing the kit, but this time, I only have the kick drum track enabled. This lets you hear everything the F6 is picking up.
Final Thoughts
My favorite configuration is microphone position #2 with the muffling blanket. A nice, focused, sound, without being too dead, and with just a little ring. Just where I like it. I’m currently using the Audix F6 in my studio kick drum, and recording country rock and hard rock music.
Originally Published – 1/1/2019