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[Don T. Williams]

Our "go to" mic is the e604.  Mainly for ease of deployment and general agreeability.
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Mine too!  Drummers can beat the heck out of them and it doesn't seem to hurt them - and they sound good on most drums.  Super easy to attach and remove and don't scratch drum hardware.

[Mal Brown]

E604 ... unless I absolutely have to use something else... (rider). Or fat wooden hooped Jazz kit.

[Brian Adams]

I've had people accidentally switch around the D2 and D4 and put the D2 on floor and the D4 on rack. I've also tried D4's on rack toms, but I don't think I've intentionally put a D2 on a floor tom.

The end result was that for some reason I don't like the D4 on rack toms, and I don't like the D2 on floor toms. There's just something about it that doesn't work for me. So I make sure that D2's are on rack toms and D4's are on floor toms.

I have lots of D2's and D4's, and they're great, but I find I'm using my e904's more than anything since I got them. I've used e604's plenty, but I don't own any. The Sennheiser mount is a lot easier to deal with, especially in a festival situation. And no one has trouble figuring out how to get a 604 off the rim, but I have plenty enough broken Audix clips to prove that not everyone knows how to take them off.

The Audix mounts do offer some flexibility though, because sometimes a 604 just won't fit.

[scottstephens]

Mark,

  Lots of good comments here. But what Don said about how the drums are tuned is going to make the most difference.  The other day we were using 604's on a Yammy kit with the toms tuned high; think the Eagles sound. And I didn't really like the sound were we getting; I'm not sure why, maybe I was just having "one of those days". But we switched to EV 468's and the toms "opened up".  The Ev's are more sensitive and have top end than the 604's.
  So, play around with the kit and the mics. Is the D4 more or less sensitive than the D2? No one is going to gripe about all D4's or all D2's, ok, not usually. You have a neat opportunity here to play and learn.

Have fun.

Scott

[Stephen Kirby]

I would think that if the rack (top) toms are tuned higher and open and the drummer is looking for that higher pitch and sustain, then the D2s would be the choice.  If they have damped heads and low tuning, then they're trying to get a deeper sound than the drum was made for, and the extra girth of the D4 might make them happier.

[Jim McKeveny]

This is question for the recording peeps. Definitely.

As far as live reinforcement goes, the transfer function/ accuracy/tonality of any tom mic(s) is waaaaaaay down the list of concerns vs. the transfer function(and its own particular limits) of the entire deployed rig.

I would rather spend minimal time with e604/clips on all toms+snare, vs lots o'time w/finicky 421s+D2s+57+stands+ whatever. No mic will fix a bad drum. SR is an accurate transfer first. Creative tonal decisions are pre-gig.

GOOD SOUND FAST! is my mantra. Big picture.

[Debbie Dunkley]

Live is so very different - I agree it is all about speed and efficiency.
These days in the bars, I often use just kick and overhead on the one band - drummer has a nicely balanced kit -snare, toms and cymbals and the 2 mics work great. I was using a LDC for overhead but I got too much bleed from the room so I now use the AT 4041 and get great results - no need for even a snare mic. Getting the overhead positioned just right does the job.
The other band the drummer sets up his own mics - 5 in total so I don't have to worry about that. He has a mis-match of mics but all decent quality.
Recording is a totally different animal and the last recording I did, we took all day just getting the drum mics where we wanted them - recording, then repositioning, then recording, then switching mics,  etc etc. We also changed them around from song to song.
Regarding the OP question regarding the D2 and the D4, it really is a matter of taste. Experimenting, if you have the time, can sometimes bring surprisingly good results and is often how new sounds and methods are discovered and created.

[Helge A Bentsen]

I gave up on dynamic tom mics except 421. These days it’s DPA 2011c on K&M 24030 drum microphone holders for toms.

[Stephen Kirby]

I have e604s and use them for both live and recording.  Next to no eq except for HP and maybe a gate on the floor tom if it rings excessively live.  A pain sometimes with RIMS mounts but the mics are so ubiquitous that many folks have done the same thing as I have and gaff taped something to the narrower rack tom mounts so that the 604 clips fit.  The Audix clips are more versatile but the mics are heavier and more colored to that deep "thwap" sound of arena rock.
I've learned to tighten the reso head of my drums to control the sustain but carry moongel and gaff tape for those situations when a drummer can't get their toms under control.
I've also done the session thing with endless jockying of 421s and when I listen to those tracks and compare to what I get at home with 604s clipped on there isn't enough difference to make it worth it.  By the time the rest of the music is mixed in any differences are swamped.
I've gotten great sound live with open drums (drums that don't have damped heads or stuff stuck to them) and highly damped drums.  It depends on what the drummer is trying to do.  Well tuned open drums are easy.  Damped drums take a bit more eq and often some reverb.  Poorly tuned open drums get gated or the moongel.

[Steve Crump]

This really doesn't answer the OP's original question, but I am going to give a +1 on the D2s.
A couple years ago we were trying to record some Jazz influenced Funk with a drummer using a 5pc set and we tried several different mics on toms and couldn't get what we wanted, so I called a drummer I knew that spends a good bit of time tracking and he recommended the D2s for rack toms, so I ordered a couple and they did give the results that they were looking for. We actually ended up spending a good bit of time trying to get the musicians happy and ended up with D2s on rack toms, KSM27 on floor tom, Advanced Audio CM414 on overheads, 57 or 81 on snare, e902 on kick resonate head and Beta 52 on batter head. Worked great.

Of course, for mobile live setups we just use one of the Shure kits. Never had any complaints.

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