tube mics in high SPL situations

[permanent hearing damage]

I admittedly do not have a huge amount of experience with tube mics: I own a Joly modded MKL2500 (that I have grown to love quite recently) and a Royer kit modded MXL 2001. And i did once work in a studio that had a Neumann U195. I had limited experience with the U195, but yelling vocals and a tenor sax overloaded the hell out of it. My modded mics hold up decently to louder vocals sometimes, even a loud guitar amp. I can often notice some distortion, but the good/pleasing kind (at least to my ears). However, if they go anywhere near a drum kit, it's all over. I know people often utilize tube mics for overheads and all sorts of other loud applications, but I'm curious which ones are best utilized for that sorta thing as I'm guessing they're gonna be of the higher priced variety. I've seen AT4060s used as overheads, but what other options might I have in the sub $1k range? would a tube SDC be a better plan for that kinda thing? If I go down that route, I think I'd like to have something I could potentially utilize for guitar cabs and vocals as well as overheads or room mics. Any thoughts?

[losthighway]

I use the Groove Tubes MD1a's as overheads pretty often. No issues with overload they're not totally neutral, but they tend to have a fair amount of heft and take away a little of the abrasive cymbal sizzle.

In fact that's kind of weird about the Neumann with loud vocals, I don't have a ton of tube mics so I don't really know, but I wonder if that is really just a problem of bad design, or a damaged mic.

[drumsound]

I own a Neumann CMV 563 and an iSK 2B Beauty and they both can handle overhead duty. I'm reviewing 2 Advanced Audio mics for the magazine the CM251 and CM67se and they can also handle overhead duty. As a matter of fact I did a song for a Tom Petty tribute last week and used the Cm67se for a mono overhead and it was big and chunky in a cool way.

[Recycled_Brains]

I tracked my band's latest using a pair of U67s as overheads and had no issues with overload, and my dude is a hitter.

I just got an MD1A from Joel, so I'm stoked to try that out on some drums and loud guitars, etc.

Is higher headroom typically a benefit of a well-implemented tube design, or is that some debatable internet stuff?

[vvv]

I don't use tube mics for OH's as I don't trust the mic stands I bring, but I do use them for front of kit. (I use condensors - SDC Studio Project C4's or LDC AT4040's or sometimes CAD M179's there.)

I particularly like the M-Audio Luna for that duty, altho' I believe it to be a rather "vintage" kinda sound, which also makes it a fave on vocals. I do not typically mic amps with tube mics, just because I prefer dynamics and ribbons there.

[floid]

I converted a second hand Luna to tube last weekend, and have spent this morning shooting out against my stock Luna. Much beefier sounding in FOK. It called attention to a certain thing the stock job has on transients - that scratchy pick sound/slappy snare sound disappeared, and can be seen in the waveform as less squarish/ more dynamic.
I've only lower end tube mics. But I have found that with a 12a*7 circuit, rolling a different tube in can have quite an effect on how it does drums in particular. What gets you a lush vocal can get you an uncontrollably blown out kit sound.

[vvv]

I said, Luna", I meant "Sputnik".

It's OK, tho', I also have a Solaris.

FWIW, I roll 12AU7's in my various tube mics (not the Sputnik) - they don't always stay, but they do sometimes make a noticeable difference.