Lewitt DTP 640 REX: The Dual-Element Kick Mic That Lets You Blend Punch and Click

The Lewitt DTP 640 REX is a dual-element dynamic and condenser kick drum microphone, built around two separate transducers in a single body — a large-diaphragm dynamic capsule and a medium-diaphragm condenser capsule — each routed to its own independent output. Where a conventional kick mic forces you to commit to one voice before the sound ever reaches your console, the 640 REX captures the low-end thump and the beater attack simultaneously and hands you both on separate feeds. That means you shape the weight and the click as two independent ingredients, in the mix, after the take. For anyone who has ever wrestled a stubborn kick into shape with EQ alone, it is a genuinely liberating way to work.

Two Microphones in One Body: The Dynamic-and-Condenser Design

Inside the DTP 640 REX sit two independent capsules. The first is a large 1.25 in (31.7 mm) moving-coil dynamic element; the second is a 0.88 in (22.4 mm) condenser element. Both are cardioid, and both look at the drum from the same end-address position, so they hear the same hit from the same place at the same instant — the essential requirement for combining two microphones without phase smear. A single 5-pin XLR carries both signals out of the mic, and the included breakout cable, roughly 13 ft (4 m) long, splits that into two ordinary 3-pin XLR feeds. One cable in, two independent microphones out.

Why a Dynamic and a Condenser Hear a Kick Differently

A kick drum is really two sounds at once: a deep, powerful low-frequency thump with a sharp beater attack, and a faster, brighter layer of shell resonance and skin detail sitting on top. No single capsule captures both perfectly, because the physics pull in opposite directions. A dynamic capsule works by moving a coil of wire through a magnetic field; that coil has mass, which makes it superb at handling huge low-frequency energy and enormous volume, and gives it the solid, punchy low end and beater thump that define a modern kick. A condenser capsule works by sensing tiny voltage changes across an extremely light diaphragm; with far less mass to move, it responds faster and reaches higher, capturing the shell resonance, ring, and high-frequency snap that a dynamic tends to round off. The 640 REX runs both at once — the dynamic for the weight and punch, the condenser for the detail and click — so nothing about the drum is lost before you start mixing.

Independent Outputs: Blend, EQ, and Gate Each Capsule Separately

Because each capsule arrives at your console on its own 3-pin XLR, you treat them as two separate channels. Blend them to taste for the exact ratio of body to click. Compress the dynamic hard for sustain and weight while leaving the condenser open for snap. Gate them independently, or roll off the condenser's low end so it contributes only air and attack. The condenser element runs on standard 48 V phantom power, while the dynamic element is passive and needs no power at all. This is the freedom engineers have long chased by taping two separate mics to a kick and praying they stay in phase — except here the two elements are co-located and time-aligned from the factory, so the result is a kick you can rebalance in the mix, on any song, without re-miking a thing.

The EFR Passive EQ: A Kick Voicing Built Into the Mic

EFR — Extended Frequency Response — is a passive equalization network voiced specifically for kick and bass drum and built into the microphone itself. Rather than delivering a flat, raw signal that you then have to carve into a usable kick sound, the 640 REX applies a tailored curve at the source: a lift in the low end around 70 to 150 Hz for weight and power, and a presence boost around 3 to 5 kHz for beater attack and definition, with the boxy low-mids pulled back. In practice that means the mic often sounds finished the moment you plug it in — the classic scooped modern kick voicing arrives without you touching a channel EQ. Because it is passive, it adds no noise and needs no power to do its work.

Three Sound Characters, a 3-Way Pad, and a Switchable High-Pass

On the body you get three practical switches. Three selectable sound characters let you reshape the mic's voicing to suit the drum, the tuning, and the genre — from tight and aggressive to fuller and rounder — without reaching for outboard gear. A three-way pad (0, -10, and -20 dB) keeps the electronics clean in front of the most punishing sources, so a hard-tuned kick or a close bass cabinet never overloads the input. And a three-way high-pass filter (off, 40 Hz, or 80 Hz) trims subsonic rumble and stage-borne low end before it ever reaches your console. Everything you need to place and voice the mic lives on the mic.

Built for the Loudest Source in the Room

A kick drum, up close or inside the shell, is one of the most brutal acoustic environments a microphone will ever face. The DTP 640 REX is engineered for exactly that: it handles a maximum sound pressure level of 168 dB peak (150 dB at 0.5 percent THD), so it stays clean and composed at volumes that would send a delicate mic into distortion. Whether you drop it through the port hole of a kick, plant it in front of a bass cabinet moving air, or set it on a booming floor tom, it takes the hit and delivers a signal that is powerful without ever sounding stressed.

Where the DTP 640 REX Shines — and Who It's For

The 640 REX is first and foremost a kick and bass drum microphone, at home inside the shell, in the port hole, or out front for a rounder, more resonant tone. But the same dual-element design that flatters a kick also makes it a superb choice for bass guitar cabinets, floor toms, low percussion, and even brass — anywhere you want both weight and articulation captured on the same pass. It is built for the engineer who wants to stop fighting the kick in the mix: the studio owner tracking drums who wants options after the take, the front-of-house engineer who needs a kick that sits right with minimal EQ, and the producer who has never been fully happy committing to a single kick sound. Plug it in, split the two outputs, and let the mix decide.