Why do live drums sound like crap?

[MattyH]

My drummers set sounds incredible live. But he's a fantastic drummer who studied live sound. And we have a sound guy who knows more about live sound than the drummer. I guess I'm lucky haha.

 

[Munjibunga]

I like a smaller-diameter kick drum - say, 20-inch max. In fact, in my acoustic trio, the drummer has a Sonor jazz kit with an 18-inch kick, and it sounds nice and tight. I love it ... real crisp attack, no flappy cardboard sound, even when miked.