What to Expect from the Beyerdynamic M 201
Quality
The biggest thing we found with the Beyerdynamic M 201 microphone is that it’s highly accurate in how it picks drums up.
It sounds fantastic on both toms and snare drums, but it also has a slight treble boost that makes snare drum tones slightly richer.
So, we’d mostly recommend using this as a snare drum mic. It’s in a similar vein to a Shure SM57, but the quality is noticeably better. It’s also easier to get a good sound.
Construction
The pencil design and small shape make this such an easy microphone to position. It never feels like it’s even there when you’re playing, and it allows you to place it in exact positions to get particular sounds that you’re looking for.
The mic has an onboard hum compensation coil, which makes it quite soft without any unwanted noise.
The frequency response also allows it to pick up sounds quite accurately.
It has a medium weight compared to its size, so it does feel relatively durable as well.
Performance
This quickly became one of our favorite microphones when we used it. Again, we figured that it works best as a snare drum mic, bringing out all the best tones from your snare drum.
It makes it very easy to mix and get the specific sounds that you want. The initial sound is accurate to what you hear in the room, but you can add an EQ and alter a few things to change the snare sound completely.
It also works well as a tom mic, especially considering the small size and easy placement. The performance quality just isn’t as impressive as when you place it on a snare drum.
Price Value Ratio
This microphone costs about four times as much as a Shure SM57, so it’s definitely a higher-end option. The quality is noticeably better, but we also know that most drummers would be happy with a standard SM57.
For that reason, we don’t think the price-to-value ratio is outstanding. You definitely get a good quality microphone for the cost, and you should get this if you can afford it. But you could also get a good snare drum sound with a much cheaper mic.