Beyerdynamic

Microphone Type: Condenser Polar Pattern: Cardioid Frequency Response: 40Hz-20kHz Max SPL: 125 dB (140 dB w/Pad) Output Impedance: 180 ohms Signal to Noise Ratio: 71 dB Self Noise: 16 dB Low Cut Filter: 250 Hz Pad: 15 dB Includes case, shockmount and windscreen OVERALL OPINION This is the first Beyerdynamic microphone I've ever used. Having used their headphones before, and being impressed by the comfort, but not necessarily the sound (for mixing), I didn't have too high of hopes for these mics coming in. Boy, was I wrong! These mics sound absolutely GORGEOUS! Through a Universal Audio 2-610, these were, by far, the best sounding drum overheads I've heard in this price range (and significantly higher). The shimmering highs really bring out the character and glassiness of high end cymbals. Even in a completely untreated room, these mics made my Oktava MK012s sound like a Behringer mic into a $50 interface. The difference was THAT big. An utterly stunning amount of clarity out of these mics. The detail it truly insane for the price. I had previously made up my mind on buying a pair of Neumann KM184s, but on recommendation from a friend, I tried these first. Glad I did, these things sound BETTER than the Neumanns, for significantly cheaper. Truly a dark-horse in mics. I'm surprised these haven't gotten more attention, because they're simply fantastic! People have asked me before what I use for overheads and simply written them off, because they've never heard the name; then I show them the results, and they quickly become converts!

When it comes to instrument microphones it can be difficult to pick the right one for what you need to do. We have been through so many different instrument microphones and some we like and some we don’t. The BeyerDynamic M 201 TG gives use a clean and respected sound. We just didn’t like the price tag that is on it. For some reason I felt like this microphone was a little over priced considering some of the other microphones that BeyerDynamic makes that sound very similar to the M 201 TG but cost about 30 percent less than it does. OVERALL OPINION Some instruments in your studio or on stage are hard to microphone up because of the space around the instrument and it could be a tight squeeze in order to get a microphone back there. The M 201 TG is a slim microphone that can reach back to those hard to reach places. This microphone also does a great job of not interfering with your speakers and monitors because it has a special coil design. It will allow you to have it very close to all of your gear without it causing issues to your other gear or audio quality. This is a great hypercardioid polar pattern microphone, it has a 3 pin connector and a well built frame. The M 201 TG should hold up for a long time and be your tuff to reach places microphone especially in a cramped studio like ours or small stage where all of the gear might be crammed together. We do not use this microphone all the time but it is great to have it for some situations. The sound is crystal clear no matter what you record with it. If the price was a little less we would probably purchased a couple of these. BeyerDynamic has always made great microphones but for some reason I feel they overpriced this one just a little bit. If you have the money to spend, check out the TG V90r by BeyerDynamic.

The Beyer Dynamic M 160 is a hypercardioid ribbon microphone. It has a double ribbon transducer that makes it a versatile microphone to use on a number of instruments as well as vocals. We have used this microphone as an overhead drum mic, it was one of the best drum microphones that we had at the time which was about 4 years ago. Depending on how far you put this microphone away from your drum or guitar will determine the sound that it captures. It may take some playing around with it, we had to do it at a few different distances from the acoustic guitarist before we got a sound we where happy with. OVERALL OPINION The Beyer Dynamic M 160 comes with a small case to carry it in and a microhpone clip. The M 160 seems to be pretty fragile though, I wouldn’t take my chances with dropping it. I do wish it came with a hard case to protect it more when we have other gear around it when moving it from place to place. The M 160 only cost us around 500 dollars at the time when we bought it and we compared it to microphones that we have used that cost well over 1000 dollars. Though we never really used it for vocals, we kept it on the instruments side because we felt like that’s what it was best at. It really brought out the true sound of our instruments no matter how punchy they where or how high or low the frequencies where. The Beyer dynamic M 160 opened up and made everything sound huge. Keep this microphone about 6 inches away from your guitar and watch how amazing it sounds. It actually sounded exactly the same as it really did once we recorded it. There was no EQ needed or any extra processing for that matter.

The BeyerDynamic M 300 TG is a moving coil dynamic microphone that has a cardioid polar pick up pattern. The mic is designed to be used both in the recording studio and for live shows, but I've only used it inside of the studio so this review will focus on this application of the mic. The mic also has a frequency response pick up between 50 Hz and 15 KHz. OVERALL OPINION I first used the BeyerDynamic M 300 TG about three years ago, although I haven't had access to one for a while since I no longer work at the recording studio that I used it at. The M 300 has a variety of uses, but is best suited for recording male vocals in my opinion because it has the capability to handle high volumes and is perfect for capturing that rasp in a voice. I'd recommend using it mostly for rock music vocals, but it definitely has some other uses as well. I've also used it on electric guitar and have found this to be as good as of use for the mic as any. However, the built in pop filter makes it seem like they designed it for vocals, which it is also great for. While I haven't used it for any other applications beyond vocals and electric guitar, I would bet that it would sound good for any application where there was a good amount of pressure involved. I haven't seen too many of these microphones around since the one that I have used, which is the reason that I haven't used the mic in a while, but I wish they were more readily available because the mic is really a good one. It has a little bit more clarity than a Shure SM57, but at the same time definitely has a comparable sound to it. I'm not really sure how much the M 300s usually go for since I don't see them around all that often, but would imagine they would be in the range of a few hundred USD. I'd say that if you're looking for a nice dynamic microphone that this is worth looking into for sure, but there are plenty of more readily available options that are comparable if you can't get your hands on one.

The Beyer Dynamic M260 is a ribbon microphone designed for use in the recording studio. As with all ribbon mic, I wouldn't use this outside of the studio, but as far as ribbon microphones go, the M260 is as sturdy as any. It has a hyper cardioid polar pattern. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the Beyer Dynamic M260 ribbon mic for about a year. I like the M260 beacuse it is a great sounding ribbon mic that isn't as fragile or expensive and some of the other ribbon mics out there. The sound quality of the M260 is full and warm and is great for a number of different things. The main applications I use the M260 for is percussion and electric and acoustic guitars. I have also used it on drums, but I would only recommend it for lighter drums or snare drum, as it can only take so much punch. This is a great choice for an all around ribbon microphone and will work in a number of different applications. The price is really a bargain, and even though it isn't as great as a Royer or RCA, it will cost a fraction of the price. The price makes it a great option for professionals and amateurs alike. I love having the M260 around because I find it presents itself quite handy to me a lot of the time. The low price tag means that I don't worry about it as much as I would some of the more expensive ribbon mics out there, and it is also a lot sturdier than a lot of ribbon mics out there. The sturdy casing also makes me worry less about this ribbon mic. Overall, the Beyer Dyanmic M260 is one of my favorite ribbon mics out there because it has a great sound and is set at a truly great price.

My school band had this mic for years and I didn’t even pay it any attention untill one day I wanted to record some brass at home with some friends and my brother. So I actually paid attention to what mic we where using for our concert band at school many years ago. So after seeing this mic, we saved up our money and managed to purchase one of these in around the fall of 2006 we where able to have enough money to get a used one, but it took us a while to find someone who was actually selling one of them. Finally we got on an eBay auction for about half of the price that it cost brand new because the seller had scrapped it up and dropped it a few times and he even shipped it for free from Europe . When it arrived it wasn’t the prettiest mic because of the abuse that he gave it but after playing some trumpet on it I was amazed on how good it sounded and more amazed that we actually purchased the same mic that our school was using for concert band. I couldn’t believe we actually had the same mic sitting in our basement and using it for our own semi jazz music recordings. OVERALL OPINION The mic proved a very crystal clear sound and very accurate, we didn’t even touch any of the eq controls because we wanted the most natural sounding mic that we could possible have. At the time I thought his was the best mic I would every have for brass, well that was many years ago, and since then I have moved on to many other mics that sound way better. But at the time, the Beyer Dynamic M69N was perfect for us and I have no regrets using it.

The BeyerDynamic M 69 TG is a dynamic microphone that is designed for use in the studio or for live shows. My experience with the M 69 TG is in the recording studio to record a variety of different applications. Let me start off by saying that I think BeyerDynamic does a great all around job with their microphones, as they are generally reliable and sound great. The M 69 TG in particular is a very impressive microphone for a few different reasons that I'll get into in the next section. In terms of characteristics, the mic will pick up sound in a hypercardioid pick up pattern, meaning that it has more sensitively in front of the microphone and less on the sides. This type of pattern can be useful in situations where you're looking to get a signal dead on and not too much sound directly around where the source of the sound is. The M 69 TG will pick up frequencies between 50 Hz and 16 kHz, which is adequate for the types of applications that I've been using it for. I've never seen a manual for this microphone, but a specs chart would be adequate for it. OVERALL OPINION For getting an up close and personal sound, the BeyerDynamic M 69 TG does a great job. It's perfect for recording electric guitar, a bass guitar amp or keyboard amp, drums like tom toms or kick, and even things like brass and vocals. It's really just a great all around sounding microphone for recording anything where you would want to capture it's signal directly on. The price definitely isn't unreasonable for a microphone for this caliber with this much versatility. So while it's accessible for home studio owners, it's really a professional's microphone in the end. I'd definitely encourage all studio owners out there to check out the BeyerDynamic M 69 TG to see if it's something you might want to add to your rig.

The Beyerdynamic M 201 N is a dynamic microphone suitable for use both in the studio and on the stage. I've only used the mic for recording, so this review will be focused on this type of application only having said that I do think it could be useful for live shows as well. The mic also has a hyper cardioid pick up pattern. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the Beyerdynamic M 201 N for about about two years and my view on it is that it is definitely a suitable recording mic for a few different applications. The mic is overall a really good sounding dynamic microphone and definitely does all of the thing that you would want from a dynamic microphone. I've used the M 201N for recording a few different applications including drums (snare and tom toms) as well as for electric guitar. These are probably the best applications that I see fit for the 201, but that isn't to say that I don't think that it could be used for other applications as well because it is a great sounding mic overall. Beyerdynamic is known for making high quality mics and this one definitely fits the bill. I would compare this microphone to a Shure SM57 in terms of sound quality, although both do have their own distinct sounds. The mic is also quite sturdy as I believe it is built very well and should last a while as long as you treat the mic properly. Although I do like some of other Beyerdynamic mics out there better than this one like the M88 and the M260, the M 201 N is very respectable in its own right and should definitely be taken into account when looking for a good dynamic microphone. While it wouldn't be my first choice for a dynamic mic, it is still worth of a try for sure.

The Beyer Dynamic M88 microphone is a dynamic mic that has a hypercardiod polar pattern. I have only used this mic in the recording studio but it would probably work well in a live setting as well. It is built well and is sturdy which leads me to believe it would work well outside of the studio as well, but I have never brought it outside my studio so I cannot say for sure. This is a great mic for kick drum and guitars, and bass guitars as it can withstand loud signals. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the Beyer Dynamic M88 for about four years and I have found that it is a great mic in a number of different situations. The natural inclination with this mic is to use it with loud signals like a kick drum or an electric guitar, and while it works great on these instruments, it has capabilities beyond this. I have found that it is also a great microphone for percussion of all kinds and is great for some types of singers - namely those who sing or scream a bit louder than the rest of us. Beyer Dynamic has a good reputation for making high quality microphones, and this is just one of many great mics made by this company. I think of this as a much fatter Shure SM57 that can be used for a wider of situations. While the SM57 has the price advantage by a lot, the M88 is more versatile and it probably better sounding overall. Since it is a high quality dynamic microphone, the price is pretty reasonable, and if you can get one used you can save a good amount of money on these. I love using the M88, and would recommend it for those looking for a great all around, all purpose dynamic microphone.

If you are a brass or horn player, then you know how important it is to have a great sounding microphone for live shows. We only have 1 horn player and he is not part of all of our sets and songs but he is still on a few so we needed a microphone that could really work for him. We went through probably 3 microphones before coming to the BeyerDynamic TGI52d. This microphone is brand new and the sales reps at Guitar Center assured us that it was the one we needed. First thing that I noticed about it is how easy it clips on and how secure it is. It will not fall off of the instrument because the clips are really strong. It will not scratch your instrument either because of the grips; they have some type of soft padding to keep your instrument scratch free. OVERALL OPINION This is the first microphone that our brass player said captured the real and natural sound of his instrument. This hypercardioid dynamic microphone his not too big, it is small but it can capture a huge sound with a frequency response of 40 Hz to 12 kHz. Overall, we are all extremely happy with this microphone and the sound he is able to get out of it. We have not had it too long yet so we are not sure how well it will hold up over time. But so far so good. We do not regret purchasing this microphone, especially at this price of 180 bucks. Because we have had other microphones that cost twice that much and don’t give you a natural clean sounding horn like the TGI52d can. We do wish that it came with a carry pouch or case just to protect it for when it is stored, we ended up using a different microphone pouch for it but it still worked like a charm. BeyerDynamic also has a TG-D52D clip on microphone which is one that is closely compared to this microphone and it is a little cheaper.

The BeyerDynamic MC 834 is a large diaphargm condenser microphone for use strictly in the studio. As with any microphone, you can cross over to live sound if you want, but this is an expensive microphone and I'd highly recommend not bringing it outside your studio. The mic has a very high SPL for a condenser microphone and boasts a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. It's got attenuation both a -10 db and -20 db and also has a two position low cut. The mic has a standard cardioid pick up pattern. OVERALL OPINION The BeyerDynamic MC 834 is an excellent microphone for a variety of applications. I only recently had the chance to use the microphone on a session that I was working on. The producer on the sessions brought this microphone in, as it's not one that's owned by the studio. We were using it a mono room microphone for drums and hitting it hard with an outboard compressor - an 1176 to be exact. We first tried it out without any compressor, which got us a really nice and clean sound. It was only taken up a level when smashed with the 1176 as it was a really good vibe and nice blending sound if not as clean as it was without the compressor. I haven't had the chance yet to try this microphone for other applications, but I'm fairly certain it will work well across the board in terms of applications where you'd want a condenser that can take a bit of heat. The MC 834 isn't cheap however, as it costs a bit over $1,000 US dollars. This isn't terrible for a great mic like this, but for home studio owners it's going to most likely be a bit much and I'm not sure it would be my first choice for a mic in the price range anyway. The bottom line is that the Beyer MC 834 is a really great condenser mic and is one every engineer and audio enthusiast should check out!

The BeyerDynamic M 500 N is a dynamic ribbon microphone that is best suited for use in the studio. The mic has a hypercardioid pick up pattern and boats a frequency range that starts at 40 Hz and goes up to 18 kHz. I don't know too much backing information about the M 500 N, as it isn't one of BeyerDynamic's most well known microphones. It's been a little while since I used this microphone, but still have some fond memories of it and hope to get a chance to use it again in the future. The mic also features an on/off switch. OVERALL OPINION The BeyerDynamic M 500 N is overall a very solid microphone that can be used for a number of different purposes. I've personally only tried it for a few different things, and haven't actually used the microphone in a few years as I'm no longer working at the studio where they had it. The last session that I used it on was for recording some percussion. I was told before hand by one of the house engineers at the studio that the mic was great for congas and the like, so we tried it out on some percussion and the results were fantastic! You could hear all the detail in the sound, but it wasn't overly distracting as the sound was still whole and cut through very well. If I remember right, we used it for some shaker, tambourine, and conga tracks. I also once used it on an electric guitar cabinet, which I also thought sounded pretty great. I don't think it would be too easy to find one of these to buy, as they are no longer made and don't seem to be all that readily available. There are definitely some comparable and similar BeyerDynamic mics, so if you can't find this one check out some of the others they've got...