Beyerdynamic Dynamic moving-coil microphone

The M 201 is Beyerdynamic's pencil dynamic — a hypercardioid moving coil that has sat on snare tops, hi-hats and guitar amps in serious studios for decades. It behaves like a condenser's sensible cousin: quick and detailed for a dynamic, yet immune to SPL and indifferent to phantom mishaps.

Snare without the harshness, hi-hat without the spit; it moonlights on toms, percussion and understated vocals.

Its output is modest, so give it a preamp with headroom to spare. Small, dense, and built like everything else from Heilbronn — this is a buy-once microphone.