Sennheiser E 901 - Music Gear Review of the week

Another music gear review from Alistair Vowles, Lime Green Entertainment's Audio Production Engineer. This week Alistair will talk about Sennheiser E 901.  "This half-cardioid microphone is designed specifically for kick drums.

 The diaphragm is protected by a very rigid outer casing that is capable of withstanding 200Kg+. (So no need to worry about stepping on it.) Added with the weight of the microphone, the slip resistance base, and the very nice sounding built-in preamp, it is a steal for the price.  

But, that is where the good news stops. The diaphragm of this microphone is only about ¾cm across, and is only supported at 3 points. This does not allow the sub frequencies of the kick drum to be recorded accurately and you find a very low buzzing in the lower end of the frequency spectrum.

Also, on closer dissection of this microphone I found that the solder used in connecting its components is of a very low grade and so slightly distorts the quality of the audio being recorded. Also the housing of the diaphragm is not a perfect fit so very occasionally you can pick up a slight rattling, (which most people would assume was the sound of the drum kit moving.)

The good news is that if you want to pay that little bit extra, you can get this microphone in a smart, pearl white colour.  All in all, I unless you are a Sennheiser enthusiast, I wouldn’t recommend this microphone, instead go for a slightly pricier microphone such as the Beyerdynamic M88TG, because with microphones the rule of thumb is that you get what you pay for".

Watch this page for more reviews from Alistair next week - if you have any questions for him please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it