good call there.
shell plays only a part in the composition of the drum sound. the bearing edges, type of heads used, tuning, play as much, if not greater part of the final drum sound.
for plywood construction,
maple is thought of to be full-bodied sound across the spectrum.
birch, if assuming same number of plies & shell size, will have more pronounced highs and slightly reduced low.
for bearing edges, a badly cut edge will not allow the drum head to sit in properly. mid-range drum kit using select choice of good woods like birch & maple but with poorly cut bearing edge is such a waste of good wood!
one thing to note: if you've been playing on jamming studios drum kits, and lower end drum kits like pearl targets, forums, yamaha stage custom, tama stagestar/imperialstar etc. a mid-range kit of either birch or maple will instantly sound like a 'super' kit.
one regrettable thing is, there's not enough detailed reviews out there of better kits and more 'best practices' of reviewing a kit ie. testing the decibel level, frequency spectrum, qualitative (metrics-based) and subjective (intangible) analysis.
hopefully as the years go by, we can move in that direction! it will be a boon for musicians and consumers alike =)
personally, i'm always interested in the less-used woods: oak, african bubinga, walnut, beech, bamboo.
cheers