sennheiser mkh416 good for ENG?
 

As the title asks, I am looking to use this for mainly outdoors with a diverse range of indoor conditions as well; will this be the right tool of choice?

The conditions will range from bustling cities to quiet villages so the ability to isolate and block off unwanted noise and sensitivity is very much needed. The mic will also see a lot of boom-pole action to pick up the host as well as onboard a camera..


I'm total sound n00bie and would really appreciate some feedback if I'm making the right purchase decision.

Spike,

I am using an MKH416 just like that, outdoors only though. If you add good wind protection (a full blimp), you have a very good solution for outdoor recordings along the lines of what you described. I've done interviews with people waiting at a railroad crossing, with a noisy train going by, and the mic picked the voices up fine (in the hand of a skilled boom operator).

Indoors, I find the 416 marginal to OK, depending on the room and its acoustical characteristics. If your #1 priority is to block out unwanted noise from the side, and you can tolerate a little bit of coloration of sound, that I suppose it'll ge a good choice. For better sound quality, though, the general agreement seems to be that a hypercardioid is a better choice than a shotgun.

- Martin

Martin, I appreciate your response. I also have a Audio Technica 897 mic, do you think this would be a better suit for indoor recording? What would you recommend for a better indoor mic?

on a boom, the AT 4053a.


Regards,

Ty Ford

I have not worked with Audio Technica microphones, but I would trust Ty's judgement. I use the Schoeps CMC641 set indoors, which is a very good microphone if your budget can be stretched that far.

- Martin

MArtin,

I agree. The cmc641, if you can afford it. $2k USD right now. I bought two 3-4 years ago. They were "only" $1200 USD then.

Regards,

Ty

What a steal. I wish I was shopping for it back then.

Heck, it was "a steal" as recently as the beginning of this year when the price went up something like 20% thanks to he Dollar/Euro mess.