Sennheiser MKE 400 review: A phone-friendly mic for content creators
Our Verdict
The Sennheiser MKE 400 isn't just a clean-sounding, nicely compact shotgun mic; with its smartphone support and easy setup, even inexperienced users tin go quality recordings.
For
- Compact pattern
- Like shooting fish in a barrel to use, including with phones
- Respectable sound quality
Against
- Basic controls
- Tin can be susceptible to wind noise
Tom'due south Guide Verdict
The Sennheiser MKE 400 isn't just a clean-sounding, nicely compact shotgun mic; with its smartphone support and easy setup, fifty-fifty inexperienced users can become quality recordings.
Pros
- +
Meaty design
- +
Easy to use, including with phones
- +
Respectable audio quality
Cons
- -
Basic controls
- -
Tin can exist susceptible to wind noise
The Sennheiser MKE 400 is a shotgun microphone designed to slot into the hot shoe mounts of DSLR cameras. This new, 2nd-gen model looks and sounds like a serious slice of "prosumer" gear, but more casual video shooters needn't look away: the MKE 400 likewise has a simplistic side that can drastically boost the quality of smartphone photographic camera clips.
Sennheiser MKE 400 specs
Connection: 3.5mm TRS/TRRS
Ports: iii.5mm headphone out
Condensers: ane
Directional patterns: Super cardioid
Size: 5 10 two.half-dozen ten 1.five inches
Weight: 3.3 ounces
While the almost ambitious of aspiring videographers won't find it a consummate recording solution, the MKE 400 could still be one of the all-time microphones for amateur video recording. Our full Sennheiser MKE 400 review will explain why.
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Sennheiser MKE 400 review: Cost and availability
- The MKE 400 is priced at $199
- Cheque multiple retailers if sold out
The MKE 400 is neither astoundingly cheap nor prohibitively expensive for a compact shotgun microphone. At $199 it's also priced identically to the original MKE 400; you lot can tell the two apart by the newer version'southward shorter mic and more indigestible shape.
Sennheiser sells the MKE 400 directly, simply is currently sold out. Yous tin grab information technology from Amazon or B&H instead, for the same price.
Sennheiser MKE 400 review: Design
- Light and compact
- Limited controls, merely easy to use
Unlike blast mics, shotgun mics like the MKE 400 are intended to braze to the top of your camera for easy treatment. To that end, Sennheiser has kept the MKE 400 appreciably small and lite. It's plasticky, just doesn't feel brittle or insubstantial, and I similar how the iii.5mm mic output has moved from the rear to the front. This prevents the detachable cable from dangling in front of your camera or phone display.
Speaking of phones, you'll need to buy a case or stand with a camera-style hot shoe to mount the MKE 400, but otherwise it's incredibly mobile-friendly. In add-on to the standard 3.5mm TRS (tip/ring/sleeve) cable for DSLR and mirrorless cameras, there's a TRRS (tip/ring/ring/sleeve) cable specifically for your smartphone's headphone jack.
Simply plug this in — or utilize an adapter if your phone lacks a headphone jack — and yous can go started. An auto-power feature makes things fifty-fifty simpler, as while the MKE 400 has a ability push button, it will turn itself on whenever it'south plugged in and will turn itself off upon disconnection.
The integrated controls are pretty bones, merely offering at least some recording flexibility. In that location's a gain switch to optionally add together or cutting out 20 decibels, along with a low cut filter, which promises to remove unwanted low-frequency sounds. This could be noises like nearby cars, or just the vibrations from handling the MKE 400 while recording.
On the opposite side of the casing is ane of the new MKE 400'south big additions: a headphone jack for mic monitoring, so you tin can hear how your footage will sound as yous shoot it. Along with its 8-step volume rocker, the headphone jack is very helpful when you lot're filming annihilation other than yourself, and makes this version of a MKE 400 considerably more practical than its predecessor.
The MKE 400 solely employs a supercardioid recording pattern, significant it mainly records within a narrow infinite directly in forepart of the mic. Withal, this pattern as well picks up sounds direct behind the mic as well, so you lot'll need to exist mindful of where the MKE 400's rear is pointing just as much every bit its front.
Sennheiser MKE 400 review: Audio quality
- Expert spoken communication clarity
- Potent directional effect
- Windshield partially effective
Indoors, the MKE 400 produces crisp, clear speech, as yous'd desire and expect. Provided the MKE 400 is correctly pointed at the speaker, its recordings prioritize their vocalism over whatsoever groundwork dissonance, and keeps incidental sounds like wearing apparel-rustling to a minimum.
There was a pleasantly huge difference between using my phone's own microphone and the MKE 400. My Google Pixel 4a mic is no slouch at recording spoken communication only also picked upward unwanted sounds like pes-tapping, a result of its less focused directional recording. The MKE 400 didn't just provide better overall clarity but picked up far fewer unwanted sounds, and recorded less reverb indoors too.
For vlogging and travelogues, the MKE 400 will help produce sufficiently make clean recordings
Outdoors, background sounds like traffic and the occasional screaming child were clearly audible with the low cut filter off, but were kept to a minimum with it switched on. They weren't entirely eliminated, though, so you should probably stick to lavalier mics if you just desire to tape a presenter's vocalization in busy areas. Still, for vlogging and travelogues, the MKE 400 will assist produce sufficiently clean recordings.
The MKE 400 is resistant to light air current, even without the delightfully fluffy windshield yous get in the box. Withal, when the weather condition gets truly blustery, yous'll exist glad to take this accompaniment. It doesn't completely cake current of air noise in these tough conditions, but at least reduces it to a depression hum that y'all can easily speak over. The low cut filter helps likewise, equally does leaving the proceeds switch at 0.
The MKE 400'southward stupor resistance as well impressed me. Handling mics while they're recording is a good way to add a bunch of random knocking and fumbling sounds, only I could pick upward the MKE 400 past its base and moving ridge it around without any audible rustling. That was true even when the depression cut filter was switched off.
Recordings maintain a very strong left/right separation too, and so it'due south easy to tell where private sound sources are in a scene.
Sennheiser MKE 400 review: Verdict
A device like the MKE 400, with its eagerness to piece of work with smartphones, risks potentially awkward positioning. It's not quite professional-level, only might also look like an unnecessary luxury for everyday telephone usage.
Even so, it does manage to find a comfortable middle ground, and volition serve equally a great picayune mic for DIY content creation. If you lot're vlogging or streaming, the MKE 400 will comfortably deliver the sound quality you lot demand, and will do then without taking upward much space in your bag or demanding three years of motion-picture show schoolhouse to operate. Indeed, it doesn't fifty-fifty require a conventional camera.
- More: Bank check out the all-time headphones with a mic for voice and video calls
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/sennheiser-mke-400
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