REVIEWED
Sennheiser MK4 SENNHEISERMK4
Will Sennheiser’s German new German made entry-level studio condenser microphone beat the Far Eastern competition?
Words: D.P. Wilson
It seems that just when you think the market for affordable studio condenser microphones can’t possibly get any more saturated then yet another one turns up. However, Sennheiser is a big player in the microphone world with more than one classic microphone to its credit. With the new MK4, Sennheiser
are not the first of these classic manufacturers to try to compete with the influx of Far Eastern manufacturers but they are certainly the first this reviewer has come across that have managed to keep the manufacture in its home country!
SENNHEISER MK4
SRP £299.00
All prices include VAT CONT
ACT
Sennheiser UK T:
01494 551551 W:
www.sennheiser.co.uk 42 3pickup
That’s right, despite the MK4’s more affordable pricing Sennheiser has managed to manufacture its new microphone in Germany alongside its more famous high end models. Now, German manufacture is traditionally a sign of excellent quality but normally at a cost penalty, so does this mean that mean that the new MK4 microphone will have all the wrong corners cut in all the wrong places or be a lean mean Teutonic fighting machine?
Ready to (not) rumble The first thing that struck me upon taking the mic out of the box was that it feels like a proper, quality item. As you may expect the MK4 is an unassuming looking side address large diaphragm condenser but in its own understated way it still looks a real class act. The quality of the fit and finish is top notch with none of the rough edges or quality control foibles that can mar the appearance of many a cheap Far Eastern microphone. The package itself however shows the first signs of cost cutting. Flying in the face of the current trend for included suspension mounts and James Bond
attaché cases the MK4 comes in a rather unassuming cardboard box, and the only included items are a padded bag and a standard screw mount mic holder. For the purpose of the review Sennheiser sent me a large sponge type pop shield. If this is your first and only microphone it is fair to say that you may be put off by the slightly Spartan package although I for one was glad not to have to find a home for another silver microphone case! Before we look at the specs I may as well cover the other omission I noticed: A lack of switches, no high pass filter and no pad! In practice however and bearing in mind the MK4’s intended entry-level market position I don’t see this as too big an issue. The MK4 is a cardioid pickup, large diaphragm condenser with a capsule based on the Sennheiser E965 vocal microphone. Looking at the frequency response graph the response seems a little more accurate than many of its contemporaries but with still a slight hump in the presence region. Another aspect I noticed was what this must be the least expensive mic I’ve come across with an edge terminated capsule (rather than the usual practise of attaching it to the face of the diaphragm itself. In the studio, the first thing I should mention is that this mic is pretty resistant to rumble and handling noise. I personally didn’t miss a suspension mount whereas on some microphones they are a must, so unless you are stamping about, for a simple home setup it may just be that the standard holder will suffice. Inevitably, the MK4 without a pop shield does suffer from pops from the more plosive consonants like ‘p’ and ‘b’ so a pop shield will probably be necessary for vocal recording. Set up in front of a couple of vocalists the MK4 is slightly less coloured sounding than many of the vocal mics I’ve used recently, it does still
possess that slightly euphoric sound of a large condenser but it’s pretty subtle and to be honest, a breath of fresh air. This is not to say that the MK4 sounds boring, in fact it puts in an accurate but peppy performance! One thing I did notice was that the MK4 seems to extend much further into the high frequency end than other mics in this price range and in fact I found the old fashioned foam shield that Sennheiser supplied did a great job when I just wanted to tame the top end down a little. The MK4 also took well to subtly altering the position to get differing sounds as well as the ability to take a lot of EQ at the mixing stage. Other vocalists and instruments (acoustic guitar, percussion, spoken word) all showed the same innate ability to just sound good and even when it wasn’t tonally 100% on the money it was a simple job to change the mic position a few degrees or add a little EQ. PM
SHOULD I BUY ONE?
So funnily enough, what looked initially on paper at least to be a comparatively inflexible microphone seemed to be one of the more versatile mics I’ve had in my studio for a while! Ok, it may not have all the included extras (or clutter, depending on your point of view) that you get with other comparatively priced Far Eastern made mics but you don’t really miss it in practise. If you are looking for a great sounding, ‘proper’ studio microphone that can cope with everything you throw at it, this Sennheiser is a lot of mic for compratively little dosh!
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