MICROPHONE Review
Sennheiser MKE400
Success of a video production depends much on the accompanying audio. We cannot ignore the importance of a well reproduced audio track in conveying the various moods in a video. Casual and home video creators, along with freelance and citizen journalists often have dif icultly in inding the perfect solution for their audio problems. The Sennheiser MKE 400 is a directional compact shotgun microphone specially designed for camera mounted and smartphone-aided operation.
Design & Build Quality
If you are aware of Sennheiser’s MKE series of shotgun microphones, the MKE 400 is the big brother of the simple entry-level MKE 200. It has a compact mini-shotgun design and offers a built-in shock mount and wind protection mesh that effectively prevents handling and ambient noise spoiling your dialogue. Powered by two AAA batteries, the MKE 400 offers a cold-shoe mount with a threaded tripod receptacle. The device has a sturdy and lightweight design with a black polycarbonate outer shell with a matte inish. The microphone offers a power button, a microphone gain switch and a low-cut ilter switch on one side and a volume up/down rocker switch and 3.5 mm headphone output jack on the other. The bundle includes a three-pole (TRS) connection cable for D-SLR and mirrorless cameras and a four-pole (TRRS) connection cable for smartphones. It also includes a furry windshield, pouch and guides.
Key Features
The MKE 400 is a highly directional microphone, providing a supercardioid pick-up pattern. This allows the device to be highly sensitive to the sound directly in front of it, while cutting off the peripheral disturbances. This also provides good pick up for sounds directly at the back, but for a very short distance. This makes it ideal for recording conversations and interviews with a handheld camera or smartphone rig. We found this quite ef icient in isolating and picking up main conversations. The gain switch allows you to switch the microphone gain to -20 dB, 0 dB and 20 dB, making it even more ef icient in isolating the main voice when the ambient speech is too disturbing. The low-cut ilter can be used to cut out the low frequencies such as the low hum from air conditioners and fans. The headphone jack with integrated volume controller allows you to monitor sound pick-up quality in real time. This is a great help especially when you are pressed for time and do not have the luxury of multiple takes, like in capturing an impromptu sound bite. The device powers on automatically when connected to a camera or smartphone and shuts off when disconnected.
Ergonomics
The Sennheiser MKE 400 offers a compact and highly ef icient solution for recording sound bites and dialogues both indoors and outdoors. The microphone is versatile and easy to use
with an added advantage of a 3.5 mm headphone. It can be mounted on a coldshoe or a tripod and is light enough to use with a smartphone rig. Sennheiser also sells the MKE 400 Mobile Kit, which includes the MKE 400 microphone, smartphone clamp and Manfrotto PIXI mini tripod.
Performance
The MKE 400 performed quite well in our limited use. Speech was clear and pick-up highly directional. You need to make sure that the subject is in front of the mic for effective isolation and pickup. The gain control and low-cut switch proved very useful in controlling noise and interference.
Value for Money
The Sennheiser MKE 400 retails at an MRP of Rs. 16,900. This is competitive for a directional microphone of this quality.|SP