Actually, the story of how the 416 became a voice-over mic is different. ABC promo voice Ernie Anderson, back in the '80s, one day decided he didn't want to record in the booth anymore. He wanted to do it in the control room, where the sound engineer and producer were sitting. Since the large diaphragm condenser they used, was unusable in that noisy room, the sound engineer walked over to an adjacent sound stage, grabbed a 416 they were using there, and put Ernie behind it. Anderson liked the mic so much that he never wanted to use anything else anymore. So, he got his own and took it with him to recording studio's when he had to do a job there. That way, sound engineers all over L.A. were introduced to the 416 as a voice-over mic and word started to spread.
@@CINENIMUS I saw a video once in which Joe Cipriano tells this story, but I couldn't find it quickly. He might tell it at some point in one of 'his' video's here on CZcams. You can see Anderson working in this set-up here: czcams.com/video/dErRrsUTaEk/video.html
@@ivomartijn7400 what a gem this video - wow. Love them behind the scenes especially from the good old days. Well I think it was a combination of thigs that brought the MKH416 to the hights of what we se it today. I love it I use it every day even for the Zoom calls haha and when I have it very close to me and just at the right angle - the sound is something special. What do you use?
I actually it was around in that time, growing up in LA and being a professional voiceover artist, going around to different studios and I think it was at LA Studios doing voiceover when I was remarking how I had been seeing (and loving) that microphone around town (at almost every recording studio). Someone mentioned that (I guess it was Ernie Anderson) had tried one and liked it so much that he took it with him around to studios and the studios ended up ordering their own to have for him and others and it grew in popularity. I had never heard the control room story (but that does make sense!).
Nice comparison. Thanks for that! Personally I use the Synco Mic D-2 myself, which is a very close competitor to the Sennheiser MKH 416 but for much less money. Booth Junkie did a direct comparison on his channel.
Thanks for this in depth breakdown ! Still debating on wether or not it's worth it to uprade from a condenser microphone ( sennheiser MK 4 ) to the 416 for youtube stuff.
*A million thanks for the great informative review 👍 ✨ ✨ ✨* *The 416 sounds much brighter then the sm7band there is hisss sound in sm7b, the 416 is a super cleam and quite😎*
Shotgun mics are made for either outdoor spaces or acoustically well-treated spaces. The periferations on the sides are made to hear repeated sounds in the background and cancel them out. So if your voice is bouncing off walls in an untreated space, then it will be somewhat canceled out and sound much worse (due to certain frequencies being sometimes completely canceled out). So if you are using a shotgun, ONLY use it in a treated space! :)
Just came cross your channel and we want you to know that we love your vibe, so chill and fresh compared to to overstimulation on CZcams at the moment! Thank you for the review, we brought the Sennheiser MKH 416 for our outdoor filming projects! 🫡
Aw thank you - yeah I do it mostly to practice the craft and have fun it’s my hobby thats all and I love sharing with people 🤷🏻♂️ mkh416 is one of the few constant things that remains in my studio 🫡
thanks, try finding the video I made about sound treating my new studio - over there the differences in environment show how important the room treatment is, more than any mic
Oh you needn't fret, I work as a Voice Actor so my studio is already treated. This mic is really popular in the community so I wanted to see how it compared. Thanks again! @@CINENIMUS
I agree that it suits your voice much better. Also, yes it’s expensive but I think it will hold its value pretty damn well in case you regret it. Otherwise it’s money well spent! Good video
What is your opinion on when you compare the kid brother of the 416 talking about the sennheisser mke 600 to the SM7B? It is a fairer comparison because they are closer in price bracket.
Thanks for the video. Do you think a shotgun (I'm considering slightly different version MKH8050 or Sanken CS-M1) are suitable options for talking heads? I'm curious if they will sound still fine if I type something on the keyboard or they will pick up a lot of this noise?
Thank you. This is a great comparison. I've been using the SM7B for my podcast. I'm now using the Synco Mic D2 for VO, it's so close to the Sennheiser MKH 416, but for 1/5 of the price. Have you tried that mic?
*Have you don any filtering on the sounds of the mics while recording this test or on post production or it is dry sound coming direct from the microphones?* *Thanks again*
I have the same setup, mkh 416 into the 2i2. What settings are you using for 2i2? We have a similar voice profile and we speak at the same average volume so knowing your gain settings, etc. would help me out much. Thanks! Also, THATS WHAT SHE SAID lol
@@christianburgos2736 I like my Zoom F3 but you could also get a focusrite scarlett solo if you are not planning to take it outside. Depends what you want it for?
If there’s no way to treat the room (an apartment), it seems like the Sennheiser is better. Will having a good mic preamp/amp will help with the noise?
there is of course and the answer to that is - fluffy stuff :) I use our dog beds, winter duvets or just any general clutter lol anything to break the sound waves. Not always but I found it when I do it helps more than any post processing or even a good mic. Nowadays all preamps are good, most of them have no observable self noise what so ever especially f you are listening on a mobile device, laptop speakers or even earbuds, and even then only a good trained ear can maybe hear something but I doubt. Again the most important thing is 1. room treatment (and it can be totally DIY, no need anything expensive) and 2. mic placement (that one you have to trial yourself very dependant on your voice and the environment you are in)
The Sennheiser may reject more noise from behind and to the sides, but as a condenser mic it picks up too much reverberation from the walls and higher frequencies. The SM7b is a dynamic mic. It picks up less ambience noise and less of the higher frequencies.
Shure doesn't have a very high self-noise at all, but since it's very gain-hungry, it brings up the preamp noise way up. Or maybe it picks up the fans of your laptop. But listening to your video in good headphones, the noise level is very noticeable. Nothing a little bit of post-processing can't fix, but still
I find dynamic mics always louder than condenser. More gain does not equal to more preamp noise not in this case - more gain actually makes mic sound cleaner contrary to the info you will find online.
@@CINENIMUS well, that goes in contrast with my experience. It's much more noticeable with cheaper soundcards like Behringer UMC-22, but I just tested my Focusite Saffire Pro 40, and recording a port with nothing connected to it on minimal gain yields me noise level of -92dbfs. Cranking the gain knob to the 10, the noise rises to around -59dbfs. And plugging in my Shure SM7b yields -91dbfs on 0 gain and -54dbfs on 10 gain (which includes the noise of my PC fans). And I need to set the gain to 9 at least for the recording, or else I'll be too quiet. On 10 I sometimes clip while screaming, but it's good for calls. I don't have Sennheiser MKH416 but I have Audio-technica AT4037a which is also a shotgun mic and it was sold at a similar MRSP, and it has the same output level at 0 gain as SM7b at 9 (with the same distance from the mouth to the grill), and AT4037 with gain on 3 it's the same as SM7b with gain at 10.
@@CINENIMUS I dunno, maybe my test methodology is wrong, but to me it seems like SM7b basically equals in noise to the preamp, and preamp at almost-max gain is noisier than at almost-zero gain. So almost 0 mic noise + a bunch of preamp noise becomes louder than a bit of self-noise + a bit of preamp noise. But I will gladly go and study this more if you can give me some sources that talk about it
@@CINENIMUS maybe I'm bad at explaining, but this video supports what I already meant to say. Dynamic mics have lower self-noise and lower output level. Condensers have both of those higher. So in a dynamic microphone the preamp noise plays a bigger role in a recording. Also @ 5:36 of that video: "As you could hear, the preamp noise can definitely have a big impact on the noise floor... if you use a dynamic mic". So... it proves my point? That it's not Shure that's noisy, it's the preamp?
I just buy the Sennheiser MKH 416. but i dont get any sound from it. its connected to my goxlr. Is there something more i need to do to get sound from it?
@@rjronny most important with any mic is the room treatment really so make sure if say you have hard wood floor you cover it with a carpet or something similar also when mic is right next to your face try and have it at about 45 degree angle to avoid all the plosive sounds
@@rjronny oh! And try the fethead phantom! It’s made to provide clean gain to condenser mics. So it will be clean and louder! Not the original fett head as that is not made for condensers. Fethead phantom :)
Actually, the story of how the 416 became a voice-over mic is different. ABC promo voice Ernie Anderson, back in the '80s, one day decided he didn't want to record in the booth anymore. He wanted to do it in the control room, where the sound engineer and producer were sitting. Since the large diaphragm condenser they used, was unusable in that noisy room, the sound engineer walked over to an adjacent sound stage, grabbed a 416 they were using there, and put Ernie behind it. Anderson liked the mic so much that he never wanted to use anything else anymore. So, he got his own and took it with him to recording studio's when he had to do a job there. That way, sound engineers all over L.A. were introduced to the 416 as a voice-over mic and word started to spread.
That's fascinating - do you have a link to share to the original source?
@@CINENIMUS I saw a video once in which Joe Cipriano tells this story, but I couldn't find it quickly. He might tell it at some point in one of 'his' video's here on CZcams. You can see Anderson working in this set-up here: czcams.com/video/dErRrsUTaEk/video.html
@@ivomartijn7400 what a gem this video - wow. Love them behind the scenes especially from the good old days. Well I think it was a combination of thigs that brought the MKH416 to the hights of what we se it today. I love it I use it every day even for the Zoom calls haha and when I have it very close to me and just at the right angle - the sound is something special. What do you use?
I actually it was around in that time, growing up in LA and being a professional voiceover artist, going around to different studios and I think it was at LA Studios doing voiceover when I was remarking how I had been seeing (and loving) that microphone around town (at almost every recording studio). Someone mentioned that (I guess it was Ernie Anderson) had tried one and liked it so much that he took it with him around to studios and the studios ended up ordering their own to have for him and others and it grew in popularity. I had never heard the control room story (but that does make sense!).
PS, although your avatar looks a lot like a TLM 103, I'm wondering, is that by any chance a photo of a TLM 170?
Nice comparison. Thanks for that! Personally I use the Synco Mic D-2 myself, which is a very close competitor to the Sennheiser MKH 416 but for much less money. Booth Junkie did a direct comparison on his channel.
Yeah I have seen it 👌 in his booth EVERYTHING sounds amazing 😅 what it means that the gear is just the tools it’s up to us to make them work well 💪
The Sennheiser sounds amazingggg. I’m glad you bought it. Enjoy :)
Me too haha
Thanks for this in depth breakdown ! Still debating on wether or not it's worth it to uprade from a condenser microphone ( sennheiser MK 4 ) to the 416 for youtube stuff.
I think if you want it - go for it - I love mine 😍 editing a video I have done in the woods its fantastic to record stuff outdoors too 👌
Hey bro, you would make a fantastic actor, people would love you, lol. Thanks for this great comparison.
Thanks man ha maybe in another life
*A million thanks for the great informative review 👍 ✨ ✨ ✨*
*The 416 sounds much brighter then the sm7band there is hisss sound in sm7b, the 416 is a super cleam and quite😎*
Shotgun mics are made for either outdoor spaces or acoustically well-treated spaces. The periferations on the sides are made to hear repeated sounds in the background and cancel them out. So if your voice is bouncing off walls in an untreated space, then it will be somewhat canceled out and sound much worse (due to certain frequencies being sometimes completely canceled out). So if you are using a shotgun, ONLY use it in a treated space! :)
Look at my later videos this is ancient
This is such useful information. Thanks so much for the effort you put into this 💙
Thank you - that really means a lot to me ❤️
Just came cross your channel and we want you to know that we love your vibe, so chill and fresh compared to to overstimulation on CZcams at the moment! Thank you for the review, we brought the Sennheiser MKH 416 for our outdoor filming projects! 🫡
Aw thank you - yeah I do it mostly to practice the craft and have fun it’s my hobby thats all and I love sharing with people 🤷🏻♂️ mkh416 is one of the few constant things that remains in my studio 🫡
enjoy your work. I will watch you more and learn.
aw that means a lot to me brother :) new video coming out tomorrow!
Honestly, this comparison really sold the 416 to me. Think I will be buying one to swap out my SM7b. Cheers!
thanks, try finding the video I made about sound treating my new studio - over there the differences in environment show how important the room treatment is, more than any mic
Oh you needn't fret, I work as a Voice Actor so my studio is already treated. This mic is really popular in the community so I wanted to see how it compared. Thanks again! @@CINENIMUS
For me nothing beats senheisser
great comparison, totally agree
Thanks
I agree that it suits your voice much better. Also, yes it’s expensive but I think it will hold its value pretty damn well in case you regret it. Otherwise it’s money well spent! Good video
Thanks! I am still using the Sennheiser every day 😱
And I just bought one 😅 I am still just a hobbyist, mainly photographer but beginning to start making more video work. I’m so excited for this one.
great video, keep going 👍👍😎
thanks brother - will do!
What is your opinion on when you compare the kid brother of the 416 talking about the sennheisser mke 600 to the SM7B? It is a fairer comparison because they are closer in price bracket.
Almost indistinguishable from mkh416 👌
Thanks for the video. Do you think a shotgun (I'm considering slightly different version MKH8050 or Sanken CS-M1) are suitable options for talking heads? I'm curious if they will sound still fine if I type something on the keyboard or they will pick up a lot of this noise?
Yes shotgun mics will pick up less keyboard clicking but you should not be clicking keyboard in first place haha and be in a well treated environment
Thank you. This is a great comparison. I've been using the SM7B for my podcast. I'm now using the Synco Mic D2 for VO, it's so close to the Sennheiser MKH 416, but for 1/5 of the price. Have you tried that mic?
Nope, married the mkh416 we are together for life haha. Check out my later videos - in a properly treated studio - better by long shot
*Have you don any filtering on the sounds of the mics while recording this test or on post production or it is dry sound coming direct from the microphones?*
*Thanks again*
No altering what so ever
I have the same setup, mkh 416 into the 2i2. What settings are you using for 2i2? We have a similar voice profile and we speak at the same average volume so knowing your gain settings, etc. would help me out much. Thanks!
Also, THATS WHAT SHE SAID lol
No idea everything changed by now look at my latest video not the one from years ago haha
@@CINENIMUS can you recommend one of your videos where you discuss your settings with the mkh 416?
Only 97 left in 2022!
ez. lol
Hello there great video. How i can connect the Sennheiser MKH 416 to a camera... like the Sony ZV-1 a million thanks for your time.
You would need an external phantom powered 48v recorder 🙂
@@CINENIMUS Any recommendations? 🤔🤗😁
@@christianburgos2736 I like my Zoom F3 but you could also get a focusrite scarlett solo if you are not planning to take it outside. Depends what you want it for?
How did you get the self noise information on the sm7b? 22 dbs is super high!!! Wow!
All mics have it in the spec sheets
Are there any sound/voice distortions from 40-50cm away and 30 degrees axis on Sennheiser MKH 416?
There might be. Trial and error is the best if in doubt
May I ask if sony fx 3 can handle 416 directly?
you can ask but I cannot tell as I have never tried it. I never use mic's on camera I record to a 32 bit recorder
If there’s no way to treat the room (an apartment), it seems like the Sennheiser is better. Will having a good mic preamp/amp will help with the noise?
there is of course and the answer to that is - fluffy stuff :) I use our dog beds, winter duvets or just any general clutter lol anything to break the sound waves. Not always but I found it when I do it helps more than any post processing or even a good mic. Nowadays all preamps are good, most of them have no observable self noise what so ever especially f you are listening on a mobile device, laptop speakers or even earbuds, and even then only a good trained ear can maybe hear something but I doubt. Again the most important thing is 1. room treatment (and it can be totally DIY, no need anything expensive) and 2. mic placement (that one you have to trial yourself very dependant on your voice and the environment you are in)
The Sennheiser may reject more noise from behind and to the sides, but as a condenser mic it picks up too much reverberation from the walls and higher frequencies. The SM7b is a dynamic mic. It picks up less ambience noise and less of the higher frequencies.
@@asianguy6174It's not a big deal if your room isn't terrible.
I know game grumps and jacksepticy use the senheiser 416 microphone
It is a good mic but really most new mic are this one is more of a luxury than necessity
Shure doesn't have a very high self-noise at all, but since it's very gain-hungry, it brings up the preamp noise way up. Or maybe it picks up the fans of your laptop. But listening to your video in good headphones, the noise level is very noticeable. Nothing a little bit of post-processing can't fix, but still
I find dynamic mics always louder than condenser. More gain does not equal to more preamp noise not in this case - more gain actually makes mic sound cleaner contrary to the info you will find online.
@@CINENIMUS well, that goes in contrast with my experience. It's much more noticeable with cheaper soundcards like Behringer UMC-22, but I just tested my Focusite Saffire Pro 40, and recording a port with nothing connected to it on minimal gain yields me noise level of -92dbfs. Cranking the gain knob to the 10, the noise rises to around -59dbfs. And plugging in my Shure SM7b yields -91dbfs on 0 gain and -54dbfs on 10 gain (which includes the noise of my PC fans). And I need to set the gain to 9 at least for the recording, or else I'll be too quiet. On 10 I sometimes clip while screaming, but it's good for calls. I don't have Sennheiser MKH416 but I have Audio-technica AT4037a which is also a shotgun mic and it was sold at a similar MRSP, and it has the same output level at 0 gain as SM7b at 9 (with the same distance from the mouth to the grill), and AT4037 with gain on 3 it's the same as SM7b with gain at 10.
@@CINENIMUS I dunno, maybe my test methodology is wrong, but to me it seems like SM7b basically equals in noise to the preamp, and preamp at almost-max gain is noisier than at almost-zero gain. So almost 0 mic noise + a bunch of preamp noise becomes louder than a bit of self-noise + a bit of preamp noise. But I will gladly go and study this more if you can give me some sources that talk about it
@@ruslanadayev589 czcams.com/video/frah8eBvUbU/video.html hope this helps 🤞
@@CINENIMUS maybe I'm bad at explaining, but this video supports what I already meant to say. Dynamic mics have lower self-noise and lower output level. Condensers have both of those higher. So in a dynamic microphone the preamp noise plays a bigger role in a recording. Also @ 5:36 of that video: "As you could hear, the preamp noise can definitely have a big impact on the noise floor... if you use a dynamic mic". So... it proves my point? That it's not Shure that's noisy, it's the preamp?
I just buy the Sennheiser MKH 416. but i dont get any sound from it. its connected to my goxlr. Is there something more i need to do to get sound from it?
did you enable phantom power to the port?
Yes, I found out i have to put gain to 50 to get sound. And that is to much i think. And that is with the mic next to my face
@@rjronny most important with any mic is the room treatment really so make sure if say you have hard wood floor you cover it with a carpet or something similar also when mic is right next to your face try and have it at about 45 degree angle to avoid all the plosive sounds
Thank you for you answer. I will try this
@@rjronny oh! And try the fethead phantom! It’s made to provide clean gain to condenser mics. So it will be clean and louder! Not the original fett head as that is not made for condensers. Fethead phantom :)
Sm7b you can hear hissing.
Yes
So where is the comparison? All we heard was the sm7b
icon on lower left and right toggles to show what mic was in use.
Haha
9:40 like
I’m a gear whore. Send help 🙏💀
@@CINENIMUS hahahaha. Keep the card in wife pocket😂😅
@@unuloarecare7133 I’m a lucky man - she don’t care about the cash haha
@@CINENIMUS that's great. but you said send help:))))
The 416 should not be purchased. Get a Synco d2 instead.
Ha nope
Ya, no
100%
Turn your interface Gain down for the Shure! :)
What?? They are set appropriately maybe get better speakers
Go away