MK41 or MKH60? Music, FX, etc.

[cl516]

Trying to decide between these mics.

Sennheiser MKH60 or Schoeps CMC6 / MK41.

General consensus agrees shotguns are better for outdoors,

while the MK41 is awesome for inside.


I'm looking to record a variety of general FX, keys, synths, amps, etc.
Mostly indoors, very unflattering acoustic spaces, with a bit of noise.

1. Are MK41's a big NO-NO outside?

2. How BAD is the MKH60 indoors? (Reflections, Interference Tube)


Opinions? Thanks.

[John Willett]

These are very different mics.

The MK 41 is more like the MKH 50 than the 60.

The thing about a super-cardioid, as opposed to a gun mic., is that the frequency response stays pretty constant with directivity - a gun gets more and more directional as the frequency rises and can have a few odd off-axis anomalies due to the interference tube.

The MKH 60 is OK inside in that same way that the MK 41 is OK outside - use with care. They are often used for drama indoors.

But shotguns are really only better for outside when you are filming and have to keep the mic. out of the picture - no picture, then a cardioid or super-cardioid is fine.

It really all depends on what you want to do.

If you need the focus at high frequencies, use a gun; for more general stuff I think I would go for a super-cardioid.

[Sound Sorcerer]

I would go with the MKH-50 for it's built in -10 db pad & roll off switches, plus it handles better humidity & RF as opposed to the MK 41...

[Karl_Lohninger]

just a note on these 'humidity issues' that seem to be common knowledge....:

first: these issues (if at all) show up only when you're practically standing in the rain or it's so misty that you can't see the end of your boom pole anymore.....OR when there's a severe case of condensation - in other words you've got to give your equipment some time to acclimate.

Besides that, this is not an issue. And besides that, this is essentially true for any microphone.

I'm using Schoepses, AKG's and Sennheisers (and others) on a daily basis in any kind of weather and climate and I'm not quoting 'friends who told me something' but am talking from many years of experience.

When you're deciding which microphone would fit your needs, please forget about all that nonsensical talk about perceived humidity issues. Yes, it can happen, but then don't drop your microphone into the water, for chrissakes.

And you don't have to send your Schoeps microphone to the factory (somebody sometime ago mentioned here - like who would that person be....right, the man working for Sennheiser) if there actually would be a humidity problem. All microphones with changeable capsules are somewhat more prone to let the environment creep into its innards. What you do then is unscrew the capsule, clean the contacts and screw them back together, 'ts not really rocket science.

But back to your original question: if your choice is really between a Schoeps colette system mike and a MKH60 the answer is a clear 'go for the Schoeps'. The MKH60 is a specialty microphone and sure not as universal useable than a Schoeps.
If you're shooting for a hypercardiod then there's some more choices out there - suit your taste and/or your wallet.

Another thing: all these pretty diagrams you find at the manufacturer's websites tell you pretty much nothing about how it's going to sound. Educate your ears and then trust them. Welcome to the show!

Karl

[Zass]

I've been addicted to the 60, but everything changed the day I started to use the MK 41 with cmc 6 amp. As people said the MK41 is more much better for indoors. The response is tooooo different.

[tourtelot]

A lot of good info here, but the jist seems to be that the two mics mentioned by the OP are truly different in lots of respects so it comes down to "horses for courses." The MKH-60 will give you a lot more "reach" but be subject to all the downsides of an interference tube mic; a far worse off-axis response and possible comb filtering cancellations when used near reflective surfaces. Certainly a better choice for outdoors for film and TV. Maybe nature recording. The Schoeps will be a better choice inside; still some better reach than a cardioid but more linear off axis and no comb filtering issues.

If you want to discuss other choices, I have become a big fan of the MKH-50 over the Schoeps for dialog recording; just seems to me to do a better job. But I wouldn't use anything first out of the box for music but my CMC6 amps with my choice of capsules. They always sound gorgeous. The "equivalent" Neumans (183 and 184) get left in the dust as "verb" mics in my setups.

So for music, I think the Schoeps would be a better choice for you. For EFX, maybe the Sennheiser.

Buy both

D.

[Jaymz]

I did SFX recording for a short on a beach the other day and we had 2 x MKH-60's among our mics. Got some lovely results. So for doing FX out in the field, I can recommend it. Not so sure about indoors, I'd defer to Mr.Tourtelot and the others on that.

[David Spearritt]

Just recorded a string quartet with a pair of MK41's, absolutely beautiful sound. The MK41's constant directivity with frequency means it's a first class music mic in good or bad acoustics. Add a bit of bass EQ and you're done.

[hbphotoav]

Originally Posted by tourtelot

Buy both
D.

And the winner of "Sluttiest Answer Of The Day" is...


DOUGLAS TOURTELOT...! Come On Down...!

[tsvisser]

MKH60, MK41, MKH50, not a bad mic in the bunch. Two of them are very similar. I happen to have an MKH60 for sale, but I would be inclined to go with the advice from Mr. D.T. and the MKH50 myself in your situation, I think it would be a more all around usable mic for what you appear to be doing. The MKH50 outperforms the MK41 of a few measurable aspects, like self noise for one, but they are both top flight performers. The MKH50 happens to be one of the best technical performers around almost anywhere, so to say that it out specs the MK41 combo does not say anything bad about the Schoeps kit at all.

[Mats H]

One thing to consider is that the mkh60 has an extremely Low noise floor. I recorded an entire short movie with the nkh60 as a main fx/dialogue mic and it shone. On one particular beach in the northern rural parts of sweden the background noise was so low that the only thing I heard was ny own tinniti. We could record footsteps as foley from 50 feet with no audible noise from the mic. Quite unusual but very cool