I think we can make a few assumptions about the proposed product, with a reasonable degree of certainty...

The likely market for such a small fig 8 mic is likely to have been in the film/documentary/TV world....to a much greater degree than the music world. I'm sure that's the user-destination for most of the world's MKH30's, to this day ?

That's a big and growing market, when you add the independent and hobbyist creators operating in that realm.

An MS paired MKH 8040/8030 in a Rycote blimp would have been a very viable and desirable alternative to the equivalent Schoeps pairing....with the added advantage of humidity resistance, and hence applicable usage in a bigger number of hostile environments...due to the RF operating principle.

Senn could have capitalized on this market opportunity (and operational superiority) at any time over the preceding years since the appearance of the 8030 was mooted...

It's reasonable to assume that the main obstacle to this considerable sales advantage is simply an insurmountable technical barrier, or inability to deliver their quality control/ in the field ruggedness guarantee.

You'd hope that this "we almost got there" realization exists for Senn as a frustrating reminder that some hurdles are destined to remain out of reach for their technical team....rather than simply abandoned as a whim because they couldn't be bothered ?

Its perceived application and usefulness to the location music crowd...a tiny fraction of the overall sales %, compared with screen sound capture.

So, if one were to pitch the idea of a renewed assault on the "technical impossibility hill" that is the MKH8030 to Senn today, you'd be best advised to make that case on the strength of sound for film/TV/immersive grounds...and not for music capture alone.

Heh.

Well done, dgp!

A poster to a different forum (in 2012 !):

"I did ask about an 8030 last year at Sennheiser, and a pleasant German exec told me "no, ve haff no plans for such a thing at this time." The gist of it was, there were design problems in making a figure-8 mike this small, and he advised that the existing MKH-30 would work fine. I also got the impression that the MKH-30 is not a huge seller"

I don't get it...

I mean -- as one of the largest global audio manufacturers, whose business decisions and acquisitions over the past number of years have clearly been heavily informed by cost-benefit analysis rather than cultivating and maintaining a dedicated following among a niche group of professionals, why wouldn't you invest in an expensive and lengthy R&D process to ultimately manufacture a new product which is notoriously difficult to design and implement well, does not meaningfully replace one already in your existing product catalog, and which, if/when finally realized, will be in vanishingly low demand compared to your offerings in e.g. the headphone or wireless markets?

Seems like a no-brainer...

Why then would Senn have pushed ahead ahead with populating the MKH 8000 series with mics which all duplicated the existing MKH xx series ? Do you have access to sales figures which illustrate the folly of their approach...especially in the critical moving image field I highlighted in post #361 above ?

My guess is that the 8020 and 8040 sales (at least) would have been a shot in their arm for low visibility use, if only based upon how often they're cited in this forum.

Rather than tossing the 8030 into the same basket, I'm suggesting it's best considered as a difficult to produce anomaly in an otherwise successful product line...even if that line duplicates an existing, larger bodied series. For Sennheiser, the 8000 series appears to have been a calculated marketplace gamble which has largely succeeded...bar one model.

Might anyone care to comment on their experience with one (or a pair) of these B9 CM180 mics?

Thank you.

DG

Well here's something interesting that popped up during a Sennheiser survey...

The survey can be found here - https://sw01.rogsurvey.de/data/sennh...fhfPhDlT8U0mGA

Light at the end of the tunnel ?

Let’s all do the survey !

Thank you for the heads-up on this James...the survey linked above makes specific reference to the fig 8 MKH SD mic (8030), and I urge anyone with an interest (that this product finally make an appearance !) to complete the survey...it's pretty painless and also affords ample opportunity to provide detailed feedback on the SD series of Sennheiser mics.

As an added incentive, Sennheiser are offering 6 prizes of HD25 headphones in a draw for those submitting their survey....before the closure date of 31st October.

As Plush always says :'Do it today' !

Taken!

Took the survey.
We want a MKH30!

We also want an 8030! 😛

Like a tree falling in a forest, if they introduced the MKH8030, and simultaneously discontinued the MKH30....would anyone notice or care ?

Just completed it. Here's hoping...!

HB

PS: All y'all keep your mitts off my headphones...

Done! Thanks for the link James Clark.

Likewise. But too little, too late I fear. Apart from the continuing deprecation of AES-42, by the time it may finally emerge I fear that my only possible use for it would be recording (in M-S, naturally) 'the bleedin' choir invisible'.