Sennheiser MKE 400 | An Encapsulated Shotgun Mic Solution!

Sennhieser released an update to their mke 400 to make it more in line with the excellent 200 that we reviewed a little while ago here:

The mke is sennheisers answer to that powered larger on camera shotgun mic like the mke 200 i compared to the video micro by rhode think of this one being like the video mic

The mic now sports alot of design and features shown in the mke 200 like the enclosed shock design which adds great relealience and some built in wind proofing to boot but just like the mke 200 it comes with the world's softest ever deadcat now just in a larger size, the excellent locking Audio cables also make a return giving you the confidence that everything is plugged in and secure. this new design is also very small and compact for this style of mic making it very portable and lightweight

Were it differs from the 200 however is that it is an active microphone with a much larger internal element this gives it a much hotter signal and extended range when recording

Its powered by 2 AAA batteries so super easy to swap out when they die on the go

There are three gain levels to choose from being - . and + whatever that means and a low end roll off for those rumbly situations

And finally on this side there is a built in headphone monitor port with volume control this is an excellent addition allowing you to with no fuss monitor your audio in cameras without a headphone jack without an adaptor or an external monitor being the only way

But how does it sound? Well i got a rode mice here we can compare it to so lets hear them shall we?

Now as i always say when reviewing microphones you should really go for whatever microphone you prefer the sound of as the sound is so very subjective, obviously there are other actors that might sway your choice like price and features but in the end we use microphones to capture sound so you should make sure the microphone you buy suits your needs and sounds good to you.

For my personal opinion though i do very mic like how it sounds its clearer and performs much better in the wind compared to the rode it might have a little less low end but the rode sounds more muddy overall.

But that's just my opinion let me know which mic you preferred the sound of in the comments below.

Overall i am really liking this MKE line of mics sennheiser are doing the built in shock mount design is really unique and continues to give me confidence along with the locking jacks, The gain symbols may be a little ambiguous on the side but I think that was a conscious decision to make the microphone as simple to use as possible and the built in monitoring means i don't have to worry about the audio anywhere near as much and focus on what i'm filming. As I said in the mke 200 review these mics are confidence inspiring. A little on the pricey side however


4 out 5 stars

Pros

Sounds great
Internal shock design is great unique feature
Lightweight and compact
Built in monitoring

Cons
Expensive