Sennheiser mics put to the test in Dubai
Published: MEA
UAE: Sennheiser recently requested Dubai-based sound recordist David Thirion to test its MKH 8060 and MKH 8070 microphones as well as its MKE1 lavaliere mic. To do this Mr Thirion used a TV commercial and documentary he was working on.
The shoot took place in early August in Jumeirah Beach Park and on the beach, and Mr Thirion opted for a PSC Alphamix mixer, a Sound Devices 744T HDD recorder, Lectrosonics for wireless applications and for PSC Boom Poles to go with the Sennheiser mics.
‘I was concerned about the humidity affecting the microphones,’ said Mr Thirion. ‘Normally I wouldn’t be worried about an RF condenser fighting humidity – even the 70 per cent we had that morning – but in this case, both the MKH 8060 and 8070 are modular microphones and I was nervous to have humidity going through the slightest open space between the capsule and preamps,’ he explained. ‘But it was just fine, there was not a single problem.’
The first sequence shot was on the beach and provided good conditions to try the MKH 8060. ‘I started to rehearse with my regular MKH 416 and then switched to the MKH 8060 for an on the spot comparison,’ explains the sound recordist. ‘The 8060 has a sensitivity that is two and a half times more than the 416. Every time I would use the 416 and then plug the 8060 back on, I had to bring my mixer preamp level down a fair bit to not overload the signal. I could even lift up the boom for wider shots and still have enough signal because this mic is that sensitive!’ Mr Thirion was also very positive about the mic’s intelligibility and directivity, describing them both as an improvement on the 416.
The MKH 8070 is not the type of mic Mr Thirion would usually use, but he was again full of praise for it in terms of sensitivity and intelligibility. However, it was the directivity that was particularly useful on the shoot. ‘We went into Jumeirah Beach Park and were shooting quite close to the Jumeirah Beach Road, which, was busy enough with buses, delivery trucks and cars to create a serious issue for me in the sound department,’ he recalled. ‘I decided to use the 8070 to see if I could reject as much unwanted sound as possible and we managed to record most of what we had to shoot. Some shots are probably going to be worked on in post production but a minimum amount.’
In addition to these units, Mr Thirion also recently used an MKE1 lavaliere mic for a documentary. ‘I found the same quality I find in my Sanken: warm, rich, velvety, excellent frequency response and a high speech intelligibility,’ said Mr Thirion.
‘These new microphones are well thought through and well designed but they do come at a certain price,’ concludes the sound recordist. ‘It could be for some, a heavy investment. However, once you’d tried them you would probably see the potential of the new era of digital applications.’