Sennheiser MKE 440 Stereo Shotgun Camera Microphone

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The Sennheiser MKE 440 operates with two short shotgun mics, mounted in a unique "V-stereo" configuration, capturing sound for video while rejecting off-axis noise from outside the camera focus.

When capturing audio for video, the microphone choice is often an underestimated matter. The built-in microphones of a camera do not match to the high quality video resolution. They will capture sound equally from all directions and only capture clear audio when the source is in near distance to the camera. This leads to unclear sound with lack of speech intelligibility at normal camera distances.

To increase the speech intelligibility, a directional shotgun mic would be a good solution – it captures sound matched to the camera focus and suppresses background noise. But a shotgun microphone is mono which is a limitation on the sound image. For a reproduction of dimensional sensations of sound image a stereo microphone is needed. Most common XY-stereo mics capture a very wide ambient sound with often unwanted sound from the side or back of the camera. The MKE 440 highlights the sound of the video image while rejecting off-axis noise from outside the camera focus. You get the best of both worlds: stereo without side effects!

To protect the microphone from wind or turbulence created by rapid movements, the MKE 440 has two layers of metal meshes. This principle secures the full frequency audio bandwidth as opposed to foam windscreens which will attenuate the high frequencies.

In order to match recorded sound level, camera input sensitivity is controlled with the three-level adjustment slider. A low cut switch minimizes wind and handling noise. The microphone is battery powered and output is practised through a coiled cable with 3.5 mm stereo mini jack.

Sennheiser MKE 440 - Features:

• Captures sound while rejecting off-axis noise from outside the camera focus
• Dual mini shotgun mics create frontal focus
• Suppression of ambience and background noise
• Built-in elastic suspension and wind protection
• Three level sensitivity adjustment and low cut
• Compact metal construction
• Fits standard size camera shoe mount