Review on Sennheiser MKE 400 Shotgun Microphone by Carol Fowler

I'm a music teacher and when my classes went online last year I needed to create teaching materials for the web. In addition to scores, audio and HTML pages, this meant shooting videos demonstrating musical techniques. Over sixty videos with the Canon EOS 90D. My Tascam TM-2X Stereo XY Microphone sounded good, but picked up too much noise from the street and nearby air conditioners. So I bought a Sennheiser MKE 400 shotgun microphone. I wasn't thrilled about being able to shoot in mono, but my voice has never sounded better. Optimized for the human voice, Sennheiser reproduces a clear, precise and comfortable vocal timbre. Road noise was significantly reduced, 75% less by my estimate compared to my omnidirectional stereo microphone. The noise was still present in dialogues or the demonstration of a musical passage, but it was moderate and unobtrusive. The MKE 400 works well with musical instruments, but isn't as full and musical as the Tascam TM-2X. And certainly not stereo. But it's enough to present a passage in the middle of a recital, but for a musical performance it's not my first choice. I will continue to use my Tascam TM-2X or Neumann KM184 set for musical performances. The Sennheiser MKE 400 is well built - metal and plastic - but still small and light for a video gun mic. Unlike most pistol mics, the design is eye catching and fits well on a small camera like the 90D, unlike designs with a big competitor logo. And I like the design a lot more than the old MKE 400. The supercardioid polar pattern isn't as narrow as the larger gun mics I've tried, and I suspect it's optimized for the close-up of a vlogger shoot's voice the desktop or standalone camera - perfect for me. I live. in urban areas where radio interference is a problem with unshielded devices and the MKE 400 is clean: no hiss, no cellphone chirp or radio interference! One feature I really like is the auto power on: if my 90D is off or in sleep mode, the MKE 400 will also power off but wake up with the camera! And the green power indicator is a thoughtful addition that many microphones lack. I briefly hooked it up to my iMac with the included TRRS cable, mounted it on a desktop tripod, and set the levels on the soundbar. This worked very well for voice acting during a software demo (video on screen) for my music class. Finally, for best results, use your camera's manual audio levels. Automatic audio level algorithms negate the benefits of pistol mic noise cancellation by dramatically boosting levels in quiet areas and revealing an abundance of background noise. Great little mic and worth the money!