Sennheiser MKE 440 Stereo Microphone

The Sennheiser MKE 440 Stereo Microphone 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. The MKE 440 provides nicely-balanced stereo ambience and amplifies the sound source in front of your camera.

The MKE 440 operates with two short shotgun mics, mounted in a unique V-Stereo configuration. It highlights the sound of the video image while rejecting off-axis noise from outside the camera focus.

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 practiced through a coiled cable with 3.5 mm stereo mini jack.

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.

Features:

• 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

Upgrading Your DSLR Audio

A new, patented V-shaped design of two shotguns is Sennheiser's fantastic solution for stereo audio captured by camera shoe-mounted microphones. This configuration covers a stereo width equivalent to the image created by common 35-mm camera lenses. The spread is very uniform and delivers high speech intelligibility in its focus.

What Your See Is What You Hear

The MKE 440 captures sound while rejecting off-axis noise from outside the camera focus.

V-Stereo Is Unique & Highly Directional

For generating stereo sound, where two microphones are needed, shotguns are not commonly used. Thus, many stereo videos sound rather distant and reverberant while a lot of unwanted off-focus noise is captured unsuppressed.

Sennheiser's solution is a new, patented V-shaped design of two shotguns. This configuration covers a stereo width equivalent to the image created by common 35-mm camera lenses. The spread is very uniform and delivers high speech intelligibility in its focus.

Patented Shockmount

Microphones are susceptible to create structure-borne noise when being handled, e.g. when the camera they are mounted to is moved. That's why the MKE 440 is fitted with a specially developed patented shockmount. Exactly adjusted to the weight and dimensions of the shotgun microphone tube, it ensures optimal rejection of handling noise. The rubber suspension is secured within the protecting metal mesh.

Rugged Design

A very robust and durable stainless steel micro-mesh protects the microphones and provides wind noise suppression. As opposed to regular foam windscreens, the metal mesh will not influence the sound by muffling high frequency clarity. Furthermore, it serves as a shield against electromagnetic interference.

High Dynamic Electronics

The integrated battery-powered, high dynamic electronic circuit matches the output signal of the MKE 440 to the camera's input sensitivity. Thus, handling a dynamic range from the most delicate sounds to screaming-loud rock music. The low cut filter reduces structure-borne noise and low-frequency wind noise. The MKE 440 offers extra-long operation time of more than 100 hours on a pair of AAA batteries. It even delivers full audio performance on lowbatt operation.