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MKH 415T vs MKH 416T


sergiofucchi

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The 416T replaced the 415T around 1971, about forty years ago. So I request some forbearance for an accurate recollection of an event that old.

When the 416 came out, Sennheiser reps said that the redesigned interference tube was the difference. As you look at the mikes, you will immediately see that the 416 has about twice as many slots and they are more narrow than the slots in the 415. They claimed that this yielded superior performance although differences were not readily apparent when listening to the mikes. Perhaps the differences could be plotted in a test in an anechoic chamber or they might be identifiable in a carefully controlled test. That is, there may be real differences but they didn't pop out at you when just listening to each in turn.

At the time, Sennheiser said that the mikes were electrically identical although there might well have been differences in calibration.

David

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Check this out:

http://recordinghack...otgun-mic-test/

The 415 is supposed to be slightly warmer according to many accounts around the web. It's often VO people saying so because 416/415s are used for VOs, too, like on this website.

I imagine they would be less RF-resistant than the modern day MKH 416 P48, but probably equally as resistant to the elements.

Since it's warmer, does that mean the 415 rejects off-axis lows less? However, some people complain that the 416 can sound thin because it does this.

The modern NTG3, a 416 copy, gets a lot of its praise because it has more bass.

Sawrab

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I have owned a 415T and currently own a couple of 416 P48s. Having used both mics through the same mic pre (Sound Devices MM-1), I can for sure say the 415T did indeed have a "warmer" sound, and had just the slightest bit more self noise. Though it was a fantastically sounding mic, I fear that the warmth that it displayed wouldnt mix quite as well with the generally neutral sounding mics and pres in todays production environment.

I did some work at a VO studio for a while that used 415Ts with Focusrite mic pres, which really took the life out of the mics and made them shrilly sounding. I think the reason why that studio liked the combination was mainly because 415Ts are cheap, and you can get a Focusrite channel strip at Guitar Center for between $100-$200. Just a thought.

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