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First impression of Sanken CS-3e ..(comparing to 416)


Derek H

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Just rented one of these to try out against my 416t..

Used in a fairly live room, bare laminate floor, little on walls except papers, assorted office furniture.  Room size approx 30ftx12ft. 

Noticed the extra reach right away, magically seemed to suck in good levels from almost twice the distance of the 416t..

Also noticed the bizarre absence of proximity effect.  Which is strange at first since you're so familiar with the pronounced increase in bass response every inch closer the 416 gets.  Also noticed that when a/b'ing the 20/80Hz cut on my mixer i noticed no difference with the cs-3e. 

Subject's voice was not the best test voice.. naturally thin and sort of nasally.  The mic did not help it much though I doubt the 416 would have done better.. maybe would have thickened the voice a bit for the real close shot. 

Also comb-filtering/phase issues with the highly reflective indoor space seemed less of a nuisance with the Sanken, whereas I've noticed the 416 get pretty whacked out in the same space earlier.

Also.. I didn't notice the reportedly higher self-noise with the CS-3e.. self noise seemed similar to my 416 (which is an old t-power affair that is probably overdue for a shop visit if that skews the comparo at all...).  That is to say the noise level was perfectly adequate for the shooting environment and probably 90% of spaces I record in.

Any suggestions or tips for using this mic in a doc environment are welcome and appreciated.

Cheers!

-d

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Hi Dan

Not trying to to defend any sides here but couldn't resist in posting.

I boomed with a Sennheiser MKH 70 today for the first time and just could not believe my ears.

The degree of separation and also the richness , roundness and neutral tone of the voices I recorder were simply phenomenal !!

I also believe that it is uncomparable as far as reach and isolation is regarded.

I owe a Sanken Cs3e and a Schoeps CCM 41 . They are both excellent mics  but I am definitely getting an MKH 70 as it will be able to pull the lines out in a very harsh environment or acoustic interiors were it will be better to have just the lines and no room element - was shooting on a stage today.

There's really no silver bullet regarding mics imho but my hat is off to Sennheiser regarding this excellent mic.

Technically speaking MKH's frequency response curve is much smoother and transparent than CS3e's.

My 2 cents

    Aris

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  Fair enough.  I would like to do that test but I only have a 60 which the CS3 blows away.  Were you able to A/B the two mics?  What about the 70 compared to a 416?

  Dan Izen

For what it's worth. I filled in for a mixer friend on a job for two days recently. His mic arsenal was an MKH 50-60-70. I had a chance to use all of them and I could never get the 60 to "match" the 50. The 50 & 70 were fairly close. For some reason the 60 while a very good mic just seems to have it's own voice. From past experience the CS3e sounds to me like the child of a 416 and Neumann 81i marriage and that's a good thing.

Eric

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Hi Dan

I haven't A/Bed and its not possible right now.

Haven't heard the MKH 50 and 60 but I 've worked for years with the 416 and I can say that I know

416's drawbacks and advantages pretty well.

It is an excellent mic in my opinion and the only mic that is being produced for so many years ( probably I am missing on another one right now but without second thoughts 416 is THE mic that comes in mind and still being used through many years in shoots ) and only by having in mind that Sennheiser wanted to stop producing the 416 but it is still being produced due to public demand, it proves that the 416 is  a timeless classic and trustworthy mic.

I decided to purchase a CS3 instead of a 416 when I was ready to buy my own gear because the extra presence that the 416 gives around 4 Khz is an element that I didn't want.

The MKH 70 has a transparent sound , clear dialogue and nice low end.

In my ears, it is not compared to the 416.

Best

Aris

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