Posted by: "cfmspencer"
> I'll look into the Pearls.
If I remember right the Pearls are about 16-18dBA self noise and
18-20mV/Pa sensitivity. Not the best though for louder sites they might
work.
> the 'side' capsule on the 418 is uncharacteristically noisy for a
> sennheiser (perhaps it was an afterthought?).
Not only is the side capsule very noisy, but the center is the MKH-416,
a older design shotgun that's still sold because so many production
companies don't modernize and insist on it. It's not near as good as a
MKH-60.
I think the 418 was designed specifically for those used to the MKH-416
rather than for high quality. It's too bad Sennheiser did not use the
MKH-60/30 as their model for it. May be harder to fit the side capsule
in the 60 design housing and preserve quality.
> I thought I had ruled out the A-Ts as well due to higher noise, but
> will check again.
The AT835ST specs indicate a self noise average for the two capsules of
Message: 24dBA.
Subject: That's really noisy for a nature recording mic. I once tried a
borrowed AT815ST and that was my experience with it, too noisy for even
fairly loud sites. Even the Sony ECM-MS957 sounds better.
Walt
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