I have a pair of ME66's and a pair of AT3032's and I would say that the noise
performance of these two microphones were very similar. Using both mics in
'quiet' locations I was not really aware that there was really any difference
between them, other than the ME66 being 'louder' for the same gain which one
would expect. So if the ME66's are indeed 10dB self noise then the figure of
around 11dB often quoted for the AT3032's would seem to correlate that?
This is with the ME66's phantom powered, it all changes when you battery power
the K6 unit and then the self noise takes a nose dive and also becomes
'coarser'? Making it more noticeable, to my ears anyway.
Perhaps it should also be pointed out that the MKH series of microphones seem
to have a less 'intrusive' sound to there own self noise. Which may well help
mask it more in the signal and perhaps in someway this makes there self noise
figures effectively lower? I think someone, on this group, descibed the self
noise of the MKH mics as sound like "paaaaaaa....." Which I have always
remembered for some reason.
But on the whole I am pretty impressed with my ME66's considering cost /
performance. I did have to send them back to Sennheiser though as one was
noisier than the other. This was traced to a faulty circuit board in the K6
module which they replaced. But all in all they seem very competent microphones
which, so far to my ears when phantom powered, do not add anything untoward to
my recordings. All at a price my wife is happy with too! :-))
If I win the lottery I would probably rush out and buy myself some MKH mics but
for in the meantime the ME66's and AT3032's seem just fine.
Phil
----- Original Message ----
From: Rob Danielson <>
To:
Sent: Monday, 14 April, 2008 4:19:36 PM
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] MKH 50 V ME 66
At 4:24 AM +0000 4/14/08, John Tudor wrote:
>I see a lot of posts about the MKH 50 being used in an M/S
>configuration. But looking at the specs it seems the ME66 is a better
>mic. Am I NOT reading something in the specs that I should???
>
>Microphone- data.com has sensitivity & self noise as
>MKH 50 25 mV/Pa & 12 dB-A
>ME 66 50 mV/Pa & 10 dB-A.
>
>Am I missing something here???????
>Is it purley the polar pattern difference that's important in the MKH
>50 being preferred??
>
>John
>
Good question, John, and probably one that only someone who owns and
uses both mics on a very low noise recorder can answer fully. I don't
own the mic.
In the ME66 tests and recordings I've heard posted, the ME66 did not
seem to have self-noise performance on par with that of other mics I
accept as in the neighborhood of 10 dB(A) like the mkh-20. I recall
one ME66 having more noise in a side by side test with a mkh-40 with
12dB(A) self noise.
Sennheiser doesn't state the mic capsule type in the current spec
sheet for the ME66 but I seem to recall that it is elecret, "ME."
With 10dB(A) noise performance, it might be the lowest self-noise
electret mic we know of. I have compared a ME62 [15dB(A)] with
another mic with 14dB(A) self-noise and the ME-62's noise was
considerably greater and lower in the frequency spectrum.
Based entirely on clues and I may be entirely wrong, I've been
assuming Sennheiser's self-noise numbers on the ME series are not
"apples and apples" with some of their other models. Hopefully,
someone can provide something more concrete. Walt may own both
models. Rob D.
--
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