Press

13.02.2012 - Holte

The New MKH 8000 Series in Nepal

Recently, prior to embarking on a long and demanding documentary trip to Nepal, I lined up all my gear on the floor. My usual setup consists of Sennheiser MKH 40, MKH 50 and MKH 60, all in Rycote zeppeliners. But with everything lying on display there, I realized it was far too bulky for the job – not least because during the trip, we had to climb 5,000 m worth of mountain via nearly impassable footpaths. That calls for something special.

In Nepal, I was to work as a sound engineer in the team producing the series “Ingen Kære Mor” (i.e. “You Are On Your Own”) for Danish broadcast channel TV2. It is a reality-documentary, produced by the company Eyeworks where, during 8 episodes, you follow a group of 5 girls between 17 and 20 on their way up a 5000 m high Himalayan mountain. In the process, they are exposed to various hardships, which are of course no less exhaustive for those at the other end of the camera.

All in all an assignment with extreme demands on the gear, that had to withstand many hours of rattling around on the roof of a 4WD, as well as drastic changes in temperature and humidity – truly an ordeal for both the hardware and the person operating it.

So, I contacted Sennheiser Nordic and suggested they let me test the MKH 8050 and MKH 8060 of the new MKH 8000 Series, since both microphones and Rycotes are smaller in size. To my luck, they went for it.

I already knew that my “old” MKH’s are perfect for this type of job so now, I was determined to see if the new ones would perform equally well.

I decided I wanted the microphones to be available at all times, so I chose to fasten them with snaphooks on the outside of my backpack. A bit risky since here, they would be exposed to the weather and also risk mechanical damage if I were to stumble or fall on the rough mountain paths.

And quite as expected, the MKH’s had to deal with rather extreme conditions - with temperatures varying from minus 10 degrees in the morning to plus 20-25 degrees at noon. At times, there was dense fog in the morning and later on, it could be anything from clear skies to pouring rain.

However, the microphones coped just fine – both with the weather and the times I lost my balance and skidded downhill with 25 pounds of mixer/microport and recorder on my chest and the 20lb knapsack on my back.

When recording all 5 girls together, I preferred the MKH 8050. With its supercardioid capsule, it catches everything clearly with very little need for movement.

For conversations with 2-3 girls, I used the MKH 8060, which literally sucks up the signal and has a completely natural and uncolored sound, both on- and off-axis.

Also, all the interviews were recorded with the MKH 8060. As the cameras were doing both total and close-up shots at the same time, I had to lie down 60–80 cm from the sound source with the mic pointing upwards, which is the best method to avoid reflections of outside noise such as cars, rivers and village sounds. Here, the compact size was a great advantage – I could always find room for the microphone outside the picture when the girls were sitting in the grass or on the slopes.

I should also mention that the compact size minimizes the handling noise. Furthermore, there is a filter and a digital module in AES42 standard available – in other words, you are prepared for the future.

I knew it from the old series – these mics just work, no matter what you throw at them. And with the new series, everything is smaller and lighter with an excellent and very natural sound that totally recreates the real thing.

Once again, I was affirmed in my conviction that Sennheiser is the best choice in microphones.

Thomas Gulyás
Sound Engineer

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About Sennheiser
The Sennheiser Group, with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. The family-owned company, which was established in 1945, recorded sales of around €468 million in 2010. Sennheiser employs more than 2,100 people worldwide, and has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA. The company is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as by long-term trading partners in many other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones and monitor loudspeakers), and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centers).

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