Rode NTG4 vs Sennheiser MKE600 - Direct Comparison 

Personally, I think the Senn is better. Also nice with replaceable battery rather than the fixed battery of the NTG4+

@@iancraig Yes, that battery makes it very versatile. I use it with NiMH when I do not want to record with a phantom powered device. I keep a big pack of NiMH batteries in my audio bag :) I got the small XLR->jack cable from Sennheiser, it works great when I want to record straight into my mobile phone, my DSLR or my Zoom H1n. I will still have to add a deadcat and maybe a better shockmount, but honestly, the small shockmount that comes in the package is surprisingly effective, especially because the internal isolation is quite good, I have also used it as a handheld wireless interview microphone by connectng it through my Saramonic Blink 500 wireless and there was virtually no handling noise....

I found a great deal on the NTG4, wanted to watch a couple of reviews before I sealed the deal. After watching this, I want the MKE 600. It takes a lot for me to hear the difference, so I'm sold on the Sennheiser.

The Sennheiser is a nice, clean sounding mic. I use that one in preference to the Rode although the NTG5 is quite a special mic, but it is very expensive.

Thank YOU Giannis for watching. I enjoy making them to be honest. I agree, the Sennheiser does seem to sound slightly more extended. The Rode has a slightly narrower pick up.

They are kind of close to each other Jon. You do pay quite a bit more for the Sennheiser, although the Rode is better equipped for video with its ‘sound contouring’. The Rode also has a slightly tighter ‘pull in’ on the front which again, makes it a good one for video. The Sennheiser sounds a bit fuller and is more forgiving on the front so picking up two people with it is more even. I do like Sennheiser mics actually. Great company. This video was done with the M50, so I’m getting more of a grip of what it can actually do. I’m starting to really like the camera a lot now I’m more used to it if I’m honest. I think I was starting too advanced for my own good by using the downloadable profiles. I really should have played with the standard setting first because it never occurred to me just how little sharpening those profiles have and actually, how much sharpening is going on in camera. There’s a lot going on in there. It deserves a better lens and I think I might go for it one day. Not sure what would be best in terms of focal length though if I’m honest. The 15mm end of the kit lens is great for vlogging but sometimes, I also want to get a bit closer because it can look a bit ‘wide angle’. A good F1.4 lens ain’t cheap though .... I’m thinking of the Sigma F1.4. I’m playing around with the video format and quality for proper videos so RU-vid is a great experimental place for me to try out various things. Feedback and views help me a lot to get them looking a bit slicker.

@@iancraig Hi Ian, What about and EF to EF-M converter, then you have all of the EF mount lenses to choose from, even the niffty fifty at F1.8, even secondhand there would be a large choice. I agree the M50 needs to be hooked up with a better lens than the 15-45mm. stay safe best wishes Jon

Done it Jon. Talking to you about it a couple of weeks ago and today finally shifted me. 16mm Sigma 1.4 on the way. I don’t want to fight with the camera because of the lens. To me, the worst part of the Canon is the lens. It’s the aperture limit that I don’t like, forcing the camera into a higher ISO. That’s what I was fighting with at the start so it’s on the way. Low light performance isn’t great with the kit lens and at least I can get better Bokeh with it so the Canon offers me a bit more in both situations.

@@iancraig Nice, looking forward to hearing/seeing your thoughts on it. I would like another lens for the M50 but I have a lot invested in my Nikon system, so not sure if I want to get canon lenses as well, Mmmmm maybe. Best wishes stay safe Jon

Problem is that I’m filming reviews for a camera shop and with this dull weather, it can be a bit difficult so I want something brighter! It’ll pay for itself in the end.

The MKE600 is an excellent mic and will cover two people fine.

​@@iancraig Just ordered it, looking forward trying it out!

It’s a bit strange Walter, because I expected the Rode to do better with that back wall so close to me. The Rode has a slightly narrower front pick up so rejection should be slightly better. With tighter polar patterns, the sound can be altered, but I feel that both work pretty well. The Rode seems more middle focused where the Sennheiser seems to sound really even and extended. You pay more for that though! Looks like my ‘jazz hands’ worked and brought in a guy from Detroit! 😉

Great. I’m glad it was helpful Gary.

I don’t remember what I used in this video because it was a year ago tbh. I have used the Senn with preamps since then though and nothing massive changes to my ears. Never used an ART Tube MP Studio. Too complex for me if I’m honest because with a valve or tube amp, you can be on the verge or right into over-driving the input on the valve which causes a type of ‘pleasant’ distortion. Many guitarists do that. They can sound quite ‘fat’ with that distortion set at a low level, when you’re right on the cusp and many like it, but not for me with simple voice to video recording. Music is different. So I stay with very simple amplification.

Thanks Shaun. I was a bit disappointed with the audio on this video tbh. For some reason, there are chirrup sounds that sound like compression, that weren’t on my original audio. At least it gives an impression of how they differ in tone though. Btw, I love Norfolk. Spent a lot of time in Norwich and played in the theatre on Great Yarmouth pier many a time in the past for a Summer season. They used to have some great acts there too. Also did Cromer.

The Sennheiser. The Rode sounds more ‘chesty’ and the Senn cleaner sounding in terms of timbre.

@@iancraig thank you. I really needed expert advice on this one

There’s something about Rode microphones in the bass that often causes them to sound ‘chesty’ or ‘broadcasty’. The NTG5 though is a different beast.

Yes. Comparatively, the Rode has a stronger low end. Quite a few of the Rodes are designed with a raised mid bass.

Thanks Thomas. I’m glad it was useful.

@@iancraig Do you happen to know about the AKG c 568 b? And if it compares to the NTG4. Its a long shot i know

Sorry Thomas. I’ve never used any of the AKG mics. Looking at a fr graph, it has a very flat frequency response from bass to mids and then a lift in the top end. (Almost looks like a shelf, so quite significant) Having said that, the treble of the Rode is quite jagged, so I think the AKG might sound smoother and more even. It’s frequency range is nicely extended too, so on paper, the AKG looks like a better mic.

@@iancraig Thanks a lot of checking Ian! Thanks for the info, good to know.

No noise reduction. I had some strong peaks so I limited them and normalised both mics. If it's in the audio peaks, that's all I can think of that might be doing that. Edit: Actually, I can hear it. A kind of occasional ‘jingle’ sound? It does sound like noise supression but I didn’t use any. I can’t hear it on my computer copy, so maybe RU-vid is doing something to the audio? Actually, the video from the file on my computer IS cleaner sounding .... so I think RU-vid compression has done something with the sound. How odd. Thanks for letting me know. I keep hearing it randomnly now and then wonder if it was a real sound or if I imagined it. Is that what you’re getting? Does sound like poor noise reduction, but I used none at all. You know what, I think next time, I’ll normalise lower in volume. I wonder about compression affecting the audio. Curtis Judd was talking about this recently and he mentioned that he keeps everything below -1.5dB because of compression artifacts. This could be a good example of exactly that because I set it at -0.5dB, mainly to try and match it with the opening section which I recorded on an SE8. Next time, I’ll normalise to -1.5dB. Thanks for pointing that out!!! It’s terrible .......

Ooh blimey. Something to do with compression on the way out I guess. As long as they both look ok, I wouldn’t worry too much tbh.

Thank you Ian.

I'm glad it was useful, David.

For voiceovers and even talking head, I would use an NT1 tbh. If you really want a shotgun, my preference is actually the Sennheiser.

@@iancraigI actually tried rode ntusb, and this nt1 need audio interface but this Sennheiser work directly with cam or hand xlr recorders.. And my room is a little noisy, so i thought shotgun will reduce noise for my purpose... Finally will u worry about warrenty? sennheiser only giving 2yrs, do u think its okay as mics anyway lasts long?

In all honesty, shotguns are at their best without reflecting walls. The problem is that the rejection slots hear both you and the wall reflections and so noise cancellation can become difficult for it. It can’t differentiate what are wall reflections and what is your voice on the front and the reflections of your voice (especially in the treble) cancel out the front treble! In fact, in intreated rooms, I find that many shotguns do go a bit bassy because of this. Unless you get the shotgun very close when reclections hopefully get slammed out. Anyway, my favourite between these two is the Sennheiser. One I love is the Rode NTG5 but a very different price.

Thanks

Thanks for subscribing, Peter. All of the recordings that I did here were done via preamp. I have to say though that I don’t notice a great deal of noise when I work on the battery direct into my camera. I think that that is because of whatever camera people are using and the quality of the preamp inside. When recording inside where it’s really quiet I wouldn’t work on a battery anyway, but outside it really wouldn’t notice so I have done that sometimes. The MKE600 is one of those mics that you think is okay until you try something else and then you realise just how good a job it does in both rejection and sound. I really like it a lot because it doesn’t have the bass bloom of the Rode microphones.The Rodes tend to have this chesty quality in the midbass until you get up to something like the NTG5 which is a great mic. Some people like the added midbass that they give but for me, I prefer the relative flatness of the Sennheiser.

@@iancraig Hey Ian - thanks for coming back to me. I’m not sure what you mean when you refer to “the Battery”? I was referring to people that purchase a quality microphone with and XLR output then converting it into a 3.5mm and plugging it directly into a camera. There’s not enough gain without some pre-amp in between in my opinion. I actually have a Saramonic pre amp SR-PAX2 that has XLR inputs, a gain control then it outputs to my camera if required with a pretty hot signal.

I have a PAX-2 somewhere as well. These days, I use a little Beachtek amp for mobile stuff. It’s very quiet too. The Sennheiser has an internal battery so that you can output direct into a camera from the mic. The battery powers the mic when using a 3.5mm plug instead of an xlr. You wouldn’t be able to just plug an xlr to 3.5mm lead into an xlr type mic because generally, they need 48v phantom power, but the Senn will run on an AA BATTERY.

@@iancraig I got you now - the AA battery in the microphone. I’m a dummy lol 😝

The MKE600. Battery or XLR and has a great sound. BTW, I connect XLR mics straight to camera by using an inline phantom power unit and take an XLR to 3.5mm out to my camera. Works really well too.

@@iancraig Wow, thank you!

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@@iancraig Very interesting. In that case, I may get the Rode NTG5. Would the setup you described produce good sound for this mic? Does the inline phantom power unit have quality pre-amps? (Sorry for the ignorant questions). Thanks!

It sounds fine. In fact there IS no preamp. It’s just a power supply so doesn’t alter the sound and doesn’t introduce noise. Merely supplies battery phantom power. I often use the NTG5 with it. NTG5 is an excellent mic. Another league. Really low noise and excellent sound. The preamping is done solely by the camera. If your camera has a poor preamp, then I would suggest a separate preamp and turn the camera gain to its lowest position. I have Sony and Canon cameras and I think the Sonys have a better preamp than the Canons. It doesn’t matter whether you use an MKE600 on battery direct, or an NTG5 with power supply, that preamp noise will always be there if your camera is noisy. Add a cheap recorder like a Zoom H1n or a Tascam DR05 and plug directly into that if the camera is noisy and it sounds excellent. You would have to sync the audio track with the video though. For serious things, I go into a recorder. For home things, I go into the camera direct. The power supply helps to make your XLR mic portable and I often sit a studio mic outside on my patio to pick the family up when we’re sat out there. If you get a battery phantom unit, you will need an female XLR to male XLR lead and a a female XLR to 3.5 Jack as well. Generally, I use a longer XLR to XLR to the mic, which goes into the power supply and I place that supply close to the speaker. The XLR to 3.5 is the shorter and plugged into the other side of the power unit and the 3.5 into the camera. So the power unit is closer to the camera and not likely to be walked on.

A high pass filter cuts the bass because it lets the ‘high’s pass through’ but not the bass frequencies. That’s why it’s called a high PASS. A low cut filter is another term for a high pass filter, and actually, they mean the same. The symbol for a high pass filter is normally an ‘L’ on its side showing the bass cut.

Do they? What issues? My Rode NT1 is brilliant; especially at that price. I have no issues with that one. I have to say, the new Sennheiser MKE200 isn't great so they also make some questionable mics sometimes. You can't dismiss an entire company because of one mic. I don't really care who makes the mic, but I always use my ears to judge them. Not the maker or price.

Loved this comment, so true!​@@iancraig