- Hey everybody, this is Roberto Blake,
of RobertoBlake.com and today, I'm geeking out with you
over the Sennheiser MKE 440 Shotgun microphone.
If you've been a fan of the channel for a while now,
then you know that I've constantly
tried to step up the production values
of this channel and just improve the over all
video and audio quality
of everything that I'm doing.
And the Sennheiser MKE 440
definitely has helped with that
for the last 30, 40 or so videos
since they sent it to me.
In fact, it's responsible for the audio quality
that you're hearing right now.
Quality audio is one of the most important things
in terms of an experience on YouTube.
When we talk about making high quality videos,
good quality videos,
we're not just talking about the technical side of it,
we're actually talking about what the experience
of sitting down, watching and enjoying a video is
and audio plays a huge role in that.
We can forgive poor lighting.
We can forgive sloppy editing,
but bad audio is completely unacceptable
and if you want some of the best audio you can get
in terms of bang for your buck,
I highly recommend this particular microphone
for a couple of reasons.
I've used audio equipment from major brands,
Saramonic, Rode, Audio-Technica.
And what impresses me about the Sennheiser equipment
is the overall build quality,
the durability, and the fact that I can tell
it's gonna last a lot longer
just because of the way that it's designed.
In terms of a rich, full sound
this is a stereo microphone.
It's basically two microphones in one,
so that's going to produce just a better
quality of audio than you would get
with the, say something like the Rode Video Mic Pro.
That's still a great microphone
but there is a reason for the price difference
between these two products
in terms of build quality,
in terms of the richness and fullness of the sound.
In terms of stability to isolate noise
as a directional microphone.
It's just superior.
In terms of ease of use,
this has multiple settings that you can adjust
in terms of audio sensitivity, right on the microphone
without having to go into your camera settings.
This also does have a noise filter
built in so if you're shooting outdoors,
that's gonna be something you can take advantage of
and it's actually easier to change the battery
in this because it doesn't have a nine volt battery.
It just takes two triple A's.
So, in terms of quality, convenience,
and overall durability, I would say that
this is probably one of the best
microphones on the market for under $500.00
when it comes to an on camera shotgun microphone.
A lot of you have told me in the comments over the last
couple of months that I've been using this
that you love the improvements that I've made
to the production and to the audio quality here
and this microphone is what's allowed me to do it.
It's better than when I was using my lapel microphones.
It's better than when I was using the Rode Video Mic Pro.
You guys have said that the audio is better.
It's not nearly as tinney and I also spent less time
having to edit and process the audio
since using this microphone.
And it's worked outdoors just as well
'cause you guys have seen that I've been traveling
with it and going to conferences and doing interviews
and it's been a fantastic experience
just having something that makes me
work less and gives me back my time
and speed while producing a quality result.
There are other products that I'm looking at
from Sennheiser that I think can help here
with the channel, so if there's something you would be
interested in having a review from them,
definitely let me know in the comments section
so that we can see what we can do about that.
This microphone is definitely
one of my favorite pieces of tech
and I definitely want to thank our friends
at Sennheiser for sending this over to me.
It's really helped with what I'm doing
here on the channel and I would recommend
it no matter what just because in terms
of spending just a little bit more money
for something that I think is gonna last
a bit longer and also, has more features
and ease of use attached to it.
I think that that's important.
One of the other things that I like about
this is that in terms of stability,
and being able to sit on top of my camera
and not worry about the microphone's
mounting plate getting damaged.
That's really important to me because
even though I like the Rode Video Mic Go
and the Rode Video Mic Pro,
I do not like the way that they mount
on top of the cameras.
In fact, I snapped the mounting plate
of my Rode Video Mic Go and in terms
of the Rode Video Mic Pro,
this also happened to my friend Jason Leedman
and he had to replace the entire thing.
So when it comes to spending money
on something once and knowing that it's
gonna last and that's none of the parts
are in a position to really break or snap,
That's something that I look for
and Sennheiser delivers on that.
I'm already out, the Rode Video Mic Pro
is still working but the Rode Video Mic Go
that I spent like a hundred bucks on
is pretty much useless to me at this point.
It's not to say that I don't still enjoy
their products.
In fact, I use the Rode Video Mic Me for my smartphone.
But when it comes to build quality and durability,
that's something I'm gonna be paying attention to
in the future and if that's something you're concerned about
and you want to buy it just once
then I would go with the Sennheiser
and spend the extra money.
I don't like when things break.
In the future I plan to put together some user guides
around all of my equipment and gear.
So let me know.
Any questions that you have about the Sennheiser MKE 440
microphone and what it can do for your projects
and videos.
Let me know in the comments section.
I haven't run into any compatibility issues
with using this on my different cameras.
I've used it with everything from my nightgown
gear which I'm retiring, to using it with my
Panasonic Lumex gear, both the G7
and the GH4, sorry the GH5
that I'm shooting with right now.
And it's been tremendous.
It's worked out just fine.
No complaints here.
So my friends have use this with their Sony A7 Series
cameras like the A7, R2
and the A7 S2 and that's worked out fine for me
for them.
So regardless of what camera system you're using
as long as you have a microphone jack
that can take an external audio source.
I think it'll be just fine.
What I haven't done is I have not tested this
with my handheld digital recorders yet.
I'm pretty sure that'll be just fine
but I'll run that test if that's something
you're interested in seeing
and just getting a little bit more
depth in terms of what products
that this will work well,
compatibility-wise with.
So maybe that's something that you're using
in your workflow.
Let me know about that in the comments section.
What audio gear are you using
and how are you using it
when you film your videos?
That's something I've always been interested in
is how other people are using their audio gear
and microphones and what their workflow looks like
so if you want to talk a little bit about your gear
would love to hear about it in the comments.
Speaking of gear, I'm gonna link up all of my current
camera gear because I've completely changed
my 2017 YouTube set up and that will be linked down
in the description below.
Those are Amazon links that help other channels.
So if you're looking for new gear
you can see what I'm using.
Anyway, like this video if you like it.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Check out the other awesome stuff on the channel.
As always you guys, thanks so much for watching
and geeking out with me over the Sennheiser MKE 440,
probably the best shotgun microphone
for YouTubers.