Sennheiser Professional MKE 600 Shotgun Microphone with XLR-3 to 3.5mm Connector for Video Camera/Camcorder, 505453
About Sennheiser
Sennheiser is redefining the future of the audio industry, a vision based on 75 years of history in innovation and the constant pursuit of excellence inherent in the DNA and culture of our company. Our employees worldwide share a passion for the pursuit of perfect sound, creating products that exceed expectations and set new benchmarks in the audio industry.
MKE 600
Wherever the magical moment occurs: The success of your work depends on achieving the perfect interaction between image and sound even in the most difficult conditions. Whether you’re shooting outdoors in the city or indoors with poor acoustics: Sennheiser has the perfect solution to ensure excellent audio quality of your videos.
- Plug and play
- Maximum background noise attenuation for clear and full sound
- Low-cut filter to minimize wind noise
- Phantom P48 or battery powered
- Battery switch with Low Batt indicator light
- Compact all-metal design
Low-cut switchable filter minimizes wind noise
Low-cut filter reduces handling noise and wind noise. With the MKE 600 you can enjoy perfect sound without noise.
Switchable low-cut filter
Condenser Microphone
Accessory available
Maximum background noise reduction 
WHY POWER THE MICROPHONE INTEGRATED IN THE CAMERA?
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Perfect sound for perfect images.The main strength of the MKE 600 is that it offers full sound and excellent low frequency reproduction. This allows you to easily record speeches, ensuring high intelligibility. Its high directivity means that even remotely recorded audio sound as if the speaker had been much closer to the microphone. In addition, it effectively reduces noise from electromagnetic interference. | No phantom power is required.Since not all cameras are equipped with phantom microphone power, the MKE 600 can also work with standard AA batteries. The battery power can be easily turned on and off again when the camera is no longer in use, to prevent the battery from running out too quickly. An LED on the battery switch alerts you when the batteries are running out and you still have a reserve of about eight hours, enough time to successfully finish your shooting. | Increased flexibility for demanding shooting.The success of your work depends on achieving the perfect interaction between image and sound even in the most difficult conditions. Whether you’re shooting outdoors in the city or indoors with poor acoustics: When you need to change locations and quickly change camera settings, this half-rifle microphone is your ideal companion for demanding shooting. |
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| Microphone Type | Condenser | Half rifle capacitor | Double capacitor half rifle | Half rifle capacitor |
| Frequency response | 40 Hz to 20 kHz | 40 Hz to 20 kHz | 50 Hz to 20 kHz | 40 Hz to 20 kHz |
| Polar Response | Supercardioid | Lobar, Supercardioid | Stereo, Supercardioid | Lobar, Supercardioid |
| Sensitivity | 33 dB V/Pa at 1 kHz | 8 mV/Pa at 1 kHz | 23, 42, 63 mV/Pa, switchable | 21 mV/Pa (phantom power) or 19 mV/Pa (battery powered) |
| Maximum sound level | 120 dB SPL | 126 dB SPL / 118 dB SPL (maximum gain) | 132 dB SPL | 132 dB SPL (phantom power) or 126 dB SPL (battery powered) |
| Self-generated noise (A-weighted) | 20 dB | 21 dB | 16, 21, 40 dB | 15 dB |
| Estimated battery life | No battery required | 300 hours | >100 hours | 150 hours |
| Approximate dimensions | ø: 1.38″ (3.5cm) x H: 2.36″ x L: 2.72″ (6.9 cm) | ø: 2.44″ (6.2cm) x L: 5.12″ (13 cm) | 6.6 x 10.7 x 12.7 cm | ø: 0.79″ (2cm) x L: 10.08″ (25.6 cm) |
| Accessories included | (1) 1/8″ (3.5mm) TRS coiled cable with 1/8″ (3.5mm) TRS locking, (1) 1/8″ (3.5mm) TRS coiled cable with 1/8″ (3.5mm) TRS locking, (1) windproof fur protection and (1) drawstring bag | (1) 1/8″ (3.5mm) TRS mini cable, (1) AAA alkaline battery and (1) sponge wind protection | (2) AAA alkaline battery and (1) cable with 1/8″ jack (3.5mm) | (1) MZS 600 anti-vibration support for camcorder and (1) MZW 600 wind protection |
| Weight: | 430 g |
| Size: | Mic Only |
| Dimensions: | 25.6 x 2 x 10.2 cm; 430.91 Grams |
| Model: | MKE600 |
| Batteries Included: | 1 AA batteries required. |
| Size: | Mic Only |
You will not go wrong with this mic. I have several mics. Out of all of my mics, this one looks the best on the o scope. It has a very clean signal. I use it on my camera, in the studio and in the field as a stand alone mic.
Es un micrfono que cumple bastante bien su propsito. Buena calidad de construcci
love this mic. some might go for cheaper mics but this is worth it in the long run. nice frame of it. used the vocal mics before also.
Used it as on camera mic, boom mic and live event mic, this thing has an amazing sound and has the legendary quality of Sennheiser at a very affordable price. I’m glad I got it in my bag, it gets a lot of use.
Richtmikrofon mit sehr guten Klang! Noch etwas besser als mein Rode NTG2
Easy to set up! works with phantom power so I never have to worry about batteries and it’s not too long.
Only thing is I wish it came with a better case and a rycote like mount would of been nice but for the price point I understand. Would definitely recommend!
No me gusto que la caja lleg un poco golpeada
You can do ASMR videos with this. You will have to adjust the audio gain. It has a short cable but it’s meant to be put on a camera. Or you can run your own XLR cable to a mixer.
El producto lleg en buen estado. Nunca he tenido problemas con Amazon y los productos que adquiero por aqu. Siempre estoy completamente satisfecho. Pero justamente acabo de comprar este mic mk 600 shotgun, porque me gusta esta marca ( tengo otros productos de la misma) y se que es un gran producto, y una de las cosas que ms me interesaban de este mic era el interruptor de la bateria donde indica la vida util de la pila. Pero no s si me vino defectuoso o que pasa porque apenas lo enciendo , efectivamente prende la luz roja del interruptor pero se apaga al segundo. Es as? o me vino malo? Gracias.
love how it sounds especially combined with low self noise. I use it with my H8 handy recorder.
We used the short gun mic with their wireless mic and created such great quality sound into our studio production. We highly recommend this short gun mic with the long lasting battery inside the mic and flexible accessories and fantastic sound quality
I recently purchased and used this to record a family event and it did a very nice job. I mounted it on a Canon XA11 using the holder that came with the mic which was perfect for the job and fit right on the camera. It’s a very light mic to transport, I took it on an airplane in my backpack no issues. Having the ability to battery power is a unique plus if you’re going to work in the field a lot. I thought the sound quality was quite good for outdoor conditions. For indoor use I used it as a voice commentary mic for some YouTube videos and it sounds fine. I think there are better voiceover mics at this price point but the sound you get is perfectly good so you could use it for that too, but not sure I’d buy it only for that. It makes a great combo indoor/outdoor mic assuming you treat the indoor spaces.
This is an all-around great mic! We are using it in our studio and it picks up voices directly in front of it from a very reasonable distance extremely well while keeping all surrounding noises down. We finally got rid of the huge mic directly in front of us for a much cleaner look on videos.
When it arrived I put the two mics (one from 2010, one from 2021) side by side and thought I got a fake! It turns out Sennheiser has changed their logo to a more standard type face and slightly altered the stylized “S” shape and I thought for sure it was an imported knock off.
It doesn’t help that the included literature still has the old version of the logo. It also doesn’t say “Made in Germany” under the logo on the mic anymore.
I love this mic. It’s perfect fit for my blackmagic design cinema camera
Been using Sennheiser Products for years now, and you can’t go wrong with Sennheiser. Sounds great, works great, easy to use, and it’s better than what I thought it’d be.
I love this mic. For a shotgun microphone, this is by far the best bang for the buck. And I’ve been through a few different brands.
It is exactly what was needed to get quality sound.
Great Pro Mic with really good sound and side noise rejection 100% will buy another one
Used it with a GoPro. Great sound quality. Little concerned about the audio jack connector and where it attaches to the unit. It looks like one good “snag” on something the wrong way might yank the thin cable out permanently.
Doesn’t work great with the gopro without a riser. The front sticks out too much and waves in and out of the shot when you move the gopro around (because of the stabilization)
If you are looking at other mics in this price range I would highly recommend this one!
Its 5 times the price and I would say its only 2 times improvement for my purpose.
This mic has a nice proximity effect and warmer sound compared to the SM48. For long duration hearing the sound from this mic will be more pleasant than the sm48 atleast. But the ambient sound rejection and noise floor will be almost same or slightly worse than the SM48. The gain knob is set at around 2 o’ clock on my pre amp to get a signal between -12 to -18 dbfs. the noise floor is slightly below -70 db rms which is good, but not great. It doesn’t sound great one feet away from your mouth for voice over purposes. But if you go closer to chew on the mic you can get a nice big sound for those promo voice, which the sm 48 cant give. It is also very EQ friendly because of its smooth frequency response. hope this helps
Ninguna queja a 7 meses de haberlo comprado. Usa 2 baterias AA.
The stereo sound is much more emersive than a shotgun. There is not much rear rejection but seems to be more than other stereo mics. Bassy sound that favors the right channel. From extensive research this stereo mic has the furthest forward reach with as much rear rejection because of the 2 mini shotgun mic design. Price is on the high side to me.
Super impressed with this mic. We were contemplating biting the bullet and going for the more expensive version or the rode NTG3 but we thought we try this one out and have honestly been super impressed. Very happy.
microfono profesional a buen precio mas barato que en muchos lados
Simply the best mid-range shotgun microphone! Looks super cool as well.
Very natural sounding ( no hash S sound ), and great bass pickup. Very good noise rejection, too.
Excelente opcin. No tiene el cable para conectarse a la cmara (dslr) ni para alguna grabadora, pero puede conseguirse uno fcilmente.
Da muy buena calidad, casi no gasta batera y el estuche que incluye protege al micrfono muy bien.
I have the Rode VideoMic Pro + and I love it but I was told that for interviews this provides a cleaner signal with less floor noise. I haven’t done an A/B test as I started using it right away but I can tell you the audio quality is stellar. I can tell that there is less background noise compared to the Rode. But the Rode does have the amazing feature of the safety channel to prevent clipping, which is absent here. So now I have these two which provide different possibilities. I would definitely use the Rode Pro+ for live outdoor events and use the MKE600 for intimitate up-close interviews. Very happy with the MKE600 in the end!
– The good part is that audio is amazing.
– the bad part is that it needs batteries
– But the good part is that batteries will last forever!!!!
Give it a try and you might love it as much as I do.
You’ll need a C-stand and key is to get it right above your head, slightly out of frame for deepest audio.
Great sound! I haven’t used it on a shoot yet but all the practice tests I’ve done sound awesome. I’m looking forward to having this in my kit!
Bottom line, expensive but totally worth it.
I recently received a new Sennheiser MKH 416 for my VO projects and can now directly compare the two microphones. In my opinion, the MKE 600 is still the better microphone for voiceover despite the long and storied history of the 416. The 600 just has a smoother overall tone, particularly on the highs. The 416 has a “big” sound but can easily become quite boomy and sibilant. The 600 does not have this problem thanks to a more forgiving EQ curve. For most VO talent, I would recommend the MKE 600 over the 416, unless you have a client or studio that specifically requires a 416. The battery option on the 600 also means that I can use it as a travel microphone or for quick auditions and reads away from the studio.
UPDATE 1 – November 2017
I’ve now used my MKE 600 to record hundreds of voiceover jobs for several well-known American brands. This mic has performed superbly through all of it. I no longer use the high-pass filter but instead speak at an angle into the mic; this controls plosives while also yielding a fuller sound. The MKE 600 will continue to be my go-to voiceover microphone for the foreseeable future.
ORIGINAL REVIEW
I purchased this microphone for voiceovers. I have not found any reviews online of the MKE 600 for voiceover purposes, but I figured I would give it a try since its big brother, the MKH 416, is a voiceover industry mainstay. After recording about a dozen demos with the MKE 600, I can say it’s by far the best microphone I have ever used for spoken word. The pickup pattern is very tight — much more focused than I thought it would be since this is a shorter shotgun mic. Off-axis noise rejection is very good. I personally find the frequency response of the MKE 600 to be outstanding. My voice is deep and boomy; and the high-pass filter works great to roll off that boominess. The high frequency boost is also in a different place than is found on most condenser mics. This one boosts around 7 kHz instead of 10 kHz which gives the mic a smoother sound with greater presence. For anyone looking for a great voiceover mic, particularly those who might not be working in a fully treated space, get this MKE 600.
Much better sound quality vs using on camera mic. I only tested it out with my voice and could hear the difference! Can’t wait to use it on a project! (Still picks up noise though so you will need to edit sound in post processing)
This microphone gives you an amazon sound stage for you’re video needs. Perfect for anything from recording your kids grade school play to a football game to your friends ripping some kick flips in the street. Perfect for recording your bands rehearsal or youtube videos.
After browsing Amazon, reading hundreds of reviews and Reddit posts, I decided to try the Rode VideoMic Pro. That was a mistake. The mobility of that mic is great, but not the quality.
After returning that one, I switched to the MKE600 and was blown away! The quality is near perfect and the audio quality in my videos has substantially improved.
Now, I don’t have the mobility with this mic (see setup below) but that’s fine since I’m not a vlogger and on the move all the time.
I use this with the Canon 70D, Zoom H4N and the Comprehensive XLR Plug to Jack Audio Cable. It’s quite an advanced setup, especially for YouTube videos, but I’m a perfectionist and the audio quality this beast puts out is top notch! Just be sure that your equipment is compatible with XLR before buying this.
If you want to hear the mic in action, you can search my name on YouTube and watch the videos where I’m standing in front of the mic. I use a different mic in the other videos.
Best mic I’ve used in my 8+ years filming!
PS: The packaging is awesome as well!
The sound is really great. The Sennheiser MKE 600 Microphone is really a class apart…
Great mic. Makes voices go into computers and recorders from far(ish) away. Great basic shotgun.
I read that there might be handling noise with this shotgun, but I haven’t tested this out in the field, and I don’t plan to be be doing any run and gun booming with this. Could be fine, I just haven’t tested it like that.
Very pleased for my purposes
Professional audio with excellent range, and a warm professional sound. Couldn’t be happier with this purchase.
Maybe I’ve got a lemon, but my sample was a bit self noisy.
Tonally, it is really good though. If you can remove that noise in NLE, get it!
I’m sad to return it. Just got another mike from different supplier, yep, it was a lemon.
Twice as quiet, great stuff, it’s a keeper.
Great mike.
Please check my video review on YouTube to listen to Sennheiser MKE 600 mic in comparison with some other mics (Please search for “Microphones compared: Sennheiser MKE 600, Bronstein BRN-900, BRN-400, Sony PCM M10, Nikon D7000” on YouTube or follow the link in the comment below for this review). This test was designed to compare the ability of the microphones to record a distant (or quiet) misic. I intentionally placed the mics fairly far amd compensated by increasing the gain on the Sony recorder, so the noise level relative to signal is higher compared to when speaking directly to mics.
Of these microphones, I liked PCM M10 onboard omnidirectional stereo mics for the high sensitivity, very low self noise and fuller, crisper sound (but it records every ambient noise), and I also liked the MKE 600 shotgun that can help isolate the sound that is natural, loud enough and has a relatively low background hiss. I used this Sennheiser mic with both 48V phantom power from a Mackie mixer and 2 AA batteries (required an XLR to 3.5mm adaptor). The performance was comparable (it is supposed to be slightly better with phantom power, according to the specs). It is a real boon to use AA batteries for such a mic, as I can use it with my Sony recorder or plug directly into digital camera. In addition, the mic comes with a nice pouch. Good job Sennheiser!
The microphones I was comparing are not in the same price price category, of course, so it may be not a fair comparison. But I was wondering if cheaper mics will do just fine for my purpose or I need a more expensive one. I initially purchased a relatively cheap mic (BRN-200), but ended up returning it, and then I got a Sony personal recorder and also tried more expensive shotgun mics to supress back/side noises and pickup more distant, fainter sounds from the target source. At the time of each purchase (January-March 2014), Sennheiser was sold at Amazon for $330, Sony PCM M10 for $210, BRN-400 for $130, BRN-900 for $70 and BRN-200 for $50. The price for BRN-400 recently dropped nearly 25%, and the price for Sony increased. Although the more expensive microphones (Sennheiser and Sony) performed much better recording low volume sounds, if you would place any of these, even cheaper mics very close to the source and also optimze the gain on the recording device, the quality of captured sound will likely improve. I personally liked PCM M10 onboard omnidirectional stereo mics for the high sensitivity, very low self noise and fuller, crisper sound, and, of course, I also enjoed the MKE 600 shotgun mic. I think the low frequencies, especially for voice recording, appear to be more faithfully rerpoduced by Sennheiser, compared to Sony recorder, so the voice from MKE 600 sounds a little fuller. But the sound is a little crisper when recorded with Sony recorder without a shotgun mic.
Deeper frequency response, lower noise floor.
I run it into a Zoom H1 with a balanced adapter cable. Sounds TERRIFIC.
Internal battery has lasted over 50 hours of shooting so far.
AFter using both the Rode video mic and video mic Pro, and being very disappointed in the sounds of those, I bought this on the recommendation of an engineer friend. A bit more expensive than the Rode, but the difference is enormous! Beautiful clean, clear well-balanced sound from this mic.