Sunday, May 25, 2014

Comparing the Sennheiser ME66 and ME67

Well I bit the bullet and bought a used ME67. The differences between the it and the ME66 in the field for recording bird song have been nagging me for over a year.  I have quickly scrolled through the profiles of members on Xeno-Canto, and the Sennheiser ME66 and ME67 are used by the overwhelming number of recordists who list their equipment.  I think the tally favors the ME66, which makes sense. It is less expensive and its length is easier to handle.  I use a regular sized day-pack for my recording equipment, and the ME67 in my Rode pistol grip shock mount will not entirely fit in the largest pocket. The 66 with the K6 power module is 12.25 inches (31.1cm)  long, and the ME67 is a whopping 19.625 inches (49.8cm).

There is another caveat about which you will want to know. Both these units will need wind protection in the field, and the leading manufacturer that makes something specifically for the ME67 is Rycote.  They have a new line which offers significantly greater protection from wind noise, but but the is no plan for one long enough (29cm) to fit the ME67.  You will have to settle for the existing Softie to the best of my knowledge.  There is a Super Softie for the ME66, available as of May 2014 from B&H.

I am not dissatisfied with the ME66 at all.  It does an excellent job and at a distance of about 50 feet (16 meters) it is very capable of picking up a fairly loud song.  It also does a yeoman's job at rejecting off-axis sound. Listen to this Brown Thrasher in a tree at about the distance I mentioned.  Keep in mind I have not amplified this recording, and I recorded it at a volume setting of about 8 1/2 of 10 on my Olympus LS-10. I was delighted to hear the morning chorus around the target bird relatively subdued compared to what I was actually hearing.

I have played with the longer microphone for over a month now and I will tell you it is louder, hands down. In fact some of the recordings I have made I have actually reduced the gain which in turn suppresses background noise such as wind and human interference. (More about manipulating your recordings in another post.)  Also, I have recording volume set to about 7 1/2 - 8 of 10 on my Olympus LS-10, with this microphone, so hissy self noise is negligible in the field.

Of course the best way of understanding the difference is for me to demonstrate it. For this test I arranged both microphones side-by-side and plugged them in with a two stereo XLR3 to one mini-plug connector so that the ME67 is on one channel and the ME66 in the other. In Audacity I split the channels into separate MP3 files and uploaded them to Soundcloud.

                               Sennheiser ME66                                   Sennheiser ME67                    
 
The ME67 is 3.8 decibels louder in this test, or since the scale is logarithmic, 3.8 times louder. Something else you need to know is that when you are recording a subject you cannot see if you are not right on target with the ME67 it may sound off axis, or like it is in a tube.  This microphone rejects off-axis sound much more than the ME66.  In fact, a survey of equipment on the web pages of the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at Cornell compared the short shotgun to a 20 mm lens and a long shotgun to a 28 mm lens width of field.

One final thought; each of us can have a different opinion about what makes a good recording.  For many the inclusion of the environment  which a bird lives is important.  I feel that way as well in selected circumstances. In those cases I might well choose the ME66 to make those recordings. I hope this is useful, and I welcome your input.

I am adding the following after the fact.  My recorder has a high and low microphone sensitivity switch.  The recordings above were done with the switch set to low and probably full gain.  I have seen it suggested that this is preferable to high sensitivity and lower gain. The comments I made in paragraph four were with the sensitivity switch set on high and the gain reduced to 7-8.


4 comments:

  1. thanks for test... but would you prefer the ME67 for film making?

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  2. thanks for test... but would you prefer the ME67 for film making?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I couldn't make that call. I am not a film maker, but there is a lot out there on the web. If you spend enough time on it you will surely find your answer.

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