Sennheiser
MKH 416
Small-diaphragm condenser · Lobar (shotgun) · 40–20,000 Hz · a rider regular
- The film-and-television shotgun — on booms since the 1970s and still the reference most other shotguns are described against.
- Above roughly 2 kHz an interference tube narrows the pattern into a forward lobe — the diagram here sketches that lobe; lower down the capsule behaves like a supercardioid.
- RF-condenser design, which is why it keeps working in humidity that puts conventional condensers out of action.
Frequency response
No response curve yet.
MicSense only draws a curve redrawn from a graph the manufacturer publishes — it never estimates one from the microphone’s class. No published graph has been redrawn for the MKH 416 yet, so the numbers are in the spec table below.
Polar pattern
A shotgun’s interference tube narrows the front lobe beyond any first-order pattern; the lobe drawn here illustrates the type — it is not a measurement of this individual model.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Sennheiser |
|---|---|
| Model | MKH 416 |
| Type | Small-diaphragm condenser |
| Form factor | Shotgun |
| Polar pattern | Lobar (shotgun) (Supercardioid) |
| Frequency range | 40–20,000 Hz |
| Sensitivity | 25 mV/Pa · ≈ -32.0 dBV/Pa |
| Max SPL | 130 dB SPL (THD not stated) |
| Self-noise | 13 dB(A) |
| Impedance | 25 Ω (nominal) |
| Connector | XLR3M |
| Powering | Phantom 48 V |
| Weight | 175 g |
Specifications: Sennheiser specifications page · last checked 2 Oct 2026. These are the maker’s published figures for this model. A dash never means zero: “not published by the maker” means the maker’s documents give no figure; “not yet checked” means MicSense has not confirmed one yet. Spotted an error? Tell us.
MicSense notes
| Price tier | Premium |
|---|---|
| Introduced | — not recorded |
Price tier and “a rider regular” are MicSense’s own judgement, not the maker’s.
What it gets used for
- Broadcast
MicSense tags microphones by the job on a live stage, not by studio category — so you can filter for “kick in” or “monitor vocal” instead of working backwards from “large-diaphragm condenser”.
MKH 416 alternatives: closest in published specs
Based on published specifications only — always listen at soundcheck. These are the microphones in the MicSense library whose datasheet figures sit closest to the Sennheiser MKH 416’s for the same live job, with the reasons. It says nothing about how they sound.
Not compared for the Sennheiser MKH 416: response curve not redrawn yet.
-
Sennheiser
MKE 600
- Same job: broadcast
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same supercardioid pattern
- Same form: shotgun
- About the same output — within the datasheets’ tolerance
- Max SPL as high or higher (132 vs 130 dB SPL)
-
Sennheiser
MKH 8060
- Same job: broadcast
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same supercardioid pattern
- Same form: shotgun
- ≈ 8 dB more output — about 8 dB less gain
-
Shure
VP83F LensHopper
- Same job: broadcast
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same supercardioid pattern
- Same form: shotgun
- Runs on a battery — bring a spare
- ≈ 4 dB less output — add about 4 dB gain
Compare it against the alternatives.
MicSense lets you put up to four microphones side by side — spec table, overlaid response curves and polar diagrams on one screen. Free with a free Squaresmile account.