Sennheiser
MKH 8090
Small-diaphragm condenser · Wide cardioid · 30–50,000 Hz
- Wide cardioid — between omni and cardioid, so it keeps some rejection without the off-axis colouration a cardioid adds.
- The pattern most often reached for on an orchestral main pair when a true omni picks up too much room.
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 8090 yet, so the numbers are in the spec table below.
Polar pattern
Generated from the first-order directivity formula for wide cardioid. It illustrates the pattern type — it is not a measurement of this individual model.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Sennheiser |
|---|---|
| Model | MKH 8090 |
| Type | Small-diaphragm condenser |
| Form factor | Stick / pencil |
| Polar pattern | Wide cardioid |
| Frequency range | 30–50,000 Hz |
| Sensitivity | -34.0 dBV/Pa |
| Max SPL | 142 dB SPL (THD not stated) |
| Self-noise | 13 dB(A) |
| Impedance | — not published by the maker |
| Connector | XLR3M |
| Powering | Phantom 48 V |
| Weight | 25 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
- Overhead
- Choir / ensemble
- Acoustic instrument
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 8090 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 8090’s for the same live job, with the reasons. It says nothing about how they sound.
Not compared for the Sennheiser MKH 8090: response curve not redrawn yet.
-
sE Electronics
sE8
- Same job: overhead, choir / ensemble, acoustic instrument
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same form: stick / pencil
- About the same output — within the datasheets’ tolerance
- Cardioid instead of wide cardioid
-
sE Electronics
sE8 omni
- Same job: overhead, choir / ensemble, acoustic instrument
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same form: stick / pencil
- About the same output — within the datasheets’ tolerance
- Omnidirectional instead of wide cardioid — no rear rejection: more spill and feedback risk near wedges
-
Sennheiser
MKH 8040
- Same job: overhead, choir / ensemble, acoustic instrument
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same form: stick / pencil
- About the same output — within the datasheets’ tolerance
- Max SPL as high or higher (142 vs 142 dB SPL)
- Cardioid instead of wide cardioid
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.