Sennheiser's aggressive moves into onboard-digital designs haven't proven to take over all of the company's new product lines. After a quick appearance at Gearwire during our 2007 AES Vienna coverage, the MKH-8000 line was released recently. There is a Sennheiser mike design trend in accessorizing that the MKHs show in the options for configuration of sets. Each set runs $1299. The word from Sennheiser:

Sennheiser is launching the MKH 8000 series of microphones, which combine the company's exclusive RF condenser technology with a compact, modular form factor and a range of application-specific accessories for broadcast, recording and performance use. The MKH 8000 series is available in three models—offering omni-directional, cardioid or super-cardioid pick-up patterns—that set new standards for top-quality speech, vocal and instrumental reproduction with an extremely wide frequency response.

The omni-directional MKH 8020, cardioid MKH 8040 and super-cardioid MKH 8050 each consist of two modules—the microphone head and a separate XLR module. For applications such as television, the XLR module may be removed and the mic head directly attached to one of Sennheiser's special remote capsule accessories to create a super-compact microphone assembly. The black Nextel® coating of the MKH 8000 series eliminates troublesome reflections and further optimizes the mics for TV use.

The frequency response of the new MKH 8000 microphones ranges from 10Hz to 60kHz (MKH 8020) and 30Hz to 50kHz (MKH 8040 and MKH 8050), allowing them to record even the finest details for high sampling rate digital audio formats. The pick-up patterns have been designed for accuracy across the entire frequency response, allowing instrument groups to be clearly separated, for example. The maximum SPL is impressively high, at 138dB for the MKH 8020 and 142dB for the MKH 8040 and MKH 8050. The extremely low self-noise inherent in RF condensers and the high sensitivity ensure that all the nuances of voices and instruments are fully captured.

The complete range of accessories includes floor stands, extension tubes, shock mounts, remote cables, table stands, ceiling mounts, clamps and various fixtures. In all accessories, the signal-transmitting components are systematically designed with two channels to allow stereo signals or dual mono signals to be processed.

Sennheiser's unique RF condenser microphone technology, which utilizes a comparatively low RF voltage generated by a low-noise oscillator rather than the high polarization voltage of a standard condenser mic, achieves a wide dynamic range and an excellent low frequency response even with small capsules, plus a considerably better high frequency response than large capsules. Further, although the capsule is grounded, it possesses a genuine fully floating, balanced output without the need of a transformer. The lower electrical impedance of an RF biased capsule also allows it to be operated in conditions that would be too damp for a standard, DC-biased microphone.

The 8000 Series all have a unique symmetrical push-pull transducer. Besides the normal back plate, this capsule is fitted with an additional front plate, with the diaphragm positioned between these acoustically transparent plates. The result of this balanced design is an unchanging acoustic impedance, extremely low distortion figures, a higher capsule output with much lower noise, and thus a very clear signal.

The MKH 8000 series is available in three sets:

• MKH 8020 Set—omnidirectional pattern
• MKH 8040 Set—cardioid pattern
• MKH 8050 Set—supercardioid pattern