Schoeps MK41 Condenser Microphone Features

The Schoeps MK41 is highly directional. Sound arriving from off axis is attenuated even more than with a cardioid. The pickup is ‘drier’ and less susceptible to acoustic feedback than any other Schoeps microphone type, provided that a loudspeaker is not located directly on the rear axis of the microphone.

Its directivity is highly independent of frequency, so that even sounds arriving off axis and reverberant sound are registered without coloration. Consequently, even distant placement of the microphone produces a very natural sound pickup. This is an advantage over interference-tube “shotgun” microphones, whose directivity is very frequency-dependent – exceeding that of a supercardioid only at higher frequencies. Interference-tube microphones are notoriously sensitive to their position in a room, where the shifting patterns of reflections cause corresponding shifts in sound color. Thus the MK 41 is surprisingly effective and space-saving alternatives to shotgun microphones – and being small, they can often be placed closer to the sound source.

An M/S microphone arrangement can be set up at quite some distance from the sound source if an MK 41 or CCM 41 is used for the “M“ channel. Compared to the cardioid MK 4/ CCM 4, the supercardioid has slightly more rolloff at the low end due to the gradient effect. Its high-frequency linearity both on- and off-axis also gives it a less brilliant sound than the MK 4/ CCM 4.

The Schoeps CMC6 Microphone Amplifier converts the extremely high-impedance signal from the capsule to a very low-impedance one suitable for transmission through a microphone cable. The Schoeps CMC6 features a symmetrical class-A output stage with neither coupling condensers nor an output transformer. This design helps it to achieve extremely low distortion and light physical weight, while the very low output impedance helps make it insensitive to electrical interference.

If a recording device has balanced inputs but lacks phantom powering, it may be possible to add 12 Volt powering rather easily by using a supply voltage that is already present internally. In most cases 48 Volts would need to be generated with a voltage multiplier circuit, which is more difficult to implement. That is why we recommend the CMC6, which works with both 12 V and 48 V phantom powering so long as the relevant standard is followed. In addition to the CMC 6's dual-voltage circuitry, the response at the very bottom of the audio frequency range is essentially flat to 20 Hz - designed with digital recording in mind.