Microphone Comparison : Sennheiser MKH 8040 ORTF “vs” LOM Usi AB
For ambiances recording, I almost always use the LCR setup in the Cinela blimp, this setup is composed of a Sennheiser MKH 8040 ORTF setup + 1 MKH 8050 added for ” Center ” channel, which is really nice to have once in the edit room.
I often add the excellent LOM Usi omni microphones to get another sonic perspective and more edit possibilities afterwards, so I came up with the idea of mouting the Usi mics inside the Cinela basket in a unorthodox “AB” configuration.
please note that I didn’t use the ” center MKH 8050″ in the examples below and that the Usi are plugged into the 3.5mm AUX input on the MixPre-6, the preamps are a bit noisier than on the normal XLR inputs in which the Sennheisers are plugged, so don’t use this as a noise floor comparison but more to compare stereo image and overall mic tones.
Here are the recordings for comparison:
rain on roof – 8040 ORTF
rain on roof – LOM Usi AB
quiet night – 8040 ORTF
quiet night – LOM Usi AB
no denoise applied here, I think the “weird” sound is due to the distance (approx. 1km) and sound diffraction through the valley
distant motorcycle – 8040 ORTF
distant motorcycle – LOM Usi AB
wind in tree in the background
diffuse car pass by – 8040 ORTF
diffuse car pass by – LOM Usi AB
For those who prefer a Pro Tools session, click on the link below :
Thanks for this comparison. I own the Clippy EM172 which use the same capsules as the Lom Usi so I was really interested in this comparison. The self-noise on the Usi is definitely higher, but only noticeable in certain very quiet scenarios. I downloaded your recordings which were really useful for helping me tweak my noise reduction settings. I managed to get them sounding very close in terms of self-noise, with minimal elimination of the signal. What helps is that the Usi are naturally quite sensitive in the 7-10khz range which is also where most of the self noise is apparent. So doing some reduction in that range doesn’t hurt the signal too much.
Thank you very much Doug ! I never tried the Clippy Mics but I’m thinking about grabbing a pair of EM272.
True about the upper range, sometimes the Usi sound a little harsh so they can deal with a bit of noise/hiss reduction.
Thanks for letting us see this comparison, one thing, have you ever used the mkh mics as a LCR and then the 2s LOMs for the back? As a 5.0 setup, not sure it will work but interesting to know if you have tried it!
thanks
Hi Björn !
Thanks for your comment. Yeah I’ve tried that in the past, it worked okay but I prefer to use another ORTF pair as a rear pair alongside the LCR.
Axel
Hey Axel,
I have a 8040 ORTF pair and I’m thinking of adding the 8050. How do you use the 8050? Do you ever blend it into the ORTF? Or is it just for when you want to grab a mono center? Thank you.
Thanks for sharing.
Difficult to judge and compare stereo image, as the 2 Lom USI are too near each other, in your configuration, to propose a true omni stereo couple (they should be spaced 60 cm apart minimum).
But of course, it already begins to give an idea…