Sennheiser MD441U

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PinkStrat

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Hello everyone,

Just curious as to anyone's opinion of the MD441U and what its best applications are? I have got one coming in right now and I can't wait to check it out with my also newly acquired analog Otari machine.
 
"Bad Ass" comes to mind!

Just be aware of high-frequency roll-off due to age on old ones.

I have the Black Fire 541 (same as the 441) that I bought used. Supposidly it didn't have any hi-freq. roll-off, but I've never been able to use it because the hi-end is so muffled, it sounds like someone is singing outside the studio wall. I should also mention, for some rewason, my 541 has an insanely low output.

I wonder how much it'd cost me to get it fixed or how much I'd get for it...
 
I own a very old 441 and a much newer 541 that sounds a tad different.

But high freq roll off? No sir, they both sounds crystal clear on hihat, ride cymbal and in fact they're very versatile mics.

You can use them on almost everything. Hypercardiod mic with a great off axis response.

The high freq roll off is a result of dirt and smoke I guess.
 
Older 441s are VERY known for having hi-freq. roll-off; to varying degrees.

My 541, which I was told had NO hi-freq. roll-off, has so much hi-freq. roll-off that it's unuseable!

But my 541 also has an unsual extremely low output, so "broken" comes to mind.
 
RE... yours need service, or sell it to me for $10 :) Service is NOT cheap, so be forewarned. They will ass rape you.


Mine is a blackfire too, which is technically newer than the "old" ones, so if it has rolled off higs, it is probably dirty, or broken. They'll look at it for $35 and tell you what it needs. Mine sounds fab, great top, great bottom, great mid. Very smooth. Best mic I have, and thats counting my Soundeluxe U195, MD421, etc...
The all have very low output, its normal, which is great if you have a colored pre that you really want to tap the color on, on a really clean pre. OVerall one of the best mics ever made, and for what the used price goes for, we should all have 5 or 6. The only dynamic I would consider using on cymbals or hats or ride... its just a flat out good mic.
 
By the way, the off axis response is 2nd to none. The rejection is flat out amazing. I wish every mic was as good as this one.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. From what I gather my 441 is around 15 years old and hasn't been used much at all (except for recording horns). The previous owner is a very old & dear friend of mine for the last 30 years...he said he just didn't need four of these 441s...three would do just fine with him. I wonder how it will sound on distorted (or clean) electric guitar? They should sound good for acoustic guitars and vocals too I would imagine.
 
Pink, it sounds great on almost any sound source. If you wanna hear how it sounds on a distorted Marshall, go to my website, click 'sound fragments' and listen to the band 'Silent Spring".
 
Kills on dirty and clean guitars. Cant wait to try it with my new MP2NV thats coming this week.

Great in a kick, on toms, on snare, on some vocals... just plain great mic. And the rejection... damn its good.
 
Han said:
Pink, it sounds great on almost any sound source. If you wanna hear how it sounds on a distorted Marshall, go to my website, click 'sound fragments' and listen to the band 'Silent Spring".
Click to expand...

What's the rest of the signal chain on that?
 
Some people have said that the 441 sounds "fizzy" on guitar cabs but I suspect that the real problem was with a bad sounding amplifier (and lastly a bad microphone by chance). What do you think? Han, I need your website address if possible?:)
 
Pink, on the lower bar of any post you may see an icon "www".

If you click on it you'll get to my website.


Christopher, the signal chain is the pre of my DDA-AMR board and a 2" Otari MX80 tapemachine. No further processing like compression or anything.

Just the 441, the board's pre and tape.

Edit: Oh waitaminute, the recording wasn't done on the two inch machine, it was a Tascam MSR24S one inch tape machine
 
The 441U is one of the best vocal mics ever made in many famous vocalists/producer's opinions like Stevie Nicks & Elton John among others.
 
Its no slouch at anything, except maybe a room mic since its such low output. You can even pretend its a ray gun or use it as a sex toy.
 
I have one spotted for the ridiculously low price of $199, negotiable.

The only problem is that my wife says that if I buy one more mic she will leave me. She just might be serious.

Satan in the shape of a Sennheiser MD441, who would a thunk it.
 
Sell two worthless mics like SM-57's, and trade up. Cant complain too bad about that. :)
 
mandocaster said:
I have one spotted for the ridiculously low price of $199, negotiable.

The only problem is that my wife says that if I buy one more mic she will leave me. She just might be serious.

Satan in the shape of a Sennheiser MD441, who would a thunk it.
Click to expand...
My wife said something like that once. I think about her now and then. I wonder what she's up to.
It is a killer mic. The output is a little low but it sounds very good to me.
 
I got an old one recently for 300 bucks. A little beat up and was kinda dirty when I got it but it sounds OK. I haven't heard the super-stellar results that everyone else seems to hear but it does a good job on many things. The rejection as mentioned, is great....makes it good for bedroom studios..keeping the outside noise to a minimum. Low output, about like a 57. You'll need a really quiet, high-gain preamp to really get the goody out of it. Does pretty good through a RNP but you get a little hiss at 66 and it needs to be at 66 (max) for my recorder (for vocal and acoustic guitar..it's not that bad on loud sources, of course.) I also have to max out the pre on my mixer ( hiss ) to really get the signal up on my recorder. Mine has a "brilliance" switch that boosts everything above about 3k...it can be very bright. I've recorded: acoustic guitar..good for some styles, kick drum..good, vocal..OK for my voice, probably very good on some, trumpet...pretty smooth.... bass through a guitar cab...NTK recorded a fatter low end....still experimenting.

In my (generally worthless) opinion, it's a good mic to have around. For $200, it's a good deal in any case. At 300-400, I'd look at some other stuff in relation to what you're doing. Might still be good depending on your style.
 
I got my MD441 today..WOW what a monster!

Hey everyone,

Once again, thanks to all who responded to this 441 thread. I took delivery of my MD441 this afternoon. Man, does this thing ROCK!!! Here is the deal on the MD441 from what I'm hearing. Comparing to an SM-57 right off, I noticed that if you own a guitar amplifier that has a very complex tone (full of harmonics and has extremely high detail) the MD441 will allow ALL of those artifacts to be heard in the recording. Using the 441 on a Mesa Boogie closed back horizontal 212 cabinet, the SM-57 sounded quite "dirty" in comparison! The 441 has a very clear, clean, & crystaline presentation of the source. If you are recording dirty or semi-dirty guitar tracks, they come out on tape and stick right in the whole mix without further EQing.

This microphone has got to be one of the most cleverly devised mics in recording history. As far as a dynamic goes, this is the schizitt and I think this 441 slays the 57 for many things. They're also built like tanks too. Typical Sennheiser IMHO. BTW, my high frequencies are very much intact. I performed the dreaded jangling key ring test to check out the brillance switch and this test told me a LOT. In fact, the older 441 sounded much more detailed than my brand new MD421-II. I will try it on acoustic guitar, drums, cymbals and vocals in the morning. So far this thing is ROCKING my socks off! Is it possible that the 441 is like the Shure SM7B (without the flat mids of the latter)? I really love this thing.:D
 
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