A trio of controls set conveniently on the Profile’s entrance facet enables you to simply dial in ranges on the fly. There’s a knob on the high for mic enter; a headphone quantity knob on the backside; and in between, a mixer knob to regulate the stability between the mic’s direct output and your pc output. That final inclusion is nice for video calls, letting you fine-tune the combo between you and your caller to perfection.
Perhaps the most convenient characteristic for calls is the Profile’s onboard mute key, which glows a deep purple while you’re muted or a pleasant inexperienced while you’re not, assuring that different callers solely hear you while you need them to. The LED additionally lights up orange should you push the Profile’s cardioid diaphragm to distortion, although you’ll actually need to belt to get there. You’re extra more likely to distort on the digital facet, particularly should you’re utilizing direct monitoring.
The one time I had to make use of any software program settings was once I needed to bypass the headphone output for my audio system. In fact, the shortage of software program means there are not any further results or EQ, however that’s fantastic by me. Any first rate digital audio workstation gives plug-in choices in-built, and also you’ll probably discover there’s no must EQ the Profile anyway.
It’s value mentioning that there’s no technique to change the mic’s polar sample, however until you’re hoping to share it with a colleague or use it as a room mic, this shouldn’t matter a lot.
Luscious Sound
To start out issues with a bang, I recorded what might be the silliest faux podcast intro within the style’s quick historical past. My targets have been twofold: to guage the mic’s general sound signature and to see how a lot pop and proximity impact (further bass while you’re near the mic) the Profile incurs at completely different distances. Making my spouse roll her eyes was only a bonus.
I did most of my recording on the fundamental 44.1 kHz and a 16-bit depth, which produces smaller information for fundamental setups, however you may step as much as 44.8 kHz at 24 bits.
The first takeaway is that the Profile sounds phenomenal for spoken recordings. My foolish little monologs, which completely included a run of Peter Piper’s peppers, sounded splendidly easy, clear, and balanced. I listened over headphones, displays, and my Mac’s onboard audio system, the latter of that are much less forgiving for poor recordings than you may suppose.
You possibly can most likely get away and not using a pop filter should you again off the Profile and communicate fastidiously, however should you’re severe about your craft, you’ll greater than probably have a heavy breath or a hard-popped consonant to try to repair later. Your most secure guess is simply to filter them out to start with.
I additionally did some fundamental vocal and guitar recording, together with each concurrently, and the Profile stepped up properly. Centering the mic between devices, it picked up nice definition with a remarkably regular output for a chunk of {hardware} that begins comfortably near $100. Should you’re doing rather more than music demos, I’d nonetheless suggest contemplating a typical microphone and interface, however the Profile did a swell job for a stand-alone setup at this value.
I took a number of video calls with the Profile over a few weeks, and once more the outcomes happy my ears in addition to these of my callers. One colleague instructed me I seemed like I used to be “within the room,” and WIRED editor Parker Corridor mentioned the Profile seemed like a Shure SM7B, a legendary studio and radio standby. On my facet, I discovered myself actually having fun with the dulcet tones the Profile produced, which most likely made me a extra prepared and blissful participant.
Whereas I want Sennheiser would have included a pair extra equipment within the Stream Set, the Profile is a improbable microphone for a number of use circumstances. Whether or not you’re constructing an entry-level studio, entering into podcasting or live-streaming, or just seeking to spruce up your video chats, Sennheiser’s entry-level possibility is a killer technique to elevate your sport with out breaking the financial institution.