Sennheiser 416 Sensitivity rating

[zak forrest]

Reading through the Red users manual and I saw this:

"A 0dB reference voltage level of 0.775V provides approximately 8dB of headroom above reference. Microphone pre-amplifier gains should be adjusted accordingly (i.e. 8dB lower) e.g. With an Azden SGM X1 microphone rated at -41dB sensitivity, set the microphone pre-amplifier to (41 – 9) = 32dB for optimal recorded signal quality."


I have a Sennheiser 416. I can't find a sensitivity rating in decibels anywhere on the net, I can only find it in "mv/pa"

I found a converter online that changes mv/pa to decibels, but I am still a bit weary and thought I would ask all of you if you knew what the 416's sensitivity rating was.

The conversion told me it was aproximately -32db, which means for optimum results I should set the gain on the Red to about 23db.

I've shot some stuff with the camera gain on 20db and again on 33db and they both sounded fantastic. I shot some whispering dialogue from 7 feet away and the level meters werent even lighting up and the audio sounded great! It would still be nice to know what to aim for though, gain-wise...

Would anyone like to confirm my research for me? :innocent:

 

[Scot Olson]

The paperwork that came with my 416 would seem to confirm your findings. The graph that that the microphones frequency response is plotted on it is labeled -

0 dB = 25 mV/Pa = -32 dBV

Unfortunately I think the gain setting you will want to set is going to be highly dependent on the conditions you are recording under.

Scot