AT IBC in Amsterdam, Sennheiser launched the new, affordable, MKE 600 gun mic.

Press release is HERE (http://en-de.sennheiser.com/news/mke-600-shotgun-microphone-for-video-journalists).

More info. is HERE (http://en-de.sennheiser.com/global_search?q=mke+600) and HERE (http://en-de.sennheiser.com/mke-600).

Retail price is, I gather, about £250 - so *very* affordable.

It's battery powered / phantom powered, so you have a choice - but the specs are slightly better if it's phantom powered.

Although it looks like the K6+ME66 it is quite different. My understanding, from someone who has used it, is that it has a "warmer" sound than the K6+ME66.

At this price with this pedigree, IMHO, it should be on everyone's short list for an affordable short gun mic.

BH says available 9/30 for $399. Will be interesting to see how it compares to the Rode NTG-2.

While outward appearances give it a look like the ME-66, I noticed that the On/Off switch is located on the mic part itself and the other part appears to be a battery holder and the XLR end. If this is true, then, one can deduce it won't be a modular system like the ME-64, ME-66, ME-67 that uses the K-6 with all three mics.

For the budget conscious the K-6 system made a lot of "¢ents". The K-6 was not a cheap component so being able to share it among the other mic heads created a saving. The K-6 contained the roll-off filters, battery condition indicator light, and the on-off switch. It also had the circuitry that sensed if phantom power was being applied so it would not utilize battery power.

Perhaps with the advances in circuitry manufacturing Sennheiser is able to produce this portion at a much lesser cost than in the past so maybe it's just not a significant factor anymore.

I wonder if the Rycote softie of the '66 will fit it? It appears the switch is more forward than it used to be.

That brings up another point: If the mic is used inside a blimp/zeppelin/Windshield one may need a really long finger to reach inside to turn On or Off the mic, or for that matter, even see if the LED indicates good battery power.

Bottom line: For Sennheiser to come out with a new mic given all the models they have and the world-wide competition, it must be pretty good.

Any Graphs depicting the peripheral sensitivity and freq responses?

I'd like to compare it to my K6 ME66 profiles. And yes, "hearing" is believing, I know that.

Cheers

Grazie

For Sennheiser to come out with a new mic given all the models they have and the world-wide competition, it must be pretty good.

Or perhaps Rode is eating their lunch in the "popular priced shotgun" market.