Sennheiser at Gassers at DVinfo.net

Garret Ambrosio · April 11th, 2003, 03:31 PM

Hey Guys, I was just at Adolph Gassers in San Francisco and found the Sennheiser MKE300 for 189.99, is this a good deal? Would this work great with my VX2000? The salesperson said that the MKE300 was crap and that the built-in was better, but I know many of you here swear by it, but before flopping out 2 bills for it I wanted to get your opinion.

Harry Settle · April 11th, 2003, 09:03 PM

I queried a couple of different forums on this modle, and was warned against it. No personal experience though. They seem to show up on ebay fairly regularly.

Justin Costanzo · April 11th, 2003, 09:15 PM

I often visit Gasser's and have found that
A) The staff (in the video department) is often too cool to help anyone.
B) When they do, it is motivated as much by whim as a want to sell their over-priced wares.

Which brings me to
C) I would take the advice, as I know nothing of the mic (I have used the ME66, which is great) if for no other reason than because it must really suck, given that they are not trying to pawn it off on you as some kind of live-and-learn experience.

I am glad to see that you had a good experience, I spent 8 months boycotting them, (which ended when had a killer sale on Tiffen Filters) because of the consistently abysmal service.

As a side note, I once saw one guy, (wish I got his name) working in the photo dept. downstairs, get so angry with the amount of customers he was having to help that when the phone would ring he would pick it up off the cradle and slam it back down two or three times to hang it up. What was truly shocking was that he kept doing it and no one said anything.
But I digress...
HTH
Justin "loved the Sennheiser ME-66" Costanzo

Garret Ambrosio · April 11th, 2003, 11:53 PM

Justin,

I agree with you whole heartedly, I think those guys are either too cool or afraid tto help anyone upstairs at least. They were helping some lady (3 CSR's) buy a hooded lens for her GL2 (98.00 ouch!) and some other things like a Sony MiniDv player with LCD screen ($1100) and a UV Filter and other things. While a friend and I were looking at their mics and audio equipment, my friend got a bit ansi and we both started saying a bunch of "harsh" or naughty things to get their attention. Finally one of the three having assessed that the lady was in good hands came over and started to talk to us. I ask to see the SennHeiser and the Azden SGM-2X and the Beachtek for my camera, along with WCS-999 wireless mics. He turned out to be ok personality wise, customer service skills needed much help but we had him laughing and so he was more cordial but then again I question is sincerity or is level of knowledge, especially when he told me that the MKE300 was crap. He also had the ME66 but wanted $450 for it, a little much for me at that time. But he did have the Azden's for $139.00. So after all was said and done I decided to consult the baord about my findings to help me make my decision, but I did get to play with a Canon XL1, XL1S, GL2 and a PD-150 while I was there. So overall it wasn't really that bad but I can tell you that they do need to work on their people skills especially the receptionist who answers the phone..:

"Hi I would like to know if you have an XLR Adaptor for my Camcorder?"

"Huh? Oh you need the Video De..." Transfer to music on hold. Five rings later. Pick up.

"Hi..." Click. redial.

"Adolph Gassers"

"Hi may I speak to your video department."

Transfer to music on hold.

"Video Department. "

"Do you guys have the Beachtek DXA-4 for my VX2000?"

"VX2000?, Sorry but I'm real busy, can you hold?"

"Yeah, we got it."

"How much is it?"

"$210. Ok?"

"Ok. Bu..." Click.

I got much more help at Wolf Camera LOL.

John Steele · April 12th, 2003, 02:20 PM

Hi Garret,

I have to say the MKE-300 is crap for the VX2000. It picks up mechanical noise transmitted through the camera and I'm not talking about zoom motor noise or the tape mechanism I mean a really bad hum that comes through, I had sent mine to sennheiser to have extra screening added to try and resolve the problem but nothing helped. I had to sell it and buy a ME66 much better mic and no problems so far.

John.

April 11th, 2003, 03:31 PM	#1
Garret Ambrosio Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Vallejo, CA Posts: 263	Sennheiser at Gassers Hey Guys, I was just at Adolph Gassers in San Francisco and found the Sennheiser MKE300 for 189.99, is this a good deal? Would this work great with my VX2000? The salesperson said that the MKE300 was crap and that the built-in was better, but I know many of you here swear by it, but before flopping out 2 bills for it I wanted to get your opinion. __________________ "USA Today has come out with a new survey - apparently, three out of every four people make up 75% of the population." -David Letterman

April 11th, 2003, 09:03 PM	#2
Harry Settle Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bemidji, MN Posts: 276	I queried a couple of different forums on this modle, and was warned against it. No personal experience though. They seem to show up on ebay fairly regularly. __________________ "DOH"!!!

April 11th, 2003, 09:15 PM	#3
Justin Costanzo New Boot Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: San Francisco Posts: 14	I often visit Gasser's and have found that A) The staff (in the video department) is often too cool to help anyone. B) When they do, it is motivated as much by whim as a want to sell their over-priced wares. Which brings me to C) I would take the advice, as I know nothing of the mic (I have used the ME66, which is great) if for no other reason than because it must really suck, given that they are not trying to pawn it off on you as some kind of live-and-learn experience. I am glad to see that you had a good experience, I spent 8 months boycotting them, (which ended when had a killer sale on Tiffen Filters) because of the consistently abysmal service. As a side note, I once saw one guy, (wish I got his name) working in the photo dept. downstairs, get so angry with the amount of customers he was having to help that when the phone would ring he would pick it up off the cradle and slam it back down two or three times to hang it up. What was truly shocking was that he kept doing it and no one said anything. But I digress... HTH Justin "loved the Sennheiser ME-66" Costanzo __________________ "Sometimes when I sleep at night I think of 'Hop on Pop." - G.W. Bush speaking on educating children, April 2nd, 2002

April 11th, 2003, 11:53 PM	#4
Garret Ambrosio Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Vallejo, CA Posts: 263	Justin, I agree with you whole heartedly, I think those guys are either too cool or afraid tto help anyone upstairs at least. They were helping some lady (3 CSR's) buy a hooded lens for her GL2 (98.00 ouch!) and some other things like a Sony MiniDv player with LCD screen ($1100) and a UV Filter and other things. While a friend and I were looking at their mics and audio equipment, my friend got a bit ansi and we both started saying a bunch of "harsh" or naughty things to get their attention. Finally one of the three having assessed that the lady was in good hands came over and started to talk to us. I ask to see the SennHeiser and the Azden SGM-2X and the Beachtek for my camera, along with WCS-999 wireless mics. He turned out to be ok personality wise, customer service skills needed much help but we had him laughing and so he was more cordial but then again I question is sincerity or is level of knowledge, especially when he told me that the MKE300 was crap. He also had the ME66 but wanted $450 for it, a little much for me at that time. But he did have the Azden's for $139.00. So after all was said and done I decided to consult the baord about my findings to help me make my decision, but I did get to play with a Canon XL1, XL1S, GL2 and a PD-150 while I was there. So overall it wasn't really that bad but I can tell you that they do need to work on their people skills especially the receptionist who answers the phone..: "Hi I would like to know if you have an XLR Adaptor for my Camcorder?" "Huh? Oh you need the Video De..." Transfer to music on hold. Five rings later. Pick up. "Hi..." Click. redial. "Adolph Gassers" "Hi may I speak to your video department." Transfer to music on hold. "Video Department. " "Do you guys have the Beachtek DXA-4 for my VX2000?" "VX2000?, Sorry but I'm real busy, can you hold?" "Yeah, we got it." "How much is it?" "$210. Ok?" "Ok. Bu..." Click. I got much more help at Wolf Camera LOL. __________________ "USA Today has come out with a new survey - apparently, three out of every four people make up 75% of the population." -David Letterman

April 12th, 2003, 02:20 PM	#5
John Steele Major Player Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Scotland, UK Posts: 216	Hi Garret, I have to say the MKE-300 is crap for the VX2000. It picks up mechanical noise transmitted through the camera and I'm not talking about zoom motor noise or the tape mechanism I mean a really bad hum that comes through, I had sent mine to sennheiser to have extra screening added to try and resolve the problem but nothing helped. I had to sell it and buy a ME66 much better mic and no problems so far. John.