Sennheiser MKE200 Review: Versatile starter microphone

The Sennheiser MKE200 is an entry-level microphone that aims to amplify your audio quality in videos. It comes with all the essentials out of the box including a neat carry case for your travels.

Design and build quality

To make audio recording as convenient as possible, the MKE200 is both compact and solid. It uses a hot-shoe mount to attach to your camera without taking much space above. This is particularly use for people who want their recording setup to be as small and lightweight as possible.

The microphone has an input on its underside, which makes the unit feel even more uniform. Here, you can use either of the two audio cables that Sennheiser provides. One is to connect the microphone to your camera whereas the other is for smartphone connections. For the latter though, you will need a separate case on your smartphone with a hot-shoe mount for ease of use.

The largely plug-and-play style of the MKE200 is what adds to the convenience. There is no external battery required for usage which is great. We also like the small attention to detail from Sennheiser. For instance, the provision of a deadcat for outdoor usage, the splash of blue colour on its cables or the little nut to secure microphone connections further.

But if we were to nitpick, the microphone does not make it easy to distinguish the front and back. With both ends looking identical, some people may struggle with initial setup. Likewise, the deadcat provided by Sennheiser out of the box is quite difficult to get on the microphone. These may seem minor inconveniences but having faced them, they are worth pointing out.

Audio and improvements

We tested the MKE200 in both outdoor and indoor situations. Specific to outdoor usage, we found that the microphone did quite a good job of eliminating recurring background noise. This made our voices a lot more audible yet retaining the hustle and bustle that was ongoing nearby. The deadcat on the microphone does not do much to remove background noise but should come in handy if you are in windy conditions. Indoors, the MKE200 went for a treble heavy voice, different from the microphone on the Panasonic G7. 7It still reduced background noise however, we think there are better options available on the market for indoor audio improvements.

For example, you could look at cheaper lavalier microphones or USB microphones like the Razer Seiran Mini we reviewed earlier. The one feature we did find lacking on the MKE200 is gain control. With gain control, you typical have an opportunity to fine-tune audio further. Perhaps a companion application to work alongside the microphone is something that Sennheiser can work towards for future iterations.

Conclusion

For anyone looking to start their audio improvement journey, the Sennheiser MKE200 is great. It comes in handy especially for on-the-go and outdoor usage given its nature. Being able to record audio without background noise is a huge step up and for someone just getting started, this is a welcome. However, if you are creating content indoors, there are other types of microphones you should be looking at.