Desktop microphones come in all shapes, sizes, and seriousness levels, but Sennheiser’s latest appears to caters for beginners and professionals alike thanks to a splash of colour.
If you’ve been thinking of getting into podcasting or game streaming, and you’re wondering which microphone will do the best job, you’re certainly spoiled for choices. There are microphones from Rode, Razer, Shure, Hyper X, Blue, and countless others, and plenty to choose from.
Sennheiser is another brand in that mix, and it’s one with plenty of history.
While you might know Sennheiser for its headphones such as the Momentum 4 or true wireless Momentum earphones and maybe even an Ambeo soundbar, the company has been producing microphones since the 40s and was arguably Sennheiser’s first product category.
Clearly, it has bones in that area, and so its latest release makes a lot of sense: a microphone made for today.
That microphone is the “Profile”, a microphone made for folks who might want to podcast, stream, record themselves in music, or maybe just offer a better sound in their work-from-home meetings. We won’t judge.
Making it not just another microphone is the inclusion of LEDs on the gain control and mute button, with a simple traffic light colouring telling you when you’re good to record (green), when you’re too loud (yellow), and when the microphone is muted (red). It’s a simple system using colours made to make using a microphone easier than trying to find your computer’s control panel, which is typically what most microphones require.
Inside, there’s a Sennheiser KE10 capsule, a feature the company says is award-winning, while the microphone itself is very much a plug and play device, using a Type C connector to play nicely with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, and works out of the box. It features a 3.5mm headset jack, too, so you can plug headphones right into the microphone.
Overall, it’s a design meant to be easy, an aspect clearly a part of its intended use according to one of its designers.
“The design is simple and efficient and does not overwhelm you,” said Dennis Stegemerten, Solution Architect Pro Audio at Sennheiser and one of the designers of the Sennheiser Profile microphone.
“Profile is simply plugged into the USB-C port of your computer or tablet – your device will automatically recognise the microphone, and it’s ready to capture your voice,” he said.
“There is no need for an interface or any software, no additional window to keep open so that you can control the mic settings. One intuitive touch of a control directly on the mic – that’s all that is needed.”
In Australia, the Sennheiser Profile is priced from $239 for the microphone by itself, while a model with a boom arm can be found for $349, both of which can be found in stores and online this week.
