Sennheiser MKH 50
A supercardioid condenser that engineers keep reaching for when the room is bad and the take is live.
Overview
The MKH 50 shows up in an unglamorous spot on a stage plot: overheads. In the studio documentation that survives from the late 1980s, it appears in the drum-kit columns for both Trixter and Scorpions, riding above the toms while the close mics did their work below. Nobody picked it to flatter a single source. It sat above the kit and captured the whole thing without making a mess of it.
Sennheiser's own advertising in Studio-Sound (July 1989, p.41) laid out the MKH 50's pitch alongside its longer siblings: low natural noise rated at just 13 dBA, exceptionally low distortion, and a well-balanced frequency response even when sound arrives off to the side. That last claim matters most for a supercardioid, because a tight pattern is only useful if the off-axis pickup stays smooth. The same copy described the microphone as part of an extended MKH studio range, with the MKH 60 and MKH 70 handling medium and long-distance work respectively - which made the 50 the short-reach, wide-pattern member of the family. Sennheiser's marketing called the extended range "by far the best microphones we have ever produced." That is advertising and should be read as such, but the technical claims around it are specific.
The MKH 50-P48 variant appears in Recording-Engineer (December 1989, p.122) with a fuller description. It has a highly frequency-independent supercardioid polar pattern designed to lessen pickup from the sides and rear. The capsule forms part of a tuned circuit in a radio-frequency system, which gives high immunity to humidity and low-noise performance. Frequency response is 40 Hz to 20 kHz, and there is both a switchable 10 dB pad and a proximity-effect compensation filter. That RF-biased capsule design is the MKH family's signature approach, and it explains why these microphones have a reputation for surviving damp locations where conventional condenser designs struggle.
The 13 dBA self-noise figure is quiet for a condenser microphone of this era. It is low enough that the microphone's own hiss stays below the noise floor of most rooms and most preamps. The 40 Hz to 20 kHz response covers the full audible band. The proximity-effect compensation filter is there because a supercardioid used close to a source will otherwise thicken up in the low end, and the filter lets an engineer dial that back without reaching for outboard EQ.
According to the available documentation, the MKH 50 is not a long-throw tool. The supercardioid pattern is directional, but it is not the hyper-focused reach of a long shotgun, and Sennheiser positioned the MKH 70 for that job. The 50's brief is closer work with disciplined off-axis behavior: drum overheads, dialogue at moderate distance, any source where the room is part of the sound.
Production years, original list price, and current market pricing for the MKH 50 are not documented in the available source material, and none should be assumed. Collectors and working engineers tend to treat the MKH series as buy-it-for-life gear, but no confirmed failure modes or parts-availability information is present in the sources reviewed here. Used examples circulate, as they do for most professional Sennheiser condensers, so anyone shopping should verify condition and capsule health directly rather than assuming the model is easy to service.
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