Sennheiser MKH 60
Overview
That mouthful translates to a specific behavior: it mutes sound arriving off to the sides while still reaching out and grabbing dialogue at medium distance.
Sensitivity is 40 mV/Pa (13 mV/Pa with the pre-attenuator engaged) at 1 kHz. Sennheiser's 1989 advertising in Studio Sound (July 1989, p.41) put the inherent noise at 10 dBA while listing the same 40 mV/Pa sensitivity and the same switchable filter arrangement — the marketing sheet and the technical documentation don't quite agree on the noise figure, and the manual's 8 dB A-weighted number is the one that appears in the formal spec tables. Either way, this is a quiet microphone, and the low self-noise is what makes high-dynamic-range recording possible without the hiss that plagues lesser condensers.
Sennheiser's catalog copy describes the microphone as rugged and weather-proof, which is the kind of claim that only matters when you're the one standing in the rain.
Sennheiser positioned the MKH 60 as the microphone for medium-range recording distances, sitting between the MKH 50 supercardioid and the longer MKH 70 directional tube. Buyers who needed more reach went to the 70. Buyers who needed a more compact, less directional tool went to the 50. The 60 was the middle child, and in practice that's often where the work is.
The pre-attenuation switch is only advisable when the connected equipment's microphone input isn't designed to handle the microphone's high output levels — which is a polite way of saying don't pad it unless you have to.
Sennheiser's 2002 advertising in Mix (April 2002, p.23) grouped the MKH 60 with the MKH 70 and the 416 as the company's professional shotgun lineup. That's marketing copy, not an independent verdict. It does show how the company placed the MKH 60 in its own range: not the flagship long gun, but a core part of the professional toolkit. The 1989 Studio Sound advertisements (July 1989, p.41 and August 1989, p.45) ran identical copy calling the extended MKH range "by far the best microphones we have ever produced" - again, advertising, and best read as such.
The MKH 60 does not have the reach of a long shotgun. The supercardioid/lobe pattern is directional, but it's not a hyper-focused long-throw tool. For dialogue at medium distance with good lateral rejection, it's the right instrument. For picking a conversation out of a crowd at thirty feet, it isn't. That's not a flaw, it's the design brief. The short interference tube keeps the microphone compact and the off-axis response more natural than a longer gun.
Collectors and working professionals tend to regard the MKH series as buy-it-for-life gear, and the MKH 60 is the practical middle option in that family. The manual's spec tables list the values in parentheses as applying with the attenuator switched on, and the documentation notes that specifications are subject to alteration. That's standard manufacturer hedging, but keep it in mind when comparing units from different production runs. The microphone ships with the MZQ 40 quick-release clamp. Everything else is an accessory, and the shock mount and windshield are effectively mandatory for any serious location work. The 150-gram weight, the 25 mm diameter, and the 280 mm length make it easy to mount and easy to hide.
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