Sennheiser MKH 70
A long directional tube that boom operators reach for when the room fights back.
Overview
The MKH 70 was Sennheiser's long directional tube in the MKH studio line, and its reputation rests on how it behaves when the head turns or the acoustics go bad. In a 1999 interview with Mix (1999, p.15), sound mixer Chris Newman - an eight-time Oscar nominee and five-time Academy Award winner - said boom operators preferred the MKH 70 over the longer MKH 816. It was lighter and more forgiving, and it sounded better off-axis, so you didn't hear the head turns.
The MKH 70 is a shotgun condenser built around a symmetrical push-pull transducer, which Sennheiser says virtually eliminates intermodulation distortion. It is not an electret. The transducer is a true condenser element, a tuned circuit forming a phase-sensitive demodulator with a stable RF oscillator, followed by a low-noise Class A amplifier feeding a balanced, transformerless output. Sennheiser's own advertising in Studio-Sound (July 1989, p.41) listed the inherent noise at just 10 dBA and the sensitivity at 40 mV/Pa, alongside switchable filters and a lightweight body. A very low noise floor and healthy output mean you can push gain on a quiet set without dragging up hiss.
Sennheiser documented the directionality directly: sounds above 1 kHz and 60° off-axis are attenuated between 15 and 25 dB. That is a real rejection figure, and it explains why the mic holds up in nature shoots and other situations where you cannot get close. The same product literature notes the MKH 70 can take the cold and withstand high humidity. A mic that quits in the damp costs a shooting day.
The front end has its controls built in. A 10 dB pad switches in for high-SPL environments like sports broadcasts, avoiding overmodulation. A low-cut filter rolls off at 18 dB per octave below 50 Hz, and a high-boost filter adds +5 dB at 10 kHz, so the operator can tune response for near-field or distance miking. Sennheiser positioned it for news, sports, and EFP work generally, and noted it had already been used on some of the major networks' highest-rated prime-time shows. The mic runs on 48 V phantom power and ships with a rugged windscreen, a battery supply with low-cut and switchable 10/20 dB attenuation, a shock mount, a pistol grip, an AC supply, and a bracket.
Much of the MKH 70's most quotable praise comes from Sennheiser's own advertising and promotional copy, not independent lab testing. The Studio-Sound spreads calling the MKH line "by far the best microphones we have ever produced" are marketing, and should be read as such. The strongest outside corroboration is Newman's interview in Mix, where a working mixer ranks it against the MKH 816 on real sets.
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