Most people know that Sennheiser is a brand synonymous with high quality audio products, including microphones. They have not really dabbled in USB microphones, but it seems that Sennheiser is dipping their toes further into USB microphones. We check out the Sennheiser Profile USB Microphone to see how they did.
Design & Build
The Sennheiser mic has an understated design which is perfect for it’s intended use. If your a podcaster who only posts audio then the design doesn’t matter, but if your streamer then you want the mic to be something that isn’t noticeable. This means it should not be over designed nor should it be ugly. This mic meets that perfectly.
You can tell it’s a nice mic without it drawing attention to itself.
In terms of build quality, this microphone is built like a tank. It feels heavy, made with high quality metals, giving the feel that it can take a few hits. Not something you would usually associate with a microphone that is desk mounted. Certainly gives me lots of confidence in the microphone’s longevity.
Audio
The audio quality of this mic is very good. Picking up spoken words really well. It is also surprisingly good for recording singing (vocals), something I thought it would not be too great at.
It truly shines when it comes to voice overs or conversational recordings, like you would in a podcast or in post production of a product video, explainers etc.
You can easily use this mic for doing online interviews as well.
The mic is not meant for recording instruments, environment audio or even for isolating your environment. It is meant to record a single person at a time and it does it well. Sennheiser knew who and what they were making this mic for.
Functionality
The mic we got came with the book arm add on included in the box. You can get the mic without that, but given the high quality of the boom arm, we highly recommend you get it. It is quick and easy to install only any desk and you get lots of flexibility and range of movement.
The arm even has cable management built into it allowing for a clean setup.
The mic itself has lots of features that make it a standout studio microphone. You have a headphone jack that allows you to listen to your computer audio and the mic input at the same time. For using the mic in a live scenario (livestream or interview) or for recording over some preexisting audio this is great. You can hear the audio and your mic input at the same time, even adjusting the exact amount of volume you want to give to the mic of your laptop sound.
You can also quickly and easily mute the mic, control the mic volume and headphone volume all from the mic.
You might be wondering, all this bumping, turning etc would cause disturbance in the recording. In my testing, this was not audible at all. In most professional recording situations you would not change these settings, so it’s a non issue. But in semi-pro to casual settings, even if some sounds did come through, nobody would notice. Overall a win win.
Other Points
The Sennheiser Profile USB Microphone, as the name suggests is a USB mic. More specifically it is a USB-C mic (as it should be). This means that the mic works can work with more devices than a laptop. I tested this with a iPad Pro by plugging the mic directly into the iPad’s USB-C port. Without the need to install anything or even the need to do any setup, I opened the voice note app and the mic just works.
All the functionality above works just as well. This basically converts your iPad into a recording studio with this mic. If you are on the go and don’t want to carry your laptop, this setup can work as an extremely mobile studio.
Summary
Given the price (below) of this mic, it’s build quality and the actual sound recording capabilities, the Sennheiser Profile USB Microphone is a no brainer. There might be better options out there if you are looking for a more professional setup, but for anyone looking to dip their toes into the world of recording, be it singing, podcast, voice overs, this is a great mic to start with.
