…of microphones. Just got these two babies in the mail:

MKH8040 matched stereo pair!

Two matched Sennheiser MKH8040s! They’re the cardioids in Sennheiser’s 8000 series lineup, which I can’t praise highly enough. I was originally in the market for just one MKH8040 as another, more standard mid microphone option for my MS rig. But the deal on this matched pair was just too good to pass up, especially considering how many additional recording setups I can get out of them: in addition to MS, I can also use them in an ORTF array or even to frankenstein together a Double-MS rig for surround recordings. I’m especially excited about ORTF for ambiences — I was never really too happy with my MKH8050/MKH30 combo for backgrounds. Sadly, ORTF will be an indoors-only affair for now since I don’t have proper windshields for them yet. And given the prohibitive cost of Rycotes, that might take a while…