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UPDATE: I thought I would update this post from a long time ago. Sennheiser has now introduced the MKH 8090 Wide Cardiod. This makes the figure 8 the only missing pattern in the 8000 series. Hopefully now the 8030 will see the light of day.

Last year I bought a Sennheiser 8050 hypercardiod to complement my mic collection, which is mostly Schoeps and DPA stuff. I love the extended frequency response of this mic, it's super quiet, small, and the super tight pickup pattern has really come in handy.

I'd like to turn this mic into an MS pair, and have considered matching it with an MKH-30. But I've heard unconfirmed rumors that Sennheiser is developing an 8030. Anybody else heard this? I asked a Sennheiser rep at AES and they were uncertain. I also contacted Sennheiser directly via email without a response. A Google search has provided me with folks confirming it's in development, and people saying this mic is not planned for release. If anyone can shed some light on this I'd be very grateful. In addition, has anybody matched this mic with another figure 8 in an MS pair?

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Yes! Waiting anxiously for that one. I want to pair it with my 8040 pair for a super compact M-S-M rig, and for normal MS. I am also hoping that the 8030, if it does come out at some point, will have a similarly extended freq range as the 8040/8050. Kind of disappointed that the new-ish 8060/8070 don't have that range.

I currently use an MKH30 with the 8040 and it works really well. But yeah, being able to fit an MS rig in a stereo ball gag would be awesome.

Unfortunately, I only know about the rumours, and can't shed any light if and when a 8030 will be released. However, I would certainly expect that Sennheiser does it at some point. Maybe they're struggling with the design. But then again, Neumann already has a tiny fig-8 (the KK120), and Sennheiser owns Neumann, so you'd expect they manage to build the 8030 in the end, assuming it is down to design challenges. I can't see any other reason why it has been taking Sennheiser so long though, as this mic would surely be an instant hit for them.

EDIT: You've probably seen this - perhaps it's an idea if anybody here who's waiting for that mic start nagging Sennheiser to get their shit together :)

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    Thanks for the response. Yes, I'm with you on wanting a super compact MS rig. I do think it's probably a development problem. I've nagged them myself, and yes I hope others on this group do so as well. Best.
    – Justin P
    Sep 2, 2011 at 23:41
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Kinda odd how the 80X0 were released 2 or 3 years ago now... & still no 8030

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I'm running a MKH30/40 MS pair, and would buy a MKH8030/8050 right away if the 8030 existed.

It would nice to have carry around blimp half the length needed for the 30/40.

If Sennheiser do come out with a 8030 - they will see a large sales spike of other mics : that should be reason enough for them to put in the R&D effort.

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I'm waiting for this too. Maybe we should all email Sennheiser!

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  • That would be awesome.
    – Justin P
    Sep 9, 2011 at 21:17
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I emailed Sennheiser when I was building my M/S kit, and they sent me back a polite form letter essentially saying 'maybe or not'. I went ahead and plunked down for Schoeps instead, going for the CCM8. I really wanted to go with the Sennies, but I'm really happy with my rig even if it cost a bit more (theoretically).

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  • Are you pairing a CCM8 with a Senn 8040/50? If so, how do they match up? I'm thinking about that route, but I'm imagining an 8030 would be more in the 1200 than 2000 dollar range.
    – Justin P
    Sep 9, 2011 at 21:19
  • No, I'm pairing it with the CMC641. I really wanted to go try it with the 8040/8050, but it scared me a bit to mix, so I went the safe route since I was building the kit from the ground up. I'm not complaining about the Schoeps – I'm very very happy – but I really do love the sound of the 8040. I've heard of people pairing the CCM8 with the 8050 (one particular person over on gearslutz, but I couldn't find it now) and he seemed really pleased with the results. It just makes you wonder, though, why they haven't released one. Maybe it's a technical limitation, which could affect cost???
    – cocteau
    Sep 12, 2011 at 17:16
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    Well I own both the Schoeps MK41 and the 8050 and both sound excellent, so I don't think you made a bad design. The Schoeps are warm, detailed, and are my favorite sounding mics. But the Sennheiser is super quiet, a tad more clinical, and works better on some material.
    – Justin P
    Sep 14, 2011 at 4:47
  • Decision that is...
    – Justin P
    Sep 14, 2011 at 4:47
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Never tried it out! How is it compared to the MKH XX-series not counting the 416 or 816?

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  • I'm assuming you're talking about the 8050, since the 8030 doesn't exist yet. While I've never used in MKH-50, I have to say they're new series of 8000 mics are really nice, and much smaller than the old MKH series.
    – Justin P
    Sep 6, 2011 at 22:00
  • @Justin - Yup, that one too, and 80X0 in general! Actually never really heard about them before, mostly work with the MKH-series, mainly 40 and 416, myself right now, and are about to buy some more mics by both DPA and Shoeps. On paper the 80X0-series seems pretty much like the MKH 10-50 though with a wider spectrum (and as you said, much smaller), but I know full well the stats don't really say much about how they really sounds, so I'm curious if anyone have any opinions in the case? Or if they really are pretty much the same thing in a better package and wider range?
    – Christian van Caine
    Sep 27, 2011 at 20:04
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Yup, i'm waiting for that one too. Not sure how long i can wait though, so i'll probably order the mkh 30.

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"Waiting anxiously for the Sennheiser 8030?" Do bears produce stereophonic post-digestive activity in the woods?

No idea why Sennheiser keeps being so catty with their plans, but they've never announced any plans to even make an 8030 AFAIK. When they do, they'd better make enough of 'em, as we'll all be knocking down their doors to get one!

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