Sennheiser has long been a brand synonymous with audio quality. They have been a staple in the audio industry for years. Having used both the HD 280 Pro and PXC 550 headphones for the past few years, I’ve experienced the quality and design that Sennheiser brings to the table. As for microphones I’ve had a great experience with the EW 300 G4-headsets. Interestingly though, while the company has been producing quality audio gear for over 70 years, they are fairly new to the world of USB microphones.
When Sennheiser announced that they were releasing a USB-C condenser microphone with a focus on streamers and content creators, I was excited to test and see if that legacy of quality would translate to this new product line. This cardioid condenser, USB-C powered microphone claims to be where performance meets accessibility. I’ve spent the last two weeks testing to see if that claim rings true. So grab that coffee, kick back and let's find out together with this review of the Sennheiser Profile USB-C microphone.
Specifications
Microphone:
- Transducer principle: Pre-polarized condenser microphone
- Pick-up pattern: Cardioid
- Sensitivity at max gain: -10 dBFS at 80 dB SPL
- Sensitivity at min. gain: -50 dBFS at 80 dB SPL
- Frequency range: 20 to 20,000 Hz
- Sampling rates: 44.1, 48 kHz
- Sampling resolution: 16,24 Bit
Headphone Output:
- Connector: 3.5 mm TRS
- Min. output impedance 16 ?
- Frequency range: 20 to 18,500 Hz
OS Compatibility:
- Windows 10 or higher
- macOS 10.15 or higher
- Android 9.0 or higher
- iPadOS 14 or higher (USB-C enabled Apple devices)
Additional Specs:
- Connectors: USB-C (USB 2.0 Full Speed)
- 3.5 mm TRS (Headphone connection)
- Cable Length 3m (Profile Streaming Set)
- Weight: Microphone - 350 g, Boom Arm - 820 g
Sennheiser Through and Through
The Profile Microphone actually comes in two flavors, the first includes the mic, table stand and a 1.2m USB-C cable while the second includes the mic, Boom arm with integrated cable management, 3m USB-C cable and mic pouch. For this review, I will be primarily focusing on the Profile microphone but will touch briefly on the boom arm that comes in the Streaming Set.
The Profile is an exceptionally well-built microphone. The all-metal body has a clean, black polished finish. The microphone itself sits nestled in a shock-absorbing housing that also includes a self-locking tilt feature allowing for additional adjustments for the position of the mic to the audio source. As promised, the Profile is designed for ease of use and accessibility. As such there is no software needed to operate the Profile. Instead, you will find three dials and a soft touch mute button to control all of the features that Sennheiser has packed into this condenser mic.
The topmost dial, located just under the soft touch mute button, controls the microphone gain controls and is illuminated by a green LED ring that will change color to let you know if your input is peaking or if the unit is muted. Below this is a mix control dial that allows you to adjust how much of your microphone and computer output you hear in your monitor mix. Finally, a headphone volume control sits at the bottom of this control center and offers full control of the output levels on your monitor mix.
The rear side of the Profile includes a single USB-C connection as well as a 3.5mm headphone out jack for monitoring. Sennheiser has done an incredible job bringing its engineering prowess to the Profile Microphone. Everything from its metal construction to its tilt design makes it easy to set up and use.
As for the boom arm, which comes with the Streaming Set, It is surprisingly rugged yet lightweight. The mounting clip likewise feels robust and covers a larger surface area which creates a much sturdier mounting system for the arm. This results in the arm feeling quite secure and easily manageable when set up.
The boom arm also includes a wire management inset to the right side of the arm, allowing for easy cable management. Additionally, the mounting bracket for the Profile is designed to house the unit both in a traditional upright position or upside down for an overhead drop-in style setup. Orienting the mic, either way, take less than ten seconds which leaves you free to adjust and modify your setup with ease.
The Sennheiser Profile is an exceptionally well-designed microphone that speaks to the company's long history of constructing quality products. Everything from the metal construction to the premium finish speaks volumes about the quality of the microphone build.
Under the Hood
The Profile comes equipped with Sennheisers own pre-polarized cardioid condenser capsule. This in-house constructed capsule is specifically designed to accurately reproduce the natural sound of the audio source with special care to produce a warm, natural sound. With the inclusion of a pre-polarised capsule, much less power is needed to faithfully capture and reproduce quality audio making it perfect for this application.
The cardioid capsule is also designed to reduce off-axis noise so that only that which you want to be captured is recorded. This allows for some natural noise reduction without the need for software or hardware-powered gating. The result is a much more natural sound without clipping or odd noise gating.
As earlier noted, the Profile mic is designed for simplicity and accessibility. This, however, doesn’t mean you can’t control the final sound. The built-in LED ring around the volume control not only indicates if the mic is live or muted but also changes to an amber color to let you know if you are clipping. Additionally, you have full control over the mics gain. All of this can be monitored with headphones via the included 3.5mm headphone out jack. A fun little feature here is that you can not only monitor your mic volume but also route and mix in your device audio to get a feel for how everything is sounding together.
The soft-touch mute button also plays into the mic's ease of use goal. This soft touch seems to have a millisecond fade effect when being activated and deactivated. The result is a much smoother and far less jarring audio experience when muting and unmuting the Profile.
The last area of note is the setup process for the Sennheiser Profile. While software does have a place in audio setups, there is something to be said for quality and simplicity. The Profile leans hard into both of the objectives. Setup takes no more time than it does to plug the mic into its source. That’s it. Within seconds the Profile is recognized and ready to go. With onboard controls at the ready, you can be mixing and recording within a minute. As a result, the Profile can plug into pretty much any recording source that has USB-C input making it exceptionally adaptable to your setup needs.
The Sennheiser Standard
The Sennheiser Profile is designed from the ground up to offer an all-in-one, quality solution and it's no more evident than in its no-fuss design. Yet as much as design plays a crucial role in creating a quality product it all comes down to how it performs. As with all the products I’ve used and tested from Sennheiser, The Profile performs like a champ.
During my testing, I found the Profile was able to faithfully reproduce my voice exceptionally accurately. With the adjustable gain, I was impressed at how well it was able to capture my voice even when dialled to the low end of capture. Unlike other USB mics I’ve tested, the Profile doesn’t seem to suffer from any gating or noise reduction quality drops. The sound you get is clean, clear and impressively warm. With someone whose vocals tend to muddy up the low end in most mixes, I was impressed at how well the Profile captured my voice.
As for the high end, the Profile does a solid job at capturing those high frequencies without being too bright or sharp. “S” sounds, for example, remain present without being over-pronounced in the capture. Additionally, the overall capture feels balanced and faithful to the sound source.
The Profile’s off-axis noise rejection is another interesting feature of the mic. In my testing, I found it to work fairly well at reducing noise. However, it isn’t designed to completely reject noise (as, at least from my research, there is no built-in noise gate). The result is that while things like computer fans won’t be present in your mix, keyboard and mouse clicking, while faint, do get captured. Even at lower gain settings, you will still have the presence of keyboard or mouse clicking. This isn’t a deal breaker for me as this minor critique is offset by the overall quality of the capture. It's a trade-off that I find worth the cost.
The boom arm that is included with the Streaming Set also performed exceptionally. I’ve tried a lot of boom arms over the years and while I have found elements that I’ve liked in most the Sennheiser boom arm stands above the pack. First, it is impressively sturdy to use. Part of this is attributed to the aforementioned larger mounting plate that the arm attaches to as it gives it more surface area to attach to. This results in the arm being more sturdy when adjusted. Additionally, each joint self-locks much like the mic's own tilt mount and it feels great to use. As a package deal, it's worth investing a little extra to get this level of quality in a boom arm.
Final Thoughts
The Sennheiser Profile USB-C Microphone is an excellent USB-powered condenser microphone. It brings all of the quality and history of Sennheiser and packs it into a USB-C microphone. It offers quality capture and exceptional accessibility all while keeping money in your wallet. For those that Stream I would highly recommend springing for the Streaming Set as the included boom arm is excellent value for the dollar. Priced at USD $129.00 (microphone) and USD $199.00(Streaming Set) the Sennheiser Profile is one of the best USB-powered condenser mics in its class.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.
