Sennheiser MKE 600 B-Stock

The Sennheiser MKE 600 has a wide frequency response, which Sennheiser specifies as 40Hz to 20kHz. It actually combines two polar patterns: supercardioid and lobar. Below 2kHz, the microphone operates with a supercardioid polar pattern; above 2kHz, the directivity changes to a more tightly focused lobar pattern as the frequency increases. The microphone's extreme directivity at higher frequencies comes from the interference tube mounted in front of the capsule: Sound arriving from the front passes directly through the grille into the tube, while sound from the sides is diffracted, entering through the lateral slots at slightly different points. These timing differences cause interference – phase cancellations inside the tube – effectively attenuating the level of sounds arriving from the sides.

In June 1945, Prof. Fritz Sennheiser founded the Wennebostel Laboratory, which initially produced measuring equipment. Commissioned by Siemens in 1945, the young company developed the MD-1 microphone, which was launched in 1946. After the development of further microphones, the company was renamed Sennheiser Electronic in 1958. Two years later, Sennheiser introduced the MD 421 dynamic microphone, which is still in production today and still held in high esteem by many sound engineers. Further groundbreaking developments, such as the HD 414 headphones and the classic MD 441 microphone, hugely enhanced the company's international reputation, eventually making Sennheiser one of the leading manufacturers of microphone and headphone systems in the world.