I just received this mic a few days and just finished testing it. I use a shotgun mic for recording Coach Bronner episodes. The 416 is a great mic BUT {and the important info in most situations always comes after the BUT}, I have an Audio Technica AT8035 which is the original mic that I've been using and when I A/B'd them both, I couldn't tell the difference!
The 416 seemed to be a little more bassy but the 8035 seemed to be clearer with the slightly less bass. They were really so close that you can barely tell the difference and even if you can tell a difference it's hard to prefer one over the other. The big issue is the AT 8035 is $270 and the 416 is $1,000.00. You can buy almost four 8035's for the price of one 416 and I just cannot tell the difference. They both look the same and are the same dimensions and housing design. I am returning the 416 and buying another 8035.
Maybe there are some other advantages to the 416 that I just couldn't hear or that my environment did not test for. Perhaps the 416 has better off axis noise rejection but if you are recording in a studio setting (I am) and want a shotgun mic to record the subject a few feet away, the 8035 is great and virtually indistinguishable from the MKH416.
I have attached the video test file of both the Sennheiser and Audio Technica mics. The first test is the expensive $1,000.00 Sennheiser MKH416-P48U3. The second mic tested is the Audio Technica AT-8035 currently priced at $269.00. I called it the original mic because I couldn't remember the model number (or brand either for that matter) as I was making the video. i really was only testing it for myself and hadn't thought of posting it on Amazon. I am approximately two feet away from the mics. You be the judge.
