It’s not that often you hear of a birthday party for a microphone, but we’re holding one here in the AT office for the Sennheiser MD 421. You see, this year is actually the 50th anniversary of the MD 421-U large diaphragm, cardioid, dynamic microphone. The venerable MD 421, which is still in production as the MD 421 II, has been one of Sennheiser’s best-selling dynamic microphones an entire half century – it’s an essential component of any microphone arsenal – both in the studio and on the road.
Of course the ‘421’ has appeared in various incarnations over the years, with upgrades to the housing, output connector, basket, and capsule assembly. It’s come a long way from the beige MD 421-N, MD 421-2, and the MD 421-U, and the rarely seen in-the-wild Telefunken branded MD421/5 – the one without a bass roll-off filter that sounds as if it’s permanently set to the ‘Speech’ filter setting found on other 421 designs.
These days you’re better off with the MD 421 II, which includes a metal inner chassis for better weight distribution and, with the contour-fitted bass roll-off control, a shorter, sleeker housing. Servicing is also easier with the new design, since individual components can be more easily replaced and the self-sealing acoustic connections mean adhesives and sealing compounds are no longer required. If you’ve ever pulled apart an older style 421 you’ll appreciate this aspect of the newer design
Like the original design, the MD 421 II provides sound reproduction across a frequency range of 30Hz to 17kHz, plus a hum-compensating coil. The five-position bass roll-off switch tailors the microphone’s performance for diverse applications – from radio voice broadcasting, as well as high SPL instruments such as brass, amplified guitar and bass, Leslie cabinets, and drums. Plus, as we all know, toms and kick drum. Hear’s to another 50 years of the MD 421.
For info on previous design MD 421 mics, head over to http://www.coutant.org/md421u4/index.html
For information about the MD 421 II, contact Syntec International on 1800 648 628 or sales@syntec.com.au
Comments
the image above of the beige MD42-N… is the same model as the “talk back” mic in my studio !
I love this old mic – so many years on and working great.
Thanks for the history,most interesting quality aways lasts.
I’ve got a mkII! It’s a great mic for just about everything (although some would disagree its diversity), I prefer the old look of it, the pic above reminds me of one of those old school round shaped fridges from ‘back in the day’. I love how we spend decades making something better, and in the process kill the flaws that made it fun to use. Everything great I own has a major flaw with it, and if it was perfect and played ball I probably wouldn’t dig it that much.
I have used this mic for years. I got it back in ’87 and it cost $400 back then in Australia. Worth every penny. I’m a sax player have used for recording and stage.
It gives the most natural sound back. Killer Mic!
The 421 II has a prominent peak that makes it unsuitable for a lot of things the original 421 was great at.