Sennheiser MKE600 not compatible with SKP 100 Plug on Transmitter?

T

telkinvaga

Member
Hello,

I was lucky enough to pick up a Sennheiser MKE 600 shotgun mic today and everything works great via wired XLR to my Zoom H6 via battery power or Phantom 48. Then I thought I'd give it a go on the SKP 100 Plug on transmitter. When I turned on the power to the mic my AF meter went through the roof and stayed there. AF meter works fine on the receiver but there's definitely static/buzzing on the recording rendering the setup unusable. I know it doesn't list the MKE 600 as a compatible device so I guess it doesn't work or am I doing something wrong?

Any help would be appreciated, or at least let it be a warning to those who may want to try the same combo. Couldn't find any additional info on this setup.

Update:
MKE 600 > KA600 (XLR to 3.5mm) cable > SK 100 G3 Transmitter, Result is the same, stuck with AF Peak with some strange static.
MKE 600 > KA600 (XLR to 3.5mm) cable > Zoom H6, No problems, sounds great.
 
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The problem is the cable you're using. It's designed for a stereo input, putting the same signal on each channel. The SK100 uses the same plug physically for its input but it's wired differently. Senn makes a proper cable but I forget the part number at the moment.
 
True, overlooked that you were also using the plug-on. The SKP100 is designed for dynamic mics which have output levels a fraction of that of the MKE600, which has a pretty hot output for a mic level. The MKE500 specs say it outputs about 20mV/PA while a typical dynamic like the EV-RE50 puts out on the order of 1 to 2 mV/PA. You could be simply over-driving the transmitter. I'm just guessing though ...
 
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Thanks for helping me troubleshoot. After reading your last post, I turned the SKP100 to -48db sensitivity and the AF levels meter on it calmed down. Downside is that I had to increase the gain on my Zoom to 7.5 to hear anything so the noise floor was high. Bottom line is that I don't think this is a usable combo which is unfortunate since I read it works with the NTG-2 (strange that it doesn't work with Sennheiser's own shotgun mic) but I'm still very impressed with the MKE600 wired so I'll work with it in that configuration.

Update: I think the combo might work if I keep it at -36db Sensitiviy on the SKP100 and 6 gain on the zoom, seems that might be a sweetspot that sounds close enough to the Wired XLR and the noise floor is acceptable.
 
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i'm interested in the mke600 and also use the sennheiser g3 wireless unit with the butt plug.

please keep the forum updated as to your thoughts on the combo.

thanks in advance.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions/nyc
 
To use the MKE 600 with the SK100 you need the special cable with the blocking capacitor in the XLR and wired to the tip of the 3.5 screw-lock mini jack with ring and sleeve shorted.

To use the MKE 600 with the SKP 100 you either plug it direct or use a short fully balanced XLR cable. Make sure you set the sensitivity of the SKP 100 correctly.

If you use the SKP 300 instead, this will phantom power the mic. and you don't use the battery.
 
Thanks John, I think setting up the SKP 100 sensitivity is the key. Haven't been able to test it out wireless yet because with the SKP mounted, it's too heavy for the standard mount it comes with. Will have to wait to buy a shock mount for it.
 
It's been a while but I thought I'd provide and update on using the MKE600 with the SKP100 plug in transmitter. I still find this combo unusable and have not been able to solve the problem. Setting the SKP100 to -42db seems to be where the AF levels calm down but at that low sensitivity level, I have to increase the gain on the H6 to > 7 and as such I hear all sorts of artifacts from the mic. This only happens with the MKE600, the e835 and the SK100 G3 do not exhibit the same behavior with the AF levels behaving normally. I will either have to use the MKE600 wired only or pick up an NTG2 for wireless it seems.
 
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A capacitor mic is generally 10db hotter than a dynamic mic so as you have found you need to adjust the sensitivity of the SKP100 as it is used to a dynamic mic source.

That said it should still be Ok and I would play with the gain settings as I have even used my SKP100 with line sources with the gain set at -50.
 
You can spend a lot of time on workarounds that give you results you might not be fully pleased with, or you can just use the mic as it wants to be used. Give it phantom power and it'll be fine. So find an SKP 300 plug on transmitter and use that to supply phantom power to the MKE 600.
 
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I'm not sure "wants to be used" actually applies here since the mic is also battery powered so it "wants to be used" on either. I suspect though that the 300 since it provides phantom is going to be happier with the levels coming out of the mic. So "how it wants to be used" may be more appropriately applied to the SKP100.

Something feels wrong about what you are experiencing. I wonder, have you checked the SKP100 with another dynamic mic to make sure the unit isn't the problem?
 
Noiz2 said:
I'm not sure "wants to be used" actually applies here since the mic is also battery powered so it "wants to be used" on either.
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Yeah, but in the same way that Adobe software can be used on either Windows or Mac. They pretty clearly develop it first for Windows, then for Mac. Which is perhaps why the forums have a disproportionate number of Mac users trying to find work arounds. Because as I would say, Adobe software wants to be used on Windows.

In this case, I'd be willing to bet that the prototypes were phantom powered. So yes, it will run on batteries. But it will run really well with phantom. That's all I'm sayin'.
 
Funny example. Apple kind of made Adobe. Postscript their first product was licensed by Apple and that is what started them off. Photoshop was developed for the Mac, as was Illustrator and Photoshop. They were an all Mac company for a long time. Then they dropped the Mac version of Premiere and were a bit more Windows oriented. Now they are pretty cross platform but they came to Windows second.

I have no idea which they see as their main development platform but they host the original FCP users group (that now has expanded to include Premiere Pro and Avid) and they are a sponsor of the Mac World super-meet.

But I will give you one for next time. Avid was all Mac. Then really switched and almost dropped the Mac. when FCP was riding high. They are clearly cross platform but they do run better on Windows right now and when I talked to them a few years ago they said they developed on Windows and Mac followed.

Mics that can use a battery almost all work better with phantom. But that probably has a lot more to do with lower noise when the electronics are powered at the higher rate. One of the things that happens usually is that the mics have a lower output on battery. The OP's problem would appear to be the opposite of that so?

I'm still putting my money on a problem/ setting on the transmitter, basically user error. Since they were using the wrong cable to connect the mic to everything I'm betting there is another oops that is causing the problem.

BTW, OP that cable is wrong for the Zoom also. The "stereo" you are recording is actually the balanced signal, so your L & R are 180 degrees out of phase. If you sum them to mono they will disappear. Play it through ProLogic and ??? I think it ends up In the L and the R but will be missing from the center where you want it.

So it "sounds fine" now but it's a timebomb waiting to go off.
 
Just for clarification I used that KA600 cable for a test only when I couldn't get it working (sorry I think I confused some people referencing that). I am using a balanced XLR from MKE 600 to Zoom H6 which works fine. With the SKP100 butt plug, I am plugging this directly into the MKE and using battery power from the mic. Transmitted to the SK100 via the XLR to the Zoom.

The only Dynamic mic I have tested the SKP100 with is the e835 which works great.
 
I've just connected my Rode VideoMic Pro with the Rode Videomic 3.5mm to XLR adaptor to the SKP100 and it works perfectly with no distortion or Static. SKP100 was set at -6db sensitivity.

I'm not really that knowledgeable on this but it seems to me somehow the MKE600's battery power is causing some kind of feedback or pattern noise on the SKP100?
 
Noiz2 said:
Funny example. Apple kind of made Adobe.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. But some years back when Macs were at their low point, IIRC Adobe said that as a percentage of sales, Mac was single digits for them. Then Apple did their 64bit library screwup with Adobe (or, Adobe did their 64 bit screwup with Apple, depending on how you want to look at it). But I think Adobe was developing first for PC well before that. That said, I'm on the wrong coast to work for Adobe, so I'm just repeating what I remember reading. And we all know what that's worth.
 
GaryNattrass said:
Have you considered that you may have a faulty mic or SKP100 that is not working fully balanced?
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I'm starting to think that could be the case more so now. I'll give Sennheiser Canada a Call tomorrow. I was hoping someone else on here had the same combo and could confirm whether they had any trouble or not.
 
I use the 600 and G3 plug on combo as well as the first generation butt plug and EW 500 system all the time. Run shotgun on battery and adjust sensitivity. Never a problem to my cameras or mixer or zoom. I would check the mic and the plug on with sennheiser or go to Trew in Toronto and have them look at the combo. The plug ons are excellent and I use mine with a variety of mics and stick it in multi troughs at press conferences all the time that are some times mic level or line level or either. Just a couple of adjustments and it's ready to go.
 
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