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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: goodcooker on February 19, 2019, 03:08:07 PM

Title: Sennheiser K2U + ME40 supercardioids
Post by: goodcooker on February 19, 2019, 03:08:07 PM
Got a pretty good deal on a pair of these and went ahead and pulled the trigger.

Does anyone know if they will run on phantom power without a battery installed? I plan to use P48 anyway but I'm curious if I need to source a battery or get some cells shrink wrapped together.

EDIT - so I did a little more homework and answered my own question - looks like they will function just fine without a battery installed however many people recommend using a dummy battery spacer to maintain tension on the contact pin that connects the capsule contact. They get saggy or soft over time and cause intermittent contact. So a piece of 5/8 dowel cut to fit instead of a $10 silver oxide battery it is!
Title: Re: Sennheiser K2U + ME40 supercardioids
Post by: dactylus on February 19, 2019, 03:37:00 PM
Cool!  I look forward to hearing these in action.  For the pair that just sold on Reverb it appears that they run on battery power OR phantom power.  See below.


"Sennheiser ME 40 super cardioid capsules with K2U power modules. These are bright mics, great for distance miking, location sound, documentary film interviews. This pair is in very good condition, a few light scratches, but pretty clean overall.  These run on phantom power OR on batteries. The batteries can be expensive, but they are available on B+H website."

https://reverb.com/item/19465016-sennheiser-me-40-k2u-super-cardioid-condenser-microphones-pair-70s-silver
Title: Re: Sennheiser K2U + ME40 supercardioids
Post by: goodcooker on February 19, 2019, 07:37:54 PM
Those are the pair I bought. He accepted an offer lower than the  asking price.

My question is not whether they will run on P48 because they will - it's whether or not a battery or a mock battery  contact spacer needs to be installed to get it powered up. A couple of these 70s batt powered mics wouldn't operate without the battery contacts engaged even if p48 was utilized.

I'll plug em up next week and give em a go. Not sure when I'll be able to use them in a more conventional taper method.
Title: Re: Sennheiser K2U + ME40 supercardioids
Post by: John Willett on February 23, 2019, 08:20:58 AM
Correct - no battery needed, but the dummy battery keeps the tension and pressure on the capsule pin to stop it going crackily if tension was lost.  In fact Sennheiser used to make plastic dummy batteries specially for this purpose.

I know the K3U worked like this, bus wasn't sure about the K2U which was before my time - the K2 series was replaced by the K3 in the 1970s I think.

The original batteries were discontinued years ago as they were Mercury batteries - but there were replacements around that did not use Mercury.
Title: Re: Sennheiser K2U + ME40 supercardioids
Post by: satchmo on March 16, 2019, 06:42:40 PM
I have the me40s, looking for a pair of the me20 caps.
Anyhow, here's a good example of the me40/k3u
https://archive.org/details/duo2005-10-01
Title: Re: Sennheiser K2U + ME40 supercardioids
Post by: goodcooker on March 26, 2019, 08:58:56 AM

So I tracked down some Duracell model 28 batteries at my local camera shop that fit in these. It was a tight fit but they went in and the mics work just fine.

I ran them on battery power at a bluegrass review at the stage lip for three bands. Good stereo separation and excellent rejection from the rear and sides. They have a pronounced high end lift and are a touch light in the bass for this kind of music but they performed admirably. I ended up mixing equal parts KA300 (which sounded very dull in comparison), Senn ME40 and mono SBD feed. Will post some links when I get it all tracked out and uploaded - all three bands are on the LMA - Armchair Boogie (WI), Ginstrings (WI) and Grassfed (Kansas City).

Since they were so cheap I'll hold on to them for running when I may get stuck in the back of a muddy sounding room. Should be great for that.
Title: Re: Sennheiser K2U + ME40 supercardioids
Post by: BusDriver on February 12, 2022, 11:31:19 AM
FWIW

I recently found my K3U's, what I thought had been sold... memory is short and random.

K3U powering options are the silver S23PX or I found 2 of the DL1/3N to be a nice not overly snug fit. Dummy battery was a found desiccant pod.
The K3U manual recommends leaving a battery in place when using phantom as a safeguard if phantom power is disrupted. How often does that happen ?

K3U power.jpg