A professional broadcast microphone built with one very clear idea: pick up speech reliably, wherever it comes from.

The Sennheiser MD 42 is a large, exceptionally rugged omnidirectional dynamic microphone designed primarily for reporting, interviews and broadcast work. Its long body, excellent handling-noise rejection and forgiving omni pickup make it a microphone that can simply be moved between speakers without constantly worrying about orientation.

This example is particularly beautiful: essentially as new, seemingly barely used, and complete with its original Sennheiser box.

OPTICAL CONDITION

A — AS NEW

Exceptionally clean condition.

• Virtually no signs of use
• Body and grille are extremely clean
• No meaningful scratches or dents
• Markings perfectly preserved
• Appears to have seen very little use

TECHNICAL CONDITION

A — PERFECT

Fully tested and performing exactly as intended.

THIS LISTING INCLUDES

• Sennheiser MD 42
• Original Sennheiser box

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Type: Dynamic pressure microphone
• Polar Pattern: Omnidirectional
• Frequency Response: 40 Hz – 18 kHz
• Sensitivity: 2 mV/Pa at 1 kHz
• Nominal Impedance: 350 Ω
• Minimum Load Impedance: 1 kΩ
• Connector:  XLR
• Length: 250 mm
• Maximum Diameter: 49 mm
• Weight: Approx. 360 g
• Made in Germany

BUILD & DESIGN

The MD 42 is wonderfully simple.

Its unusually long 250 mm all-metal body begins at the XLR connector at roughly 24 mm diameter and gradually widens toward the head. Just before the grille, the body expands more strongly to form a subtle neck before meeting the large, almost 50 mm microphone head.

The result is a surprisingly elegant flowing shape despite the microphone's considerable size.

There are no onboard switches or controls. The body is extremely solid, while the grille is surrounded by a substantial metal ring that provides additional protection if the microphone is dropped.

The large two-layer sound inlet basket provides protection against wind and plosives, while the capsule mounting is designed to minimize handling noise — particularly important for a microphone intended to spend its life moving between interviewer and subject.

It feels less like a delicate studio microphone and more like a professional field tool built to survive daily broadcast work.

SOUND & FREQUENCY RESPONSE

The MD 42 is clear, open and highly intelligible, with a surprisingly extended specified response of 40 Hz – 18 kHz.

Its pressure-operated omnidirectional capsule gives it a very forgiving pickup characteristic. Rather than requiring the microphone to be pointed precisely at a speaker, it can naturally be moved between several people while maintaining a consistent sound.

At extremely close distances, the front presents slightly more upper-frequency definition than the rear. With increasing distance this difference becomes considerably less pronounced, and the MD 42 behaves very much as expected from a true pressure-operated omni.

WHERE IT SHINES

Interviews, reporting, ENG, documentary work, presentations and situations involving several speakers.

The MD 42 solves a very practical problem: you don't need to aim it constantly.

Move it from interviewer to guest, hold it between two people, or use it in a fast-moving situation where perfect microphone positioning simply isn't possible. Its omni capsule, excellent handling-noise suppression, long reach and exceptionally rugged construction are all designed around exactly this kind of work.

A beautifully simple piece of German broadcast engineering — and this particular example is about as clean as they come.