Sennheiser MD 431-II Supercardioid Dynamic Vocal Microphone Reviews

It's becomes my my favorite dynamic vocals microphone among my microphone collection,it's tone my voice at all levels of frequency in live music and sounds almost like studio performance.

Rok Ali loves the sound of her voice on this microphone. We are pleased with the quality of the Sennheiser microphones.

I switched from Shure to Sennheiser a few years ago because of the warmer vocal reproduction of my deeper voice. I had great success with my 835 and 945 mics. Then I tried the MD 431 II and was blown away! At first I noticed that MD 431 was lighter than my 945 and was a little concerned until I tired it. The sensitivity and power of this mic is incredible. Its a keeper.

Used Shure mics over 30 years was introduced to Sennheiser e935 and was super impressed of vocal quality over Sm58..Finally hit me as a solo guitar player and singer vocals are equally or more important to the audience and needed to upgrade vocal mic and not just have a quality acoustic guitar.Spend a bit $ dollars but the MD 431..2..Sennheiser wowed me once again and got more complements from my performances..Very warm smooth non harsh deliverery..Wish I knew years ago.Money well spent for those that care....Good folks at Sweetwater.

I ordered two mics in the same price range (Shure KSM8, and the Sennheiser MD 432 II). Both were a significant improvement over the Shure58 beta's that I have been using. I have selected the Sennheiser because it fits my singing style better. It produced a nice round mellow sound that I was hoping for. I also liked the on-off switch on the mic. The Shure KSM8 was also very nice, but was somewhat harsher; it took more control to produce the rounder sounds I was looking for. Thanks to Sweetwater for recommending both mics.

Recently purchased a second Sennheiser MD 431 II. First one was purchased approximately ten years ago. The first microphone has been used multiple times weekly by a songstress with very satisfying results. Superb quality and sound. My recent purchased MD 431 II is being used for presentations. The design is very appealing, lightweight and comfortable to hold when not using a microphone stand.

I bought this mic purely on a whim after I ran production one night for a predominate Texas Country artist. Right off the bat, his FOH brought out a 431 II for him to use. After talking to his FOH engineer, and going back and forth with questions, I went home and started digging deeper and deeper. That night, I just so happened to stumble across a recently released music video for another famous Singer/Songwriter. After listening to how crisp his vocals were in the live music video, and hearing first hand the Texas Country artist, I bought one. I played for the first time last night with this microphone and wow. An incredible sound microphone. No muddiness, no harshness, just pure amazement. While I don't use floor wedges, primarily in ears, I wanted to see what it took this thing to feed back. After cutting my typical 120HZ and below, and 10K and beyond, this thing was ROCK solid. I couldn't get this mic to feed back! I had the volume almost at an unbearable loudness. I was running two of the JBL 15" SRX's to see what exactly I could get outta these bad boys.

I will say, it's not a 58. It doesn't behave like a 58. It darn sure doesn't behave like an 87A. (Both mics I always used in the past.) Get ready for a new ball game. I did find myself at times where when I would get off the mic, I would disappear. With a little self discipline, 10 minutes(?), I had it fully under control.

I completely recommend this mic! You will absolutely love it yourself, it's worth the purchase.

I Bought this For My Wife She is a Worship Song leader, She has Been Singing for 45 years, she has a very Professional voice and very particular about her sound , We heard one of the original Md -431 and love the sound of Them, This Is a Awesome Mic it is a very Smooth sounding Mic with great feedback rejection its worth every Penny its the most Natural Sounding Mic that require's very little eq Try It You Won't regret it

Really like this mic. I tried the DPA d:vote 4099V. It performed just as described but I needed something that could handle vocal & occasional fiddle and to serve as a backup when I don't have phantom to run the Shure SM81 on mandolin/bouzouki/tenor guitar. I've been impressed with the volume and color. I have to crank it a little higher to match the output of the SM81, but it does that quietly with a lot of power before feedback. I can run it through my Line6 wireless rig with the Shure WA310 - TA4F to XLRF. Sweetwater was super in taking back the 4099V (even though there was nothing wrong with it, it just wasn't as good a match for what I wanted to do as I'd hoped) and swapping it for this one.

Should have bought this one years ago. Not too publicized or seldom reviewed but this is a very well kept secret on stage as a vocal mic. SMOOTH is the word. OPEN and TRANSPARENT. On/off switch a nice touch.

Great microphone if you can afford it.

Ahhh let's see, where to begin.
This thing is THE BEST dynamic I've found that can be put on stage and cut through a dense, hard, loud, rock band mix without feedback.
It's got CLARITY, PRESENCE, And a super nice
EVEN, SMOOTH FREQUENCY RESPONSE.
Forget that old crappy dull 58. The MD431 II is the way to go.
Try an MD 431 II and I promise you'll be more than satisfied,
you'll be blown away.
Oh and did I mention it's BUILT LIKE A TANK?
Because it is!
GO GET ONE OF THESE BAD BOYS!

I knew that this mic was a serious player when I saw Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and John Mayer using it during separate live performaces. I was so impressed by the vocal clarity that they were getting during these performances (their vocals were literally slicing through the mix and sounded incredible!) that I just had to do some research on this mic once I was certain that this was the mic they were using.
At first I was a little put off by the frequency response, as the specs of this mic say that it will only respond up to 16kHz while many of the lower priced competitors say that they respond up to 20kHz. My voice is in the higher frequency range, and I do a lot of "screams" and other high-frequency sounds with my voice when performing, so this was a large concern...........at first. All I can say is that I must never make any sounds above 16k, because this mic reproduces every crack, pop, hiss, sneer, scream and anything else I throw at it with my vocals with perfect clarity and accuracy. If it sounds that way coming out of my mouth, it sounds that way coming out of the speakers when I use this mic. It is literally like having a studio condenser mic on stage with you, but with no feedback!! I realize that this mic is a little pricey for most live performers, but I would put it up against a Shure KSM9 any day of the week. If you think this mic is pricey, look at what it will cost you to pick a KSM9!! Not only that, but the Sennheiser MD 431 II doesn't need phantom power, while the KSM9 does. The only advantage the KSM9 gives you is the ability to switch between a cardioid and supercardioid pattern, but on stage where feedback suppression is of the utmost importance, I always want a supercardioid pattern for lead vocals. Guess which pattern the MD 431 II uses (hint: supercardioid!)? To me, the KSM9 is the only mic that compares with this one in the arena of live wired vocal mics, and the Sennhieser wins for me based upon all the reasons I have given.
If you can spare the change and wireless is not an absolute necessity, you simply have to try this mic. I promise that once you do, anyone who wants to get it away from you will have to pry it out of your cold, dead hands!!

I purchased this mic from Sweetwater and I have no regrets.. It is an awesome live performance mic that rarely feeds back and has been easy to eq for most singers that I've used it for. Most of the time it will require little to no eq at all. However, I would have given five full stars but if not for the fact that the mic holder clip is pretty flimsy. The second time I placed the mic on the clip it broke apart. I'm kicking myself for not calling my Sweetwater sales rep right away for a replacement, but I figured I'd just buy another one eventually, I figured how much could it cost? So, I used a strong alternative clip instead. Recently I just looked into getting a proper replacement clip just to have it and I was floored at the price, the price for a new one it crazy expensive. So, if you get one of these mics be sure to use a good alternative clip with it and put the clip it came with back in the box. Other then that, it's a great mic!

I record live concerts in a wide variety of venues, and I bought this mic to use as a hi-fi alternative to Shure's SM series. While 57's & 58's are great workhorse microphones, they have a low-mid congestion and high-mid crunch that's hard to deal with in post, even with good EQ. The MD431 is exactly what I wanted; it's got the robustness of a dynamic, it's shaped like a stage microphone (so singers are comfortable using it live), but with an incredibly natural frequency response. Without EQ, it renders voices with a smooth, gentle quality; adding a 2-4db high shelf at 10k brings out the air without any harshness. To prevent pops (and to keep the capsule clean), I'm using these with MZW1 foam windscreens.

A note, however, that in smaller venues (or venues with cheap stage monitors) where the sound guy is running a hot mix, it's likely you'll experience some very high-frequency feedback, even with careful positioning. For situations like that an SM7B is a better alternative, as its cardioid pattern has a wider null, and it allows the singers to get right up against the grill and isolate the sound coming from behind them. For larger stages & more conservative levels, the MD431 is all I'll ever need out of a dynamic.

Got this to replace our original MD 431 we bought in 1984 which was
starting to loose some clarity due to the years of bar smoke and accidents.
ALSO
Great for recordings. The Off-Axis bleed is clean & natural
makes a great distant room mic for anything!

I enjoy singing on the karaoke app, Smule Sing!, and rotate between this mic and two others: Shure SM58 and Neumann KMS 105. The reviews on the Neumann are stellar and deservedly so. Never have I heard a more natural sounding and super-detailed vocal mic. And what's unique about the KMS 105 is that it's a condenser but also a handheld—sort of a niche product really. And what more can be said regarding the old warhorse, Shure SM58? It's warm and muscular with excellent feedback rejection. I truly feel that the SM58 deserves a place in any musician's mic locker! And that brings me to the Sennheiser MD 431 II. After initially ordering the Telefunken M80, I hated it so returned for this model instead [BIG shout-out to my Sales Engineer, Justin Englert! He's very enthusiastic, patient and customer-focused]. I was impressed with Sennheiser's product line already, having used the broadcast cans HD 125-II PRO for a decade. Plus I wanted another mic featuring the ON/OFF switch. This mic's build quality is amazing. It reminds me of these space-age alloys being used on modern golf clubs and tennis racquets because it is SO feather-weight light! And the finish quality is a matte black, as opposed to a shinier piano black. Gorgeous. The sound quality is definitely thinner than the Neumann and certainly the Shure. It's bright, thin and icy although not as shrill as the Telefunken M80. I prefer a warmer-sounding mic, but the MD 431 II does feature amazing detail. It will pick up whisper-quiet and breathy vocals nicely. This is my go-to mic for tenor vocals like George Michael or falsetto parts such as The Beach Boys. Overall a very excellent choice for higher range singers or even Metal applications, due to its excellent built-in pop filter. Don't be shy about singing your lungs out with this one!

I have this mic and it is smooth like everyone says but I recently bought a Heil PR 35 and in my opinion its just a superior when it comes to clarity ... if you want to hear everything thats going on when you sing get a Heil PR35..