Sennheiser Profile Wireless Mics: Super sound for wannabe YouTubers

It seems that an endless number of people are setting up their own YouTube channels nowadays. With a good smartphone camera, some intelligent scripting and story ideas, there’s plenty to like. However, shoddy audio can completely ruin a YouTube video and cause viewers to switch off.

The Mic on your smartphone might be good, but it can’t work miracles. Suppose you’re filming someone at any appreciable distance from your phone. In that case, their audio will probably sound faint, hollow, garbled or worse still, drowned out by ambient noise.

Broadcasters have long got around this by using wireless lavalier mics that connect to the camera, resulting in crystal clear voice dialogue. Until recently, the steep price associated with these mics meant they were the exclusive domain of professionals, placing them well out of reach of most YouTubers. More recently many players have launched affordable wireless Lavalier mics. Now it’s Sennheiser’s turn with the Profile Wireless to take Sennheiser’s long legacy with studio mics and headphones to market.

When it comes to their design, Sennheiser got a lot right. The Mics weigh in at just 27g, which makes clipping them to your shirt/blouse a hassle-free undertaking. They also offer plenty of run time thanks to a solid 7 hours of battery life. Being able to capture 24-bit audio also means they sound great compared to a smartphone/laptop/webcam mic. The mics also have built-in internal storage, so they can be used independently of any connected recording devices.

That said, a few features are missing. Bluetooth recording, 32-bit float, and noise cancelling are absent, but the Profile Wireless is intended to be affordable and is aimed at small content producers who probably have no use for pro-level features.

The Profile Wireless review unit came as a complete kit. This included a receiver, two mic/transmitters, a charging bar/interview mic, adapters (camera cold shoe, USB-C or Lightning), magnets (for clipping the mics onto clothing), cables, windshields and a carry case. Handily, Profile Wireless gear can be bought separately, which is useful for replacing any bits that get damaged or lost.

The Sennheiser Profile Wireless consists of wireless mics/transmitters and receiver units. The lightweight mic can be attached to clothing via a built-in clip or magnet (which, in practice, works well with light clothing, but with heavier garments, the clip is the best choice). Both mics can be used simultaneously for stereo recording or scenes involving two people. They use a 2.4 GHz wireless connection to connect to the receiver, with an OLED display so settings can be seen and tweaked. The touchscreen is on the small side, and I had to squint to read it, but overall, I found the highly compact receiver/mic combo easy to lug around.

The sheer versatility of the Profile Wireless is evidenced by how the mics/receiver and plug adaptors all stow into a compact charging bar that handily doubles as a handheld mic for vox pops and other scenarios. It fits into a compact carry case, which is small enough to throw into a camera bag and not worry about space constraints.  The charging bar has a long, narrow, rectangular shape with curved edges, making it comfortable to hold. Equally handy is the standard tripod mount on the charge bar, which means it can fit into a tripod or mic arm for studio work when used as a mic.

Connecting the Profile Wireless to various devices is also easier thanks to the Lightning, USB-C and camera cold shoe mount adaptors. Suppose you have to work without additional hardware. In that case, the mics have 16GB of storage, which can theoretically hold around 30 hours of audio. Rounding things out, the mics also have a built-in 3.5mm socket, which allows for the connection of an external Lavalier mic. I particularly liked that the socket has a threaded head so mic cables can be firmly secured to avoid accidental disconnections.

The recorded 24-bit audio sounded great. While 32-bit float is absent, the audio files generated were smaller, and I’d argue that 32-bit float recording is probably outside of the intended audience for the Profile Wireless.

Testing their recording chops on a typical blustery Wellington day, I saw the bundled windshield covers reduce wind noise to acceptable levels. I did notice that the mics picked up some background noise, but this was not at the expense of voice clarity.

The receiver controls allow you to adjust gain levels, and there’s also a safety mode for use when using both mics. This makes an additional recording at -6dB, which gives a small measure of protection, allowing filmed material to be salvaged if a sudden loud noise causes clipping or distortion. There’s no direct Bluetooth recording, where the mic can pair directly with your smartphone, bypassing the receiver. It’s not a big deal, but it would have been nice to have.

In use, I found the mics ran up to 250m away from the receiver in line of sight. Thanks to the Backup Recording Mode, recording will intelligently switch to on-board storage if the wireless signal weakens or drops.

I used the microphones/receiver for just under 7 hours, and the charging bar extended that to an extra 15 hours. This equates to an overall recording time of 21 hours, which will likely be more than ample for most use-case scenarios.

If you’re looking to improve the quality of your video podcast or YouTube content, Sennheiser’s Profile Wireless could be just what the doctor ordered. Its thoughtful, solid construction, decent audio, useful features and reasonable sticker price make it a surefire bet for content producers.