Sennheiser MD 441

The MD 441 has a supercardioid polar pattern, with a frequency response of 30 to 20,000 Hertz, sensitivity of 1.8 mV/Pa ±2 dB,{{cite web|access-date=2024-11-15|title=MD441 Quick Guide|url=https://www.sennheiser.com/globalassets/digizuite/41239-en-quick_guide_md_441-u_11_2022.pdf}} and Impedance of 200 Ohms. It also features a hum compensation coil. Like the MD 421, the MD 441 has a five-stage bass switch.{{cite web|access-date=2020-04-19|language=de|title=Sennheiser MD 441 Test :: bonedo.de|url=https://www.bonedo.de/artikel/einzelansicht/sennheiser-md-441.html}}{{cite web|access-date=2021-02-21|language=de|title=Sound-Künstler Kymat: Er zaubert Sterne in ein Wasserglas|url=https://de-de.sennheiser.com/sennheiser-praesentiert-den-sound-kuenstler-kymat-er-zaubert-sterne-in-ein-wasserglas}} While it was originally introduced with a DIN connector,{{cite web|access-date=2020-05-31|title=Neuzugang in der Mikrofonvitrine: Sennheiser MD 441 N - Alles andere - Bandmaschinenforum|url=https://forum2.magnetofon.de/board13-verst%C3%A4rker-phono-decks/board58-alles-andere/18775-neuzugang-in-der-mikrofonvitrine-sennheiser-md-441-n/}} it has featured an XLR connector since 1985.{{cite web|access-date=2020-05-16|title=Sennheiser Vintage Microphone Models|url=https://cderksen.home.xs4all.nl/mics/SennheiserVtgMicModels.htm#MD}} Available in various versions and colors over the years, the current model is silver.

File:KohlModrowMomperBrandenburgerTor.jpg in 1989.]]

The microphone was introduced at the Hannover Fair in 1971.{{cite book |last=Schumann |first=Robert |title=New Magazine for Music |publisher=B. Schott |date=1971 |page=334 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=--cEAAAAMAAJ&q=sennheiser+441 |access-date=21 February 2021}} From the 1970s onwards it could be seen in various television news programs, e.g. in Russia's main evening news program Vremya.{{cite web |url=https://fishki.net/1897901-vspomnim-veduwih-sovetskogo-televidenija.html |title=Вспомним ведущих Советского телевидения |date=31 August 2020 |access-date=6 December 2023 |language=ru}} Four MD 441s are visible in Barbara Klemm's famous 1979 photo of the socialist fraternal kiss between Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker.{{cite web |website=www.dw.com |publisher=Deutsche Welle |url=https://www.dw.com/de/fotojournastin-barbara-Klemm-will-80/a-51800848 |title=Photojournalist Barbara Klemm turns 80 |date=26 December 2019 |access-date=19 April 2020 |language=de-DE}} The later Serbian President Slobodan Milošević spoke into six MD 441s at a large rally in Belgrade on November 19, 1988.{{cite web |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/12/05/letter-dont-let-our-democracy-become-authoritarian |title=Letter: Don't let our democracy become authoritarian |website=The Mercury News |date=5 December 2019 |language=en-US |access-date=21 October 2021}} At the Alexanderplatz demonstration on November 4, 1989 in Berlin, the speeches were spoken into two MD 441s. On December 19, 1989, Helmut Kohl spoke into an MD 441 in Dresden at his first major appearance after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

File:Russian-Chinese_talks._With_President_of_China_Xi_Jinping.jpg with two MD 441 (2017)]]

The British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen used an MD 441 in the film Brüno (2009) for his interview with Paula Abdul, in which both sit on the backs of kneeling men.{{cite web |url=https://ew.com/movies/2019/10/10/sacha-baron-cohen-paula-abdul-bruno/ |title=Sacha Baron Cohen tricked Paula Abdul into being in 'Bruno' and didn't invite her to the premiere |date=10 October 2019 |access-date=27 October 2020 |website=ew.com |publisher=Entertainment Weekly |language=EN }} In the 2010s, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping was often pictured with two black MD 441s at press conferences.{{cite web |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/un-security-council-yet-to-discuss-coronavirus-crisis-under-chinas-presidency/articleshow/74841684.cms |title=Coronavirus China update: UN Security Council yet to discuss coronavirus crisis under China's presidency - The Economic Times |date=27 March 2020 |access-date=22 September 2020}} Two MD 441s are used at the lectern in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.{{cite web |url=https://www.n-tv.de/mediathek/videos/panorama/Tschechischer-MPlementer-provokiert-Handgemenge-article22309203.html |title=Czech MP provokes scuffle |website=n-tv.de |publisher=n-tv NEWS |date=22 January 2021 |access-date=6 December 2023 |language=de}}

The MD 441 has also been used as a vocal microphone since the 1970s, by artists including Frank Zappa, Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks, David Bowie,{{cite web |last=Shaw |first=Dan |title=Always listening: 75 years of Sennheiser microphones |url=https://happymag.tv/always-listening-75-years-of-sennheiser-microphones/ |website=happymag.tv |publisher=We Are Happy Media |date=24 March 2020 |access-date=6 December 2023}} and by The Cure lead singer Robert Smith during the band's first television appearance at a concert in Paris in 1979.{{cite web |date=29 May 2017 |url=https://www.openculture.com/2017/05/the-cures-first-tv-appearance-in-1979.html |title=Watch The Cure's First TV Appearance in 1979 … Before The Band Acquired Its Signature Goth Look |publisher=Open Culture |website=openculture.com |access-date=19 April 2020 |language=en-US}}

While the MD 441 as a broadcast microphone has largely been replaced by other models, it is still used today for recording musical instruments, particularly on drums, electric guitars and amplifiers, as well as woodwind instruments.

File:Frank_Zappa_giving_the_finger_(cropped).jpg|Frank Zappa and MD 441 with windscreen (1974)

File:Fleetwood_Mac_-_Stevie_Nicks_(1980)_(cropped).png|Stevie Nicks and MD 441 at a Fleetwood Mac concert in Zurich (1980)

File:19921123_kenny_wheeler_ujre_braunschweig2.jpg|Kenny Wheeler with MD 441 (1992)

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MD 441