The latest incarnation of the Neumann KK capsule for use with Sennheiser’s SKM 5000-N has made its debut on Natalie Imbruglia’s Counting Down the Days tour. For mid-October rehearsals, the SKM 5000-N and KK 104 combination was made available to Mark Ballard, Imbruglia’s front-of-house engineer and a long-term Sennheiser UK associate.
According to Ballard, “For me, it’s really important that the artist is comfortable with any new equipment. Natalie immediately preferred the incredibly light weight of the Sennheiser handheld, and was comforted by the Neumann name on the capsule, as she uses a U87 in the studio. Within seconds of putting on her personal monitors, she commented on how amazing the mic sounded and I knew we were onto a winner.
“On the whole tour,” he continues, “I haven’t heard a single glitch thanks to the superior Sennheiser RF. For me, the Neumann KK 104 head was warm, smooth and clean. I used a fairly high highpass filter but virtually no other EQ. Despite a loud backline, it was always possible to put Natalie’s voice exactly where I wanted to in the mix.”
Sennheiser also provided a rack of its Evolution EWw 300 G2 in-ear monitoring for Imbruglia to use alongside the wireless handheld system.
For more information on the Sennheiser gear, visit www.sennheiserusa.com.
