Review: Sennheiser Profile USB Microphone & Sennheiser HD 400 Pro Headphones

Whether you teach or take live, online lessons, there’s always the option to upgrade your equipment for better sound.  Using an external microphone and headphones is the first step towards improving your audio for any form of video conferencing.

Choosing the right external microphone can definitely improve the quality of audio signal you’re sending in a Zoom meeting so that you can be understood more clearly, and, if you’re teaching music, so that your listeners can hear more detail than would be picked up on a built-in microphone.

(Keep in mind that you’ll want to make sure you’ve enabled the best audio settings possible to get the most out of your microphone when using it for online meetings. You can make sure you’ve enabled the right audio settings in Zoom by following this guide.)

We had the chance test the Sennheiser USB Profile Mic and Sennheiser HD 400 Pro Headphones to see what we thought.

Sennheiser USB Profile Microphone
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The Sennheiser USB Profile Microphone is a quality option for an easy, plug-and-play microphone. It is a condenser microphone, so it’s going to work well for picking up more detail in your environment. This is great news for musical instruments, but if you’re wanting to prioritize only your voice and reject more noise, a dynamic microphone might be a better option for you.

The built-in features on this microphone like the soft-touch mute button and the gain control and mix control knobs are handy, and the 3.5mm headphone jack on the microphone itself and the headphone volume control is a nice touch to have your audio input and output routed through one device.

Both the build quality and the audio quality of the Sennheiser USB Profile microphone (which you can hear in the video above) make this microphone a solid choice as an investment in better audio whether you’re using it for teaching or taking online lessons or recording yourself.

Likewise, if you’re looking for comfort and quality, the Sennheiser HD 400 Pro Headphones are an option seriously worth considering. They are open-back headphones which we recommend for teaching or taking online lessons.
 

Sennheiser HD 400 Pro Headphones
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Open-back headphones allow you to hear your voice and your instrument more naturally, and while those new to open-back headphones may be concerned about how much sound they let out, you can check the video above for an example of just how quiet the audio bleed is compared to the volume of talking at normal levels.

While people look for different things in headphones, we prefer headphones that have as flat or neutral of a response as possible so that we are hearing things honestly. While heavy bass or crisp highs might be fun for listening to music, manipulating frequencies for a colored response is not desired when audio integrity matters.

The Sennheiser HD 400 Pros have a decently flat and neutral response for professional headphones in this price range. Combined with their comfort (even for those who wear glasses), we’d recommend them as a solid choice for a higher quality pair of headphones.

While there are many options on the market for USB microphones and headphones, if you’re considering quality over time, we believe it’s worth looking into the Sennheiser USB Profile Microphone and the HD 400 Pro Headphones.
 

The recommendations we provide are our well-tested and considered opinions. We may have received the equipment from the manufacturer that we tested for free, and we may earn a commission if you buy from the links here. We appreciate your support. Please reach out to gear@lessonface.com if you have questions or comments!