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This requirement immediately narrows my possibilities. Actually it narrows it to the RF biased Sennheiser MKH 8020 or 8040 only. As these mics are priced out of my range I have had to compromise with the Rode NTG5. The NTG5 is an RF biased short shotgun with very high sensitivity and low self noise. It is available at a fair price and this is the route I have chosen.
In order to understand this compromise better I have constructed a comparison plot of the NTG5 and the MKH8020 (with the MKH8040 and Schoeps CCM4 tossed in for fun). Just how much do I lose with the NTG5 in terms of wide field? Also, since it is more sensitive than the 8020, what if anything do I win?
Looking at the plot you see immediately that the NTG5 has a significantly narrower field of view. OK, the MKH8020 is omnidirectional for crying out loud. On the plus side, between -300 degrees to +60 degrees (a wide 120 degree window) the NTG5 actually gives superior sensitivity over the 8020. I am still going to miss ringer bird calls from behind the NTG5, but then the Wildtronics has that mostly covered. If/until Rode comes out with an RF biased omni to compete with Sennheiser the NTG5 is a good choice and it is giving better pickup than an omni over much of the forward direction.
Honestly, given the comparison I might now opt for the NTG5 even if a (reasonably priced) omni were available.
Note that the Sennheiser MKH8040 cardioid (green curves) at -34 dB sensitivity is a less sensitive choice in every respect.
The Schoeps CCM4 (pink curves) offered with the Telinga dish with its -37.7 dB sensitivity is simply not a serious suggestion for ambient work. I would never go that direction.
KJS 04/2025