Hasta La Gadget!

Sennheiser needs little introduction, but there’s a chance you know the company best for its headphones and soundbars. Meanwhile, in the pro audio world, it’s perhaps most famous for its microphones – some of which have achieved legendary status (I’ll also personally recommend the MK4 for podcasting to anyone who asks). Enter the company’s newest offering – the $130 Profile USB microphone – that aims to bring some of that pro-audio magic to the podcasting or streaming worlds.

The company doesn’t make a lot of USB microphones, so it’s fair to say that the Profile is Sennheiser’s play for the creator market. The space that’s dominated right now by the Blue Yeti or Rode’s NT-USB among others. Not only is it priced similarly, it offers the same key features such as gain control, direct monitoring and a mute button (something not every USB mic has, but probably should).

One little touch that makes the Profile stand out is its built-in “tilt” mechanism. Where the Yeti and the NT-USB, for example, can be tilted via their stands, the Profile can be adjusted to your preferred angle without an additional mount. There’s a standard 5/8” thread underneath for fixing to boom arms and stands. You can also buy the Profile in a $199 bundle that comes with a dedicated boom, which has its own original design that’s a little less imposing than rivals like Rode’s PSA1+.

Thankfully, Sennheiser has bucked the general trend of making podcasting/streaming mics larger than they need to be. The Yeti ($100) is imposing (even the Nano is on the chonky side), the NT-USB ($170) isn’t much smaller and other popular options like the HyperX Quadcast ($140) and even Elgato’s Wave 3 ($150) feel large by comparison. At $130, the Profile also sits on the more affordable end among its rivals.

Of course, no amount of features matter if it doesn’t sound any good. Of the three mics mentioned here – which is far from exhaustive but covers two popular alternatives – the Profile most closely resembles the Blue Yeti, which is no bad thing given its sustained popularity. There’s a pretty steep shelf off under 100Hz with some light enhancement around the 5- and 12kHz areas – the latter of which is common for adding some of that elusive vocal “sparkle.”

Overall, the sound profile is very much in line with what most streamers and podcasters will be looking for – fairly neutral with a slight enhancement in the frequencies that give most voices extra clarity. Combined with the competitive pricing and the full suite of gain/mix/mute settings the Profile makes a very compelling case for itself.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sennheisers-profile-microphone-for-streamers-gets-a-lot-right-090017043.html?src=rss

Michael Johnson hailed the Olympic champion as a “true LEGEND” who “changed an entire event forever with a technique that looked crazy at the time.”

Uber and Lyft don’t have to worry about reclassifying its workers in California for now. An appeals court has just ruled that gig workers, such as rideshare drivers, can continue to be classified as independent contractors under Proposition 22. 

If you’ll recall, California passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) in September 2019 that legally obligates companies to treat their gig workers as full-time employees. That means providing them with all the appropriate benefits and protections, such as paying for their unemployment and health insurance. As a response, Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash poured over $220 million into campaigning for the Prop 22 ballot measure, which would allow them to treat app-based workers as independent contractors. It ended up passing by a wide margin in the state.

In 2021, a group of critics that included the Service Employees International Union and the SEIU California State Council filed a lawsuit in 2021 to overturn the proposition. The judge in charge of the case sided with them and called Prop 22 unconstitutional. He said back then that the proposition illegally “limits the power of a future legislature to define app-based drivers as workers subject to workers’ compensation law.” 

The three appeals court judges have now overturned that ruling, though according to The New York Times, one of them wanted to throw out Prop 22 entirely for the same reason the lower court judge gave when he handed down his decision. While the appeals court upheld the policy in the end, it ordered that a clause that makes it hard for workers in the state to unionize be severed from the rest of the proposition. That particular clause required a seven-eighths majority vote from the California legislature to be able to amend workers’ rights to collective bargaining. 

David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union in California, told The Times in a statement: “Every California voter should be concerned about corporations’ growing influence in our democracy and their ability to spend millions of dollars to deceive voters and buy themselves laws.” The group is now expected to appeal this ruling and to take their fight to the Supreme Court, which could take months to decide whether to hear the case. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/court-rules-uber-lyft-keep-contractors-classification-drivers-california-054040457.html?src=rss

The word of the day is quite a menacing one, but only by definition. If you need more hints or the full answer, we have both for Wordle #633.

“Incognito Mode” is a common feature on most web browsers these days — including Safari on a Mac desktop or laptop computer.