By Cesar Arevalo | Audio Specialist.
After spending three years recording acoustic ensembles, orchestras, and chamber groups, among others. I developed an interest in some of the features of DPA microphones, especially their remarkable high gain and wide signal-to-noise ratio. Their balanced frequency response is one of the features I like about these microphones but this characteristic is far from being the main reason I would rather use DPA for the main stereo arrangement of an orchestral recording. When I first started recording orchestras, I used to set up a pair of Sennheiser MKH 20 mics or the classic Neumann 183 match pair which is, by the way, one of the most utilized microphones for classical music in our days. However, during the preparation for a television live recording of the philharmonic orchestra of Bogotá, I had the opportunity of testing different microphones from various manufacturers and that was the first time I made use of the DPA 4006 setup.
When I started the mixing process of this production I noticed there was something different about these mics: gain. DPA microphones bring us a considerably higher gain level compared with other mics of its kind Neumann, Schoeps, Sennheiser, Studio Project). This huge distinction is so remarkable that I decided to execute a measurement of all these commonly used microphones in the field of classical music. The measuring session took place in one of the studios of the Javeriana University in Bogota (Colombia), the Millennia HV-3D 8-Channel preamp was used to capture the signals, a dodecahedron loudspeaker reproduced the test signals, and the acoustic analysis was done with the software Easera. Bellow, I present the results of these measurements with frequency vs amplitude diagrams that exposed these relevant gain aspects of DPA mics.
About this fact, DPA stated “… DPA condenser microphones are also electronics and low noise amplifiers. To get a low noise amplifier stable under all kinds of conditions takes hard work and a steady hand during the design process.” There are many different microphones to pick from, however, it’s worth giving DPA a chance to enhance your recordings, especially if the conditions of the recording session demand higher gain results.
Featured image: https://www.dpamicrophones.com/ddicate/4006-omnidirectional-microphone