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I had previously determined that the ATs with low sensitivity mod had almost exactly 6 dB more gain than my DPAs, so I set the levels on my Edirols accordingly. And no surprise, both recordings have almost exactly the same levels, within a few tenths of a decibel!
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I've had the opportunity to test several sets of DPA 4061s and AT ES943s, and the ATs always have 6 dB more gain than the DPAs. Therefore, the ATs *without* the low-sens mod should be slightly more sensitive than DPA 4060s (by about 2 dB) Personally, I wouldn't feel comfortable recording the loudest of loud rock shows without the low-sens mod. Really, I think the 943s with low-sens mod have an ideal sensitivity, being virtually halfway between DPA 4060s and 4061s.
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I think there is some sort of problem with these sensitivity figures. The ES943/O is listed by AT as having a sensitivty of 10 mV/Pa, whereas DPA specs the 4060 and 4061 at 20 mV/Pa and 6 mV/Pa, respectively. So the stock AT should be about 4.5 dB more sensitive than the 4061 (and about 6 dB less sensitive than the 4060). If the tested AT's are actually 6 dB more sensitive than the 4061's, then they should have a sensitivity around 12 mV/Pa, which would make the low-sens mod'ed mics more sensitive than the stock mics!
While specs can certainly be helpful for reference and general comparison purposes, I don't think they're always perfect. I've tested several pairs DPA 4061s vs. AT943/Os with low-sens mod, using identical recorders with identical settings (which really do perform identically), and no matter what the sound source is, the ATs are always roughly 6 dB louder than the DPA source. So if that doesn't mean that 943/Os with low-sens mod are 6 dB more sensitive than the 4061s, I don’t know what does.
Furthermore, I think the frequency chart that Audio-Technica made for the 943s omnis is misleading. According to that, the mics have a slightly exaggerated low frequency response as opposed to the ruler flat response of the DPAs, as well as more exaggerated high frequency response.
Find the charts here:
DPA 4061 AT ES943/OAlso, the ATs are rated only 30 – 20,000 Hz, while DPAs are rated 20 – 20,000 Hz. Yet in reality, both mics have a perfectly flat bass response, with the ATs actually producing more ultra low frequencies than the DPAs, including subsonic stuff. Now, how is this possible if they only start at 30Hz?
And according to the AT chart, the 943s should also have a slightly stronger response from 5-15 kHz. In my tests, however, both mics performed nearly identically in terms of frequency response, with the ATs only having a bit more treble in the 13-14K range. Although it's clear that DPAs definitely retain more ultrasonic frequencies, with the ATs really starting to drop off at 16K. DPAs definitely maintain more response beyond this…
See the frequency response charts that I made from the samples offered in the first post of this thread:
DPA 4061 AT ES943/ODPA 4061 AT ES943/OSo… It would follow that ATs might be preferable for whales, while DPAs are more suitable for dogs.
Other than that, I still don't think the difference is very significant.