Topic: DPA d:VICE just announced

[Gutbucket]

Should work.  As long as the mics are wired in 2-wire mode and are good with ~5V

Edit (adding this caveat jerryfreak mentions below)-

the d:vice needs to 'detect' the mic, so it may only do this in a limited impedance range. TBD. a simple line-in test with blocking capacitor didnt activate it when i tried

[jerryfreak]

i ran the better part of two umphreys shows this weekend with 4061s in croakies and a single 4099 taped to the bill of my hat pointing forward (god bless open taping shows, tho i looked like a dork (even more than usual). both were the newer CORE versions. i only had a single 4099 to play with. both went to d:vices, 4061 in stereo, 4099 in mono. this woulda been an excellent chance to use metarecorder in linked mode but i spaced it.

ive heard some 4099 recordings on DIME and thought they were on the thinner side of my 4061 omnis so i wanted to see what i could do with them under my normal style of recording and how much eqing it would take to put the bass back. they definitely seem to have the flattest response relative to the other mini directional mics, but hard to tell because bass response is difficult to judge with proximity effect. the actual mic slides easily out of the windscreen and is about 3/16" x 1.25"



these would be plenty  able in hat or croakies if the handling noise wasnt too bad. i need to commit to keeping them (and get another) and then i would reterm them to microdots free of the captive flex mount (which is cool, but not really for this purpose). in this case i just laid the captive flex mount flat on my ballcap and taped it down with some electrical tape, which left the mic pointing straight forward and up slightly near the front of the brim

ill upload some samples of what i pulled, both flat and EQd. if you want to comp the 4061 and 4099 i recommend doing it on a stereo and not headphones as one is mono and one is stereo

um crowd down front in cleveland was schwilly as all hell per usual and super chatty/sing-alongy. but it was a good test under adverse conditions. 4099 definitely has a less open sound than the 4061s but the side rejection was undeniably effective

[jerryfreak]

Dumb question, could one use the d:VICE with other mics (see signature) with an appropriate adapter (microdot > 3.5mm stereo)?

I would considering spreading out the purchase, if I could use something else in the meantime.

the d:vice needs to 'detect' the mic, so it may only do this in a limited impedance range. TBD. a simple line-in test with blocking capacitor didnt activate it when i tried

[Gutbucket]

^ Thanks for that real-world check.  I suppose detection could be via impedance or current draw. I edited my post above to reflect your comment.

Also thanks for the 4099 photo with the mic pulled out of the windscreen/mount.  Looks identical to the 4098 once exposed like that. Seems to confirm they are basically the same microphone in a different package.  I can confirm that as expected the supercardioid-ish pattern is considerably more susceptible to both wind and handling noise than the omnis.

And +T for going full dork with the test setup!

If you do record something using metarecorder in linked mode and both d:vices, please let me know how well that works, and how smooth/kludgy the assemblage is to operate.  Especially interested if the two recordings remain in sync down to the sample level.  Your test arrangement is actually similar to how I would run, using one 4098/4099 + three 4060.  Primary difference is the L/R baffled omnis would be spaced about twice as far apart and the 3rd baffled and facing rearward.

Alternate interesting use of the 4th channel would be to turn the single 4098/4099 into Mid/Side pair.  Need a miniature DPA bi-directional.
[EDIT- or a low-voltage 2-wire figure-8 from ANY manufacturer.  Manufacturers, please make one]
[2nd EDIT- or ideally, a DPA Mid/Side stereo microphone based on the 4098/4099.
^ Just unsure which of these imaginary options is the most fanciful]

[heathen]

ill upload some samples of what i pulled, both flat and EQd. if you want to comp the 4061 and 4099 i recommend doing it on a stereo and not headphones as one is mono and one is stereo

I'm interested to hear the 4099 by itself!

[jerryfreak]

If you do record something using metarecorder in linked mode and both d:vices, please let me know how well that works, and how smooth/kludgy the assemblage is to operate.  Especially interested if the two recordings remain in sync down to the sample level. 

ive messed with it around the house, its pretty simple. did not check sync level

[Gutbucket]

^ Upon getting metarecorder setup and linked on both phones, is it all controlled at that point on from just one of them?  Can the other be essentially locked down and not otherwise manually interfaced with?  How do the two communicate? Bluetooth?

Sorry for all the questions.  I suppose I should look into Metarecorder.

[jerryfreak]

^ Upon getting metarecorder setup and linked on both phones, is it all controlled at that point on from just one of them?  Can the other be essentially locked down and not otherwise manually interfaced with?  How do the two communicate? Bluetooth?

Sorry for all the questions.  I suppose I should look into Metarecorder.

.

yes yes and yes.

the second phone goes into "slave" mode and the "master" phone pops up shorter recording windows with individual level meters and controls. i cant remember if the 'slave' phone can be stopped independently, but the app has a decent lock screen and requires long press to stop recording so it would be hard to accidentally turn off.

screenshots are seen here

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apogee-metarecorder/id965930387

[Gutbucket]

I'm imagining carrying three phones to do 6ch.
Crazy I know.  Yet controlling it from a watch would be quite Dick Tracy.

[jerryfreak]

if you dont need cell service, tracfone (tracfone/straight talk/total wireless). 32gb iphone SEs can be had for as little as $50 in as-new refurb conditions with 100% battery capacity, and have about 20-25GB of usable space after the OS overhead. i have several. they are small rugged and efficient. three of them stacked up, with hard cases, are only slightly bigger than an edirol r09. take the cases off, prob the same volume as the r09.

in any case, it passes EVERY security flawlessly

they can be used as cam and also shoot 4K video. you can stream from them if you get cell service

for years i bagged on apple but after using the 32GB i bought a 64 and 128GB used and unlocked on ebay. both were about 1 year old with 90% battery cap and is what i used this weekend, the 32gb ones are tucked away. the 64gb is my daily driver phone i put it in airplane mode while recording. the 64 and 128gb can be had for $100-$200. this sandisk drive  is also an option, which is locked down a bit by apple, but metarecorder can export your wavs right to it at about a GB/minute. i have the 128gb version

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-256GB-iXpand-Flash-iPhone/dp/B01MUH9BET

it also has an app which i believe plays flac but doesnt really interface into apple music app, its its own thing

one other huge selling point of the iphone SE is that it is the last gen to have a real headphone jack so you dont need dumb proprietary dongles

I'm imagining carrying three phones to do 6ch.
Crazy I know.  Yet controlling it from a watch would be quite Dick Tracy.

[Gutbucket]

Hmmm [mental gears turning..]

[Gutbucket]

Thanks much for the specifics, you've help shift all this my mind from the realm of fantasy to actual possibility.

[jerryfreak]

heres one sample of the UM 3/22 show recorded from the 'sweet spot' FOB. also provided is a sample of the sony PCM-A10's internal card mics which really held their own given the volume. Again when comparing 4099 vs 4061 use speakers not headphones as the 4099 is mono and thats not a fair fight. i eq'd by listening to the mix on my 8" Rokit KRK monitors

https://soundcloud.com/user-24091888/sets/4061-vs-4099-vs-pcm-a10-internal-mics

raw samples are provided as well as samples EQ'd using the following curves
4061 (independently normalized both channels after EQing to -15 dB RMS):


4099 (independently normalized both channels after EQing to -15 dB RMS):


PCM-A10 (independently normalized both channels after EQing to -16 dB RMS as it wasnt as dynamic as the ones above):


here is a 20 minute sample from the next night (3/23 cleveland), i was on the floor, about 5 rows back from right stack. all were eq'd and normalized to -17dB RMS

4061 EQ curve:


4099 EQ curve:

[Gutbucket]

Couldn't find a way to download the soundcloud samples, so I tried to play both the 4061 and 4099 soundcloud samples simultaneously in two different windows.  Soundcloud won't allow this within the same browser, although I think it used to.  However, I was able to do so using two different browsers.  It's tricky getting the sync just right, but it can be done upon some trial and error via precise manipulation of pause/play controls - an obscure skill I refined doing this for simultaneous playback from two R-09s years ago. 

Once playing in sync, the most appropriate balance between the 4061s and single 4099 can be dialed in using the volume sliders for each.

As suspected, the stereo 4061 + mono 4099 combination is a good, and superior to either in isolation.  Using the non-EQ / non-normalized files (much gain required on the 4061's, very little on the 4099) the native response of each fits nicely with the other, producing a sort of "self EQ'd" mix.

Maybe give it a try in your editor where the sync'ing will be far easier and more precise.

[jerryfreak]

OK I’ll give it a shot and I can put the raw files in a zip file if you want to grab them all to play with