Currently, I record everything I go to with DPA 4060 > MMA6000 > R-09HR. The omnis are fine for most of my purposes, because almost everything is a standing gig and I record with my head in the stack. Crowd noise and boominess aren't really issues.
This year, however, I've got a number of arena shows coming up. Some of those are assigned seating and I can't pick and choose my recording location. Omnis won't excel there, so this is the perfect time to purchase some high-end cardioids.
The obvious choice, given my experience with DPA and my dearth of experience with anything else high-end, is the 4021/2/3 range. I know the cabling differences between the three, but I'm still not sure which to pick. When might it be useful to have LEMO connectors, for example? And if I'm pinning these mics to my jacket, do I want a rear connector, or would a side connector make it easier to aim the mics?
To avoid the need for a new battery box to interface between the mics and the R-09HR, I'm also looking to invest in a new recorder. The Roland R-44 is an obvious choice, but rather large and stealth is of paramount importance here. Given that requirement, the pick of the bunch seems to be the Marantz PMD-661. If anyone has any strong feelings about that choice, pro or con, I'd be interested in hearing them, but maybe I should start a second thread for that. I mention it here, because the purchase is directly related to the mic purchase. If I do get the PMD-661, I'll probably order through Oade and get their concert mod. They don't ship to Europe, though, so I'd have to use a freight forwarder and risk being slapped with massive import duties when the package gets here. It's probably still worth doing, though, to get that mod. I sometimes record acoustic music, so maybe the Super mod would be applicable, too. Opinions?
None of these decisions is set in stone at the moment. I'd consider Schoeps instead of DPA if I thought there was a good reason, but I've heard that Schoeps mics tend to colour the sound, producing warmth, which I'm not sure I want, as I'm someone who favours transparency. I have no experience with Schoeps, though. I suppose the equivalent of the 4021/2/3 is the CCM 4. Is that right? I believe those contain amps and could thus be plugged straight into the PMD-661.
Lots of new ground for me to break here and some potentially very expensive mistakes to avoid.
Any help navigating the minefield would be very much appreciated.