Topic: DPA4061's - Questions

[olyrc]

well i have heard two real good recordings from two different people the last month and both have the same swishing sound, bottom line is 4061's are omnis and the fact is you will need to be in tight to pull a nice recording, if you get lucky a few times thats just it,luck, not to mention the fact that if you happen to see a band with any sort of panning at all your fucked....

I disagree, again.  I've used these mics for probably 15-20 shows now, several using them head-worn (on hat), and I haven't had any issues.  Close in doesn't sound better to me either.  Good positioning on the floor sounds fantastic though.  Listened to many other tapes others have made with 4061s/4060s and haven't heard any major issues like what you describe.

You're entitled to your opinion though.  I'm done arguing my point.  Others are more articulate with it anyway.

[it-goes-to-eleven]

well i have heard two real good recordings from two different people the last month and both have the same swishing sound, bottom line is 4061's are omnis and the fact is you will need to be in tight to pull a nice recording, if you get lucky a few times thats just it,luck, not to mention the fact that if you happen to see a band with any sort of panning at all your fucked....

So..... You have never even used 4061's yourself?

[pfife]

well i have heard two real good recordings from two different people the last month and both have the same swishing sound, bottom line is 4061's are omnis and the fact is you will need to be in tight to pull a nice recording, if you get lucky a few times thats just it,luck, not to mention the fact that if you happen to see a band with any sort of panning at all your fucked....

Your "fact" is hardly "fact".   Sorry, but I once again COMPLETELY disagree with you, and it comes from using 4061s + 4060s for over 2 years now as my ONLY mics. I am more than happy with them.

[jcrab66]

So..... You have never even used 4061's yourself?

yup, sure have. Mounted on a stand about 12' high and 40 feet back. Sounds nice but to much crowd noise. The C1000 source from the same place sounds better and I dont even like those mics...

[pfife]

Belexes, it sounds like you've already heard shows with the 4061s, and you've decided that you like them, so I wouldn't pay attention to our debate about them.  Just trust your own ears and what you like, and go with it.   

I don't know if anyone answered your original inquiry, but you can use your current SP battery box, but you will have to get your 2 mics and solder them to a stereo miniplug (or have someone else do it...) - most people get them from ebay w/ lemo connectors, and cut off the connectors. But the problem here is that they are often not very well matched.

There are some mathmatecal/analytic reasons to believe that the DPA pres/bb's sound better than the SP battery box, but I've never done an A/B blind comparison to hear if its an audible difference.  I made that jump, but I changed everything in my rig at once, so I can't single out the improvements and relate it to a particular gear change.

I'd strongly suggest NOT purchasing new ones with microdots if you are going to cut the connectors - you're just wasting money then. 

my 2 cents, hope it helps.

[jcrab66]

Your "fact" is hardly "fact".   Sorry, but I once again COMPLETELY disagree with you, and it comes from using 4061s + 4060s for over 2 years now as my ONLY mics. I am more than happy with them.

i'm glad your happy with them, last time I checked everyone was different and people were entitled to different opinions. I have gotten some of your 4061 shows from the hub and they do sound nice but whether or not you COMPLETELY or INCOMPLETELY disagree with me doesnt matter.  There is no mic on this planet that is great for every possible recording situation, including 406x's. Hell the neumann and schoeps guys spend all kinds of time arguing back and forth over which is better but since thats a subjective thing isnt it pointless. I stated an opinion and all you 4061 boys have to attack? hahahahhahahahaha

[jcrab66]

So you put them on a stand once but haven't worn them?

yeah, i am pretty much tired of having to "wear" mics after 20 yrs of this crap but if I have to I would rather be back in the center of a room with a nice card in a din or nos

[pfife]

Your "fact" is hardly "fact".   Sorry, but I once again COMPLETELY disagree with you, and it comes from using 4061s + 4060s for over 2 years now as my ONLY mics. I am more than happy with them.

i'm glad your happy with them, last time I checked everyone was different and people were entitled to different opinions. I have gotten some of your 4061 shows from the hub and they do sound nice

I guess I must just be a lucky taper then:

well i have heard two real good recordings from two different people the last month and both have the same swishing sound, bottom line is 4061's are omnis and the fact is you will need to be in tight to pull a nice recording, if you get lucky a few times thats just it,luck, not to mention the fact that if you happen to see a band with any sort of panning at all your fucked....

[Evil Taper]

no mics will shine everytime.  no way not ever.  what would be cool would be some cards that have the same frequency response as omnis but with that polished card sound.  sometimes the cards just cut too damn much bass and make for a thin sounding recording.  i'm a bass freak and like to feel the fucking bass, not just have a little trickle of low end comming through (which is what the C1000 have always sounded like to my ears...leave those suckers at home as your drum overheads).  FWIW I tape The Big Wu with my MG rig and there's so much crowd noise on the tape that it's barely worth listening to.  Even worse is that the majority of the noise is from the opening band who decided to camp next to my stand for the Wu set and have a loud conversation.  They had the nerve to ask me if I taped their set after trashing my recording of the band I paid to see but I told them i didn't and deleted the bullshit.  You'd THINK that jam bands themselves who are familiar with the scene would know better than that.  I don't remember what those guys were called but fuck them, never pay to see...whoever they were .  But yeah, the 4061s are more like a love/hate thing with me.  Sometimes I really love the tapes but other times they don't get the job done.  I was able to open tape the Violent Femmes with my 4061s but the idiot house security guy told me i had to set my stand up inside the rear sound cage.  Don't EVER tape with those mics from the absolute rear of a deep ballroom.  Unfortunately their sound guy was being a loud sucker that night as well.  The recording sounds soooo distant and tiny that it's hard to listen to.  Oh well.  Other times though the omnis are RAW and in your face.  My DEP set from last december is still probably my favorite tape I've made with those mics.  The venue PA sucked ass so I got in close to get stage sound and it's like you're right there.  The 4061s are the new trendy stealth mic though...might be time to consider my other options.

[it-goes-to-eleven]

i'm glad your happy with them, last time I checked everyone was different and people were entitled to different opinions.

Of course.. But usually folks around here qualify their opinion with their experience and biases. If they don't actually have experience, they say so or don't talk trash. In this case your comments seemed to contradict much actual experience and it was not surprising to learn (after digging) that your experience with the mics in question is extremely limited to non-existent.. and that you Hate wearing mics is a significant bias. So are you actually contributing with your comments or simply talking trash?

How can you say they 'cause swishing with the slighest movement' when you have not ever worn them? Why would you say that and not mention 'but I've never even worn them myself and hate wearing mics...' It is disingenuous.

[pfife]

The 4061s are the new trendy stealth mic though...might be time to consider my other options.

Not new, and not trendy.... 

[Evil Taper]

Not NEW but they are the new fad.  It seems like every stealther is switching to 4061s now and it's getting kind of old hearing nothing but omni tapes as of late.   So...I'm looking for something different (active mg kit if available and i have the cash  ).  But man, the 4061s are the absolute easiest mic to stealth ever.  They're tiny enough that you can hide them almost anywhere to get through the gates and they're super dooper easy to mount and wear and don't get flange with movement.  I don't think there's going to be anything else that's as easy to stealth with until DPA releases some cards the size of the omnis.  I sure do hope that they release those things SOMETIME down the road.  I don't wanna have to get a schemps kit and be one of those guys   Until then though...fuck it.  I'm gonna get a straw hat and stealth my MG rig for some Steve Smith Vital Information thing at the end of the month.  I know everyone who works at the venue and probably a good portion of everyone in attendance as well so it should be cake.  I'm thinkin that I just mount the mics in the hat and run the cables into a backpack on my back and wear a hoodie to cover up the back of the hat where the cables are comming down.  Should be a fun little challenge for me.  If it works I'll do it again for Six Feet Under next month.

[pfife]

dude, you have to take a pic of you stealthing under a huge straw hat at six feet under.

[Evil Taper]

what would be better is a big hat like that wrestler The Undertaker used to wear.  Then I could dress all death metal and not totally stand out.  What's weird though is that there is zero info about the venue they're playing in Milwaukee anywhere.  I've never heard of it and can't find a website for it so I really don't know what to expect.  Usually when it's just a bar/tiny club there's zero door security so i'm just gonna assume that I can walk right in.  I even asked permission and they were like "six feet under does NOT ALLOW RECORDINGS EVER!!!" so fuck them.  It's not like they're even that good anymore.  They switched to more of a grindcore type sound where it's just all sludgy metal sounding shit, or it could be the geniuses at Morissound Studios who don't know how to properly mix albums, and I really think their last album is kinda crappy.  So yeah, I'm gonna try to pull a smoker from those pussies.  High On Fire gave me the OK but said that they're kinda pissed cuz the tapers never send them copies of the shows so be sure to hook em up nice with anything you might have.  Now...back to discussion of why 4061s are sick stealth mics and why one guys comments seemed to have pissed everyone off.  It's kind of funny because for once it wasn't my big mouth that started the thrashing.  You guys have fun though I'm gonna try to chill out and get to sleep here if the chocolate will allow it.  Werd.

[pfife]

I even asked permission and they were like "six feet under does NOT ALLOW RECORDINGS EVER!!!" so fuck them.  It's not like they're even that good anymore.  They switched to more of a grindcore type sound where it's just all sludgy metal sounding shit, or it could be the geniuses at Morissound Studios who don't know how to properly mix albums, and I really think their last album is kinda crappy.  So yeah, I'm gonna try to pull a smoker from those pussies.

I saw them a long time ago- might have been their first tour right after Chris Barnes left CC... and they didn't do much for me.

  High On Fire gave me the OK but said that they're kinda pissed cuz the tapers never send them copies of the shows so be sure to hook em up nice with anything you might have.

I'm going to be taping them in about 1 month, and I have 4 or 5 shows that I am going to give to them when they come around again.

Now...back to discussion of why 4061s are sick stealth mics and why one guys comments seemed to have pissed everyone off.  It's kind of funny because for once it wasn't my big mouth that started the thrashing.  You guys have fun though I'm gonna try to chill out and get to sleep here if the chocolate will allow it.  Werd.

I'm not pissed at all... I just disagree vehemently....