Topic: DPA Cardioid microphone

[shotyd]

which DPA Cardioid Microphone is the best? and also, are there anything better then DPA in that price range??

[Roger Gustavsson]

DPA have the Standard and the Compact range of cardioids. http://www.dpamicrophones.com/indexda.php

Standard
4011-TL cardioid
4015-TL wide cardioid
(there also 130V versions of these two)
Price for a stereo kit is about $ 8150 in Denmark.

Compact
4021, 4022, 4023 cardioid
4026, 4027, 4028 wide cardioid
Price for a stereo kit is about $ 5800 in Denmark.

The wide cardioid are better suited to distant pickup. The graphs shows this very clearly! The cardioids are optimised for a distance of 30 cm (= foot) as are most cardioids.

You can also take a look at the microphones from Schoeps, Neumann and Sennheiser if this is your range of price.


Roger

[stevetoney]

and also, are there anything better then DPA in that price range??

You'd get alot of debate on the answer to that question.  Generally, in that price range, for what most of us on this list do, the choices are between the DPA Compact Series, Earthworks SR-30, Schoeps Collette series, Sennheiser MKH-8040, Neumann KM-100 series and probably a few others that I can't think of right now.  There are lots of DPA, Schoeps, and Neumann users on this list, so obviously they'd probably respectively say that what they have is the best.  You should listen to samples on Live Music Archive and decide which sound you like best.

Here's a link to one man's opinion, which includes a couple of the mics listed above. 

http://homerecording.about.com/od/holidaybuyingguides/tp/expensive_mics.htm

But again, when it comes to the sound of a microphone and what's 'best' there is no correct answer.  Only what you decide for yourself.

Good Luck!

[JasonSobel]

Microtech Gefell should definitely be included in any list of microphone manufacturers that include Schoeps, Neumann, and Sennheiser.
As other people have mentioned, at this level, all are fantastic microphones, and it'll come down to personal choise which you prefer.

[BC]

and also, are there anything better then DPA in that price range??

no

  

           

[BC]

If you want to go cheaper the AKG 480 series should definitely be considered.

[Todd R]

If you want to go cheaper the AKG 480 series should definitely be considered.

I'll do my usual fluffing:  if you want active cables and want something less expensive, you should consider the Milab VM44-link.