Page 1 of 3 >>
Audio Review: DPA 4080 Lavalier Mic
For lack of a better word, this mic just sounds “broadcast-y” --- and I mean that in a very good way. The DPA 4080 proved to be a very good choice when placed on a teaching pastor (even a loud one), or even for your church's soft-spoken worship leader.
DPA Microphones of Longmont, Colorado, is well known for its miniature mics, having developed some that are not only small, but that exhibit amazing quality. And I don’t mean that these mics are good for their size—they are simply good among all microphones. The development of the 4000 series continues on with the recent introduction of the 4080, a new lavalier mic. I wear a number of different audio-oriented hats, and a quality lavalier mic is highly useful to me in virtually all of them. In particular, I handle sound at my own church, and while I’ve been generally pleased with the quality of the headworn mic that the pastor uses, I am always seeking ways to improve every aspect of our audio operation. I wanted to hear and compare between the two. The other major audio domain in which I engage is podcast production, and guess what—I produce the podcast for my church as well. I additionally produce podcasts, on occasion, for other public events, and in an attempt to bring some diversity to my test-driving process, I did some non-church recording with the mic as well.
In Fine Detail
Before we dig in with the real-world test driving of this mic, let’s talk about its technical details. The lapel clip features a clever flexing structure to support the mic, and it very effectively reduces noise created by motion. After removing the mic from the clip, I pulled the mic from its foam windscreen. The mic itself is a cylinder roughly ¾-inch in length and about the same diameter as a tiny telephone plug. At its business end, it sports a very fine wire mesh grille. From the tip heading south, there is an even finer wire mesh grille wrapping around the topmost half-inch of the mic, protecting the ports that facilitate the mic’s phase-shift network, which in turn give it its cardioid directionality.
The mic’s pre-polarized condenser element features a vertical diaphragm, and its frequency range covers the spectrum from 250 Hz to 17, 000 Hz, ±2 dB with a soft boost from 4 kHz to 6 kHz. From 250 Hz down, it gently tapers off to -5 dB at 100 Hz. The self-noise of this mic is low, at 23 dB (A-weighted) and THD is also low, less than 1% up to a peak SPL of 123 dB or continuous 120 dB sine wave. Maximum SPL before clipping is 144 dB, but frankly, a lavalier mic is going to be used 99% of the time for its naturally intended purpose of capturing a human voice while clasped to its user’s shirt, and if your pastor regularly exceeds 123 dB SPL, you have bigger problems than a miniscule total harmonic distortion less than 1%. The 4080’s output impedance is 30-40 Ω, and it’s a featherweight, weighing in at literally 15 g including its cable and MicroDot connector. Dynamic range is published as typically 100 dB, and signal-to-noise at 71 dB (A-weighted, referencing 1 kHz @ 1 Pa, or 94 dB SPL).
Sensitivity is nominally rated at 20 mV/Pa; -34 dB referencing 1 V/Pa (±3 dB).
Page 1 of 3 next page >>
John McJunkin is the CEO of Avalon Podcasting in Chandler, Arizona, which offers high quality podcast production and consultation services to a broad range of clients. He’s also the host of the Podcast Pro Tech & Tips Podcast at www.avalonpodcasting.com.
Post a Comment
ADD NEW COMMENT