AES NYC 2015 A Journeyman's Wandering #03

Gateway to the AES Show Floor

The 2015 Audio Engineers Society Convention in NYC comes to the Javits Center every other year. It bounces from the East Coast to the West Coast every Fall.

The display floor is part of the show. There are also suites in which closer listens to particular gear are available, and a healthy collection of papers and presentations are made. If you're in pro audio, keeping track by being a member of AES can be helpful.

Doug Fearn AES 2015

D. W. Fearn
I got in mid-day friday and spent the remains of that day on the left side of the hall, seeing old faces and meeting some new ones. Doug Fearn is one of the old faces. He's has been making hand-crafted analog mic preamps, compressors and EQ for about fifty years. His web site has a lot of deep, useful information about acoustics, building control rooms and sessions. You'll also find very useful information on every piece of his gear and how the circuits work. Sure, you can just plug something in and give it a whirl, but getting the inside track on how a circuit works and how best to work it from the designer makes a big difference.

D. W. Fearn VT-2

While he has a line of about a dozen pieces of high quality gear, Doug says his VT-2, two channel vacuum tube microphone preamp remains his top seller. Based on the sound  of classic designs of the 1960s but updated as technology allows, the VT-2 bridges the gap between history and the present. Click here for the VT-2 video that explains the VT-2 and what makes it special.

In every studio, my own included, you need a few great preamps to help make a difference. I don't have any of Doug's here at my studio, but many do and they will take your audio to another level. If two channels is more than you need, you can scale back to a one channel preamp; the D. W. Fearn VT-1, seen directly below. Doug also makes an eight channel version.

D. W. Fearn VT-1

BAE
Want a smaller footprint? Like 500 Rack or a portable shoebox with handle? Not far away, the BAE 1073 DMP Desktop Mic Pre (left) caught my eye. A balanced XLR microphone in with Phantom Power, a 1/4" Direct in with a bass DI transformer, two 1/4" Thru jacks. Check out the specs and video for more information. The 1073 DMP can be ordered with Jensen or Carnhill (St Ives) transformers.

Gordon Audio's Grant Carpenter

Gordon

Nashville's Grant Carpenter (and Gordon Microphone Preamps) were at the next booth. I hear Gordon preamps at Producers Video, an audio-video post house here in Baltimore, while doing some VO work with Producers Video engineer Bob Bragg. Bob's ears are some of the best in town. 

What may differentiate the Gordon solid state circuitry, is the Soft Signal Path. "Each stage and the path itself are variable, optimized automatically for the selected gain and output load. 

Gain in the signal path is variable, equal to the actual settings of the gain control with no feedback, no attenuators. 

Automatic output load compensation couples and output load sensing circuit to a variable-parameter output stage. The output signal is monitored to determine the load while the output stage parameters are adjusted accordingly to minimize distortion."

If you're looking for a "color box", I don't think this box is what you want. The unit accepts mic, line or DI sources. 

The Gordon Model 4 is a single channel preamp. the Gordon Model 5 is a two channel version. There are also remote control chassis available to eliminate those long, signal-robbing runs between microphone and input stage. 

I still remember the article in MIX years ago in which one live sound engineer was amazed at the difference that putting preamps on stage and running short mic cables to them made over snaking from the stage to FOH.

DPA

OK, now for something completely different. In reviewing the DPA 4017 and 4018 capsules and MMP-C and MMP-C, recently, I caught wind of a new omni lavaliere mic with a special holder that allows the mic to be positioned in a shirt button hole. This side-address lav is available as the Low Sensitivity SLIM 4061 and the High Sensitivity SLIM 4060, two different sensitivities. I was not able to find sensitivity figures, but I'm guessing the low sensitivity version is for screaming actors and musicals where the mic may be hair-mounted. Look for them, the Button Hole Mount and the Concealer Mount at the end of the year

DPA SLIM 4060 (or SLIM 4061) side-address, omni lav

DPA SLIM 4060 (or SLIM 4061) with button hole holder

DPA has an online video that explains some of the tricks to successful lav mounting, including use of the DPA Concealer. If you regularly work with actors and find getting lavs mounted so you don't get clothing or body noise, you're going to like this video!

That'll do it for the #3 installment of my Journeyman's wanderings at AES NYC 2015. As the sun set on Manhattan, I was off on a walk back to the very sad Hotel Pennsylvania to meet my wife, Bette. She scored big at Bloomingdale's and we had a great dinner at Niles Bar & Restaurant a block south of the hotel.

If you're an audio zealot, please consider subscribing to my blog. More from me at www.tyford.com.

And as I always like to say, Blogger makes my layouts a living Hell. Try ANYTHING other than Blogger. - Technique, Inc. © Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved.

Manhattan as seen reflected in the Javits Center East Front

DPA Boom Mics - 4017 and 4018 with MMP-B and MMP-C Preamps

DPA manufactures a wide variety of microphones for live sound, studio recording and location audio. I had seen some recent comments about the DPA 4017 short shotgun and 4018 supercardioid for location audio. I reached out to the US office in Longmont, CO, just north of Denver, and arranged to have them sent in for a look and listen. 

These are part of a modular system of electret mics. Don’t be scared off by the word “electret.” Science and technology have proven that electret mics with internal polarization, can be designed to sound as good as externally polarized “true condenser” mics. I think the term “true condenser” was created by a marketing department to differentiate its own externally polarized mics and cast a bit of shade on the competition. if you're not a true condenser, what are you? A false condenser?

DPA stands for Danish Professional Audio. According to James Capparelle, DPA Marketing Coordinator and Product Specialist for the US office, "In 1992 two employees took the Brüel & Kjær measurement technology and started DPA to make microphones. B&K still exists. DPA still orders the original omnidirectional 4006 and 4007 "German Silver" membrane capsules from B&K." Both the 4006 and 4007 capsules can use any of the modular preamplifiers.

Mikkel Nymand

James Capparelle

"German Silver" actually contains no silver at all. According to DPA tonmeister Mikkel Nymand, "We have a few other capsules in our portfolio using an alloy called “German Silver”, consisting of copper, nickel and zinc. These are used in the legendary recording mics 4006 and 4007. The diaphragms in the 4017 and 4018 mics you have for test are mylar material with a gold layer. This design is used in the majority of our mics." 

Nymand says other differences in DPA designs help to differentiate their mics from others. "Higher polarization voltage means higher sensitivity, lower self-noise and also higher distance between diaphragm and backplate, resulting in bigger dispersion of the diaphragm, and that equals higher SPL handling. You can’t achieve all this with a regular external P48V phantom power supply! The pre-polarization voltage is more than you have in your power outlet in the wall, it’s a company secret exactly how much, but I can say we are talking several hundreds volts."

The DPA modular system is comprised of three “preamps.” If you’re new to the field, these preamps do not replace the preamps in mixers or consoles you need to get the signal to line level for mixing. In this case, the preamp converts the very high impedance of the capsule into something a mic preamp wants to deal with. 

The DPA MMP-A, which I was not sent, is a .75” x 5.8” tube containing a transformerless preamp with a switchable 20 dB pad that requires 48 V DC Phantom Power and a power consumption of 2.8 mA. It has an 5 V RMS output voltage. It has a fixed -3dB cut at 8 Hz. 138 dB of dynamic range. The specs also mention that operation is stable up to 90% humidity. 

DPA MMP-B Preamp

The DPA MMP-B is a .75” x 3.9” tube containing a transformerless preamp that requires 48 V DC Phantom Power and a power consumption of 4.5 mA. It has a 1.8 V RMS output voltage. It has a nicely designed low cut and a high boost EQ. The low cut is a first order filter at 120 Hz and a fixed -3 dB filter at 50Hz. The high boost is a +4 dB with a corner at 8 kHz. 128 dB of dynamic range. It has the same humidity figure as the MMP-A.

DPA MMP-C Preamp

The DPA MMP-C is a .75” x 1.6” tube containing a transformerless preamp. At just over an inch and a half long and only 1.4 oz in weight, it’s perfectly suited for long boom extensions where weight quickly multiplies. It requires 48 V DC Phantom Power and draws 2.8 mA. It has a 4 V RMS output voltage and a fixed 3dB cut at 15Hz. 136 dB dynamic range. It has the same humidity figure as the MMP-A. DPA says the MMP-C has a slightly softer or warmer character than the other preamps. I could hear a slight difference. Having read the data sheet that describes the difference as "softer", I'll go with warmer, but subtly so.

Please note that all of these mics require 48 V DC Phantom Power. There are some mixers that only provide 12 or 24 V DC Phantom Power. They will struggle to power these mics and the downside is typically distortion because the mics are starved for power. Some mixers' specs indicate that they provide 48 V DC Phantom Power, but their total amperage capability may not be sufficient to properly power more than one or two mics. A setup consisting of a dozen MMP-B preamps (@ 4.5 mA each), for example, would draw considerably more current than a dozen MMP-C preamps (@ 2.8 mA each). So, Phantom Power is about voltage and current, not just voltage.

Most of us have probably heard stories of how high humidity causes noise to be generated by condenser mics. Sometimes, but not always, this is due to moisture that condenses on the microphone diaphragm, either due to very high humidity, or by moving the mic from a very hot and humid area into a much cooler area where moisture condenses on the diaphragm and creates a path for voltage to leak across the diaphragm. 

Noise can also result when dirt builds up on the contacts between the capsule and the preamp. Summer gets pretty humid in the Mid-Atlantic US. I found that leaving the capsules connected to the preamps instead of unscrewing them and storing them separately pretty much eliminated the noise problems on my Schoeps modular mic system. 

There are also the DPA MMP-ER (rear cable) and MMP-ES (side cable) Modular Active Cables. They are for hanging mics or low-profile table or instrument mics. Both use the same circuitry as the C preamp and feature a split into a 12mm housing and a 3-pin XLR connector. These components attach the capsule to a cable at a length of 3 meters or optionally up to 30 meters. 

IN THE STUDIO

Please check out the videos and subscribe to my YouTube Channel. I made these videos so you could hear what these mics and features sound like and compare them. As you watch and listen to the clips, remember that this is compressed Youtube audio, not full 24-bit, 48 kHz audio. Also, lap top or smart phone speakers aren’t a great way to make judgements about audio. To better understand what's going on, please use good headphones or studio monitors.

My studio is quiet and well damped. That means that any mic sounds as good as it can because of fewer reflections. It does however allow a very good environment to hear what each mic and combination sounds like. With the MMP-B, MMP-C, 4017 short shotgun capsule and 4018 supercardioid capsule in my studio, I was very happy with the sound of all the combinations. With all of my switching and swapping, the resultant combinations still sounded like they all came from the same family. 

I particularly like the design of the EQ controls on the MMP-B  The low cut and high boost EQ are well designed, easy to read and somewhat subtle, but effective. The MMP-C has no controls and neither do the 4017 short shotgun and 4018 supercardioid capsules. 

IN THE GREEN ROOM

For the comparison between the 4018C and CMC641, I chose a more typical location with some room reflection. 

To my ears, the MMP-C preamp and 4018 supercardioid capsule, seen online as the DPA 4018C sounds very similar to the Schoeps CMC641 and at this moment, it’s priced slightly higher than the CMC641. $1,710 for the DPA versus $1,622 for the Schoeps.

Making a supercardioid capsule is easier than making one that has as small a back lobe as possible and that has uniform frequency response as the sound source moves off axis. These changes in frequency response can be heard as slight irregularities or beaminess of certain frequencies. My Schoeps CMC641 is very good. As a person speaking moves off axis, it sounds like someone turned the pot down. Their voice fades away very evenly. The DPA 4018 supercardioid responds similarly. 

I asked Nymand about the axial response of the 4018 supercardioid capsule. "The tighter you want the side response, the more you move towards the figure-of-eight characteristic (including that the rear lobe will be in opposite phase). But exactly how much this rear lobe is present is where the R&D hours are spent. The secrets lie within the physical/acoustic design within the capsule and the rear entrance port. Do remember, any cardioid/supercardioid may not be cardioid/supercardioid at all frequencies. it’s very easy for manufacturers not paying the attention to detail as we do to claim they have a certain type, but it’s not always the case."

DPA 4018 Supercardioid Capsule

Next is the DPA 4017 short shotgun. Like the 4018, the capsules and preamps are light weight, making booming a lot easier. As demonstrated in the video, the 4017 holds it's own among the other shotgun mics and the CMC641.

With interference tube mic, you have to balance the increased distance from the sound source due to the sheer length of the interference tube against what benefit it might provide. The interference tube and capsule of the DPA4017C  account for only 4.5 inches of the total 6.1 inch length. 

While that's short enough to mount on many DSLR cameras, please don't expect great results with any camera-mounted microphones. Shotgun mics do not allow you to crop out the noise the way a zoom lens allows you to zoom in. When using microphones, getting as close as possible to the intended sound source is always your best strategy. 

Interference tube mics are great in controlled sound environments, (Think QUIET ON THE SET!) especially when that controlled environment also limits or covers hard, flat, reflective surfaces. As directional as interference tube mics are for high frequencies, they are not so directional at middle and low frequencies. If, for example, you have ambient noise such as traffic, a busy retail space, a kitchen with cabinet doors and counter tops with a lot of hard flat surfaces like pavement, buildings, walls, ceilings, counters or windows, the better choice may be the supercardioid 4018.

DPA 4017 Shotgun capsule

Another thing I like about these capsules is that there's just enough lift in the high frequencies to add clarity and intelligibility, but not enough to cause that irritating "skritch" heard so frequently with cheaper mics.

All combinations of preamps and capsules combine well and produce very high quality results. In addition they are very light weight. If you do a lot of booming for location audio work, you'll appreciate this immediately and at the end of the day.

Technique, Inc. © Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved.
www.tyford.com

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Location Audio Rental Houses Speak Out About Gear And Changing Markets

Glen Trew

The relative health of the film and video production industry in the USA can be measured by the profusion of location audio rental houses. Glen Trew, owner of Trew Audio, with stores in Nashville, Toronto, Vancouver, LA and newest Atlanta location is the perfect model for this growth pattern. Trew says, “LA is #1. Atlanta is now considered #2. NY is #3. There are more feature films shot in Georgia now than LA, but a lot more TV series are shot in LA. New Orleans is a very close #4.”  

Rich Topham on the teaching circuit

Richard Topham of Professional Sound Services runs shops in NYC, Ft. Lauderdale and New Orleans. Topham notes the widespread growth and the tendency for it to follow the money. “Yes, they’re building studios in Atlanta, but they’re building everywhere; The Dominican Republic, Columbia, New York, New Mexico, Michigan. Wherever the incentives are, the production goes, but it changes depending on who’s lobbying the hardest and what else is happening.” It’s very clear that, at the moment, Georgia has one of the better incentive plans. These plans are typically adjusted annually. The hot state today may not be so hot tomorrow. 

While the big hubs keep the large projects turning, everyone I spoke with agreed that there is widespread growth. According to Trew, “The affordability of the new digital video gear has had a noticeable impact on audio rentals. Film has all but fallen off the face of the earth, and for every film camera not being used there seems to be five more affordable digital cameras that don’t require film stock. Lower cost camera equipment, and the lower cost and ease of editing has resulted in a lot more content but at reduced budgets and usually dramatically reduced quality in the final product.”

Guzzi and Schneider expand into Atlanta

Jim Guzzi and Peter Schneider own Gotham Sound. They follow suit, with offices in NYC and also in Atlanta. Schneider’s take is that Gotham is actually in the glue business. “We’re gluing manufacturers together, gluing products together, gluing customers together. We compete on the basis of knowledge and support and applying the technology in creative ways for both sales and rentals.” On the high end, that direction has led Gotham outside the box to invent new systems to handle the complexities of today’s production. 

IT’S IN THE MATRIX

Rentals for reality television, for example, have grown increasingly complex. Schneider says Sound Supervisors are often requested to make a mix for each camera. “The competition shows have relentless schedules and the technology, as the manufacturers sell it, doesn’t exist to route all of that audio in real time as quickly as they want. The new Dante platform prompted us to create a custom 32” touch screen surface for the control room with a 250 crosspoint matrix, for all of the audio sources and all of the audio destinations. 

Gotham Sound Switching Matrix

You have one operator routing audio. That person makes multiple mixes from wireless lavs and booms.” Schneider says the boom ops don’t wear bags. They use Sound Devices MixPres for headphone and level control and go wireless to the matrix. Levels are also controlled by the sound supervisor for the record/overall mix chain and for the touchscreen.

Schneider wrote code around a program originally written for interactive multimedia dance performances. Guzzi says it got a lot of interest from Sound Supervisors. “Some Sound Supervisors are true visionaries. They understood it and also saw how it would help them. So, yes, a bigger upfront cost, but it would give them the control they wanted at the speed they wanted.”

For less stratospheric work, Guzzi say their rental business echoes Trew’s ‘more projects, lower budgets’ business, “Maybe it’s just a Zoom, a Rode and a G3. In the middle are sound mixers that are augmenting their kit or renting additional pieces for a particular job. Then we have broadcasters and feature film rentals on the high end. Sometimes we have to put together 30 packages on a friday afternoon, but that keeps us from being worried about being dependent on one or two large clients.”

TOOL SCHOOL

All three companies practice educational outreach. Schneider says renters can come in and sit with the techs for as long as they need to to understand. “We had one customer that does a lot of hunting and outdoors shows where the producer does the sound. He really wanted to use a Sound Devices 633, but didn’t know if the crew could make it happen with two wireless and a shotgun. They brought in all of their producers and we had a free class for them for six to eight hours and now they’re all out in the field and doing pretty well.” 

Schneider says they typically don’t charge for education, because it usually results in more business. “We held a ‘Field 101’ class and charged $10 per person, just to get a handle on how many people would show up, but we gave it back as a $10 store credit.” 

SPECTRUM SQUEEZE

Topham says, with the 700 MHz band gone and the 600 MHz band on the way out, wireless manufacturers are going to have to work hard to meet the growing demand for wireless mics. “The Federal government only cares about the money they can get from telecom companies and Google and people like that. When you dangle a $27 billion dollar carrot in front of the government, who is not getting any income from the current end users, and you look at the sales differences between wireless mics and cell phones and iPads, consumer electronics win the day simply because of the numbers. The FCC is saying they won’t sell off the 600 MHz band until 2016 or 2017. That’s not really that far away. That may drive some to rent now rather than to buy now only to find they can’t use that gear as early as next year.”

Audio-Technica System 10

Topham points to the new less expensive digital wireless systems from Audio-Technica, Sennheiser and Rode operating at 2.4 GHz. “They work up to about 150 feet. Some people are trying them when range is not an issue. “If you need more distance than that, you need to buy or rent higher.”

Topham says there’s another RF gotcha. “If a mixer who already owns block 24 gear gets on a show and production says, ‘No, we’re using block 22’, then the mixer will come to me to rent block 22 because their 24 won’t match up. Especially in reality shows, because the crews switch in and out, they all need to have receivers in the same blocks as the transmitters on the actors; one transmitter, but multiple receivers. They want the sound to transmit to the cameras. They want those wireless on certain blocks so if they move camera with sound, everything works together.” Topham says that’s why wireless manufacturers are now putting out wireless mics that cover three blocks, or 12 UHF frequencies.

TIME CODE

Mozegear Tig Q28 Time Code Generator

Topham says time code slates and other boxes have become more important, especially with the newer cameras. “There just aren’t a lot of cameras out there with solid clocks. From an F300 to a Lexa to a RED, the time code is no good. The Ambient clocks inside the Sound Devices gear, Zaxcom, Denecke and Mozegear clocks are all very reliable. That’s why you have Lockit boxes on the side of all these cameras. Zaxcom makes an IFB that carries audio and time code, so you can feed both into a camera from the same box. Camera operators like this because it’s one less box hanging off of their cameras.”

Many of the new, less expensive digital cameras don’t even have time code connections, but Trew adds that while there used to be three types of time code connectors, “Now there are connectors that are sometimes unique to each camera. So we have to find out what devices are being used and what interface cables are needed, and then help people understand how to use them.”

Timecode Buddy :mini trx

In addition to Topham’s time code gear list, Trew adds Betso and Timecode Buddy. “Betso had some consistency problems when they first came out, but they seem to have fixed them. Timecode Buddy is a very nice system that incorporates metadata, slates, and script supervision. Mozegear is the newest, but seems spot on in quality and utility. Industry leaders Denecke and Ambient continue to be excellent.”

Sound Devices 633

The two major players for recorders and mixers are Sound Devices, who followed their 788 and 664 with the 633 and 688 compact mixer/recorders, and Zaxcom who recently introduced their own Nomad and Max compact mixer/recorders. Having said that, people coming in for rental appreciate the Zaxcom gear that uses their “NeverClip” circuitry that lets you scream into a mic without overloading it. Wireless systems suggested by the rental houses include Lectrosonics, Zaxcom, Sennheiser and Wisycom. Boom mic choices continue to be Schoeps CMC641 and CMIT, Sanken CS3e and Sennheiser MKH 50. Lavs mentioned range from DPA 4061 to Sennheiser ME2 and MKE-2, Sanken COS-11, Tram 50 and Countryman B6.

When renting from any shop, some price by three day weeks and some by four day weeks. For example, three day means, you pay for three days but get the gear for five days. Some shops have monthly rates, others just stack weeks to make a month. 

This story is a digital reprint from the June 2015 issue of Markee Magazine. You may read the entire June issue here.

Technique, Inc. Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved

Contact Ty Ford at www.tyford.com