VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

MBVOXX

Part of my 2023 new gear additions to the studio was a DPA 2017. You may already be familiar with the DPA mics as they are used quite extensively in the film, TV, and stage industry and have become the 'go to' mic for Broadway performance mics. Those skin colored head mics you see on stage performers...those are DPA. Lav/Body mics for film shoots...usually a DPA.

The DPA mics are what's known as "electret" mics, which is one of the technical advances that allow them to be built so small. The capsules are smaller than a quarter of a little fingernail, and necessarily so if it's going to fit in a mic the size of a headworn or body mic.

DPA also makes shotgun mics and the 4017 & 4018 are legendary shotguns for the industries they serve. But they are pricey...similar to the Schoeps Collette series...and feature interchangeable capsules.

Enter the 2017. A new addition to the world of mics. Not a modular mic like the 4000 series, but a one piece mic with no bells or whistles like freq filters and such. And, at a price point much less than the Sennheiser 8060 (which is a fantastic mic BTW).

So I thought I'd give one a test drive. the 2017 has been with me for the past 6 months and on the first day it was clear that this was a serious contender for VO work. I've used it for 99% of my work since putting on the boom and compared it to the other mics that I keep ready for sessions: The RE20, MKH50, 8060, and several LDCs.

The 2017 is...in one word...fantastic. It's a near match for the timbre and sizzle of the RE20 and MKH 50 and sounds just as smooth and resonant. Proximity effect is available if wanted, but nowhere near the boomy, heavy effect gotten from an LDC. Pattern is tight but not so tight you have to stay in the beam...like you do with a Cmit for example. Freq response is similarly flat like the MKH 50 but not quite as heavy on the bottom end. And it's small enough to not get in the way of the eye line to the script or editing monitor display.

It takes high SPLs very well, as the technical specs indicate, and sounds equally good from any workable position- above, to the side, or below the voice.

I like this mic more than the 8060, which I like a lot. But the 8060 can be boomy if worked too closely. The DPA doesn't have that boominess. I've run it thru a variety of pre amps and it sounds good thru all of them. It works for warm and friendly reads, urgent & energy reads, even arena and stadium style announcements. Noise rejection is as good as any other shotgun mic so a well treated room is as important as it is with any other good mic. However, it's not going to pick up cricket farts like an LDC will. Many years ago I moved away from using LDC's for VO just because I grew tired of trying to keep unwanted sounds out of the mic. My goal is not to pick up everything that is happening in the atmosphere, but to capture my voice within a nearfield radius of the mic and nothing else. The MKH 50 does that extremely well, as does the Schoeps CMC641. Shotgun mics do it almost as well but room treatment is more crucial for a good capture, as many are aware.

Summary...if you're shopping for a shotgun mic, the DPA 2017 is a strong contender at a price point that fits just about any budget. Check out the DPA site for some great info on building electret mics. It's pretty fascinating how they can squeeze so much into such a small space.

Buff-A · Joined: 18 Oct 2014 Posts: 21 Location: Nashville

I will check it out! Thanks.

Jack Daniel · Cinquecento Joined: 23 Jun 2016 Posts: 576 Location: SoCal

Interesting. I'm trying to understand what this provides over the MKH50, which I use (after years of 416 use, which I now use only on the road). Is it just the slightly lower price? Shoutout to Philip, he is the reason I first tried the MKH50. That, and the fact that I thought I sounded good on one while in an LA studio.

Don't much care for the 8060. Sennheiser was kind enough to send one to me to try, but I found it oddly boomy and hostile to VO.
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Jack Daniel
Narrator / Man About Town

MBVOXX · Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2024 9:34 am Post subject:

Jack Daniel · Cinquecento Joined: 23 Jun 2016 Posts: 576 Location: SoCal

Oh no, now you've aroused my inner Gear Monster. I know in my heart that I don't need to try the 2017, but I sure do want to.

I figured the 8060 problem was a "me" problem -- user error. I know Senn wouldn't put out a mic that innately sucked, I just couldn't find a position that didn't result in constant noise. Never tried the placement you describe, though, so that probably is the issue.
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Jack Daniel
Narrator / Man About Town