Dpa 4099

[Ben Milne]

The DPA is good for bodies up to 55mm deep with the standard violin/mandolin clamp. With the sound hole placement on the Tacoma it might be worth trying one before purchasing to ensure you can get a sound you are happy with without getting in your way. I would thing up near the scroll toward the sound hole or on the lower bout toward the bridge would be good starting points, though with no lower f-hole near this position it may end up with too much body.

You should be able to get longer pieces to extreme the depth of you radius clamp from a violin dealer/repairer. Not sure what length the chin rest clamp bits for viola would extend to though.

[Billy Packard]

Hi all! I just today received the DPA 4099V from Sweetwater. First, truly a great sound. I spent the last 3 hours moving it around my Gibson F4 Hybrid, Proto Type #1. I had previously had Roger Siminoff install the K&K mando transducer which sounded pretty bad. The K&K sounds great on 2 guitars I have but krappy on the Hybrid. This mando has a quite unique tone and I want to showcase the sound. I mounted the DPA pretty much everywhere around the rim, top and bottom. When the mike is more or less over the sound hole mounted on the top point or the scroll the lower end is very strong, and the mid's & high's are crystalline and powerful. A problem I have mounting the mike near the neck is thumping sounds coming from my fingers on the fretboard. The instrument sound is wonderful and completely authentic, it's just the thumping that is unacceptable. I do a fair number of solo performances and the thumping can't be part of the sound. So far it looks like mounting it just forward of the lower point eliminates the finger noise and still catches most of the sound coming out of the oval hole, though it's not as dramatic as mounting it on the forward point or the scroll. There may still be a better place to mount it and I will continue to experiment. Fantastic sound quality, completely authentic.

Billy Packard

billypackardmandolin.com

[Bauzl]

I use to mount my DPA between the endpin and the bottom point. I bend the gooseneck so that the mic hovers approx. 1" above the back end of the treble f whole. I use a closer distance for more feedback rejection and wider distance for a more natural sound. If necessary I even point the mic away from monitors, so it will not point perpendicular to the instrument's top but rather a little bit towards the bridge. This way I get the desired instrument sound with just little handling noise and the mic is out of way of my right hand.

The built in highpass filter prevents the low end from being too dominant. But I use to cut the low end on the board as well as there is nothing too much useful below 200 Hertz on a mandolin.

By the way to my opinion a little handling noise makes the sound more naturally, so a total elimination I do not desire. But that of course is a matter of noise level and personal preference and taste, of course.

I use the DPA also for banjo. I mount it on the edge of the resonator and point the mic exactly to the rim. This way it catches 50% sound from the skin and 50% sound coming from the resonator, which I believe produces the most natural sound with my cheapo bjo.

cheers
Bauzl

[Billy Packard]

I have had my DPA 4099 on the job for 6 or 7 times. The sound, when mounted correctly, is amazingly accurate. I have two issues. I bought this for a one-of-a-kind Gibson F4 Hybrid that Dave Harvey built in 2009. Being an oval hole, the sound is best captured from the front point with the mike over the sound-hole. Problem is finger noise from the fingerboard. At the gig I am not aware of it but when I listen back to the recorded music it is definitely there. It is a thumping, almost kick-drum like sound from hammer-on's and such. I can e.q. most of it out but the recorded music is just not usable for anything serious.

The other thing is the wind screen. My regular weekend lunch gig is in a place where the wind is dependable and the screen that came with the mike is just not up to the job. I don't know if they make a more stout version of the screen but I would be willing to give it a try. Otherwise the sound is just so authentic, it sounds just like the mando does at home in my studio.

Gibson F4 Hybrid
Gilchrist A3
Weber F5 Fern
Gibson 1923 A2
Various fine guitars

[Ben Milne]

Billy, if your console lacks a High p[ass filter or enough EQ, investing in an inline HPF could prove useful and should deal with both the thumping and wind rumble issues.

[foldedpath]

Billy, if your console lacks a High p[ass filter or enough EQ, investing in an inline HPF could prove useful and should deal with both the thumping and wind rumble issues.

Good suggestion. That Shure inline highpass filter would help, if you don't have access to the highpass on a mixer.

If you do have access to the mixer, you could try rolling off even more bass. The low G note on a mandolin is 196 Hz, so anything up to that point is worth rolling off. Just make sure that the slope of the EQ shelf isn't cutting into that circa 200 Hz frequency. In other words, you might have to shelve at 150 Hz to avoid touching 200 Hz, depending on the EQ design. Just use your ears, if you're not sure of the EQ curve. Roll off some bass until you hear it start to affect the tone of your mandolin.

This will help with handling noise, wind noise, stage thumps transmitted up a mic stand (for external mics), and all sorts of other stray low frequency noise.

[Mike Bunting]

I'm using a Headway EDB1 preamp which great eq choices as well as a high pass filter, described in their spec sheet as follows, "Violin Setting: –1dB @ 192Hz
Significantly and progressively attenuates upper bass frequencies below
192Hz. This setting also applies to other smaller, high pitched instruments,
such as the mandolin and ukulele."