So how does it sound? In a word—excellent.
"DPA Microphones 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."
"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%."
"So how does it sound? In a word—excellent. I have become accustomed over the years to expecting nothing less from DPA, and the 4080 continues that expectation for me. I brought the mic into church and chose to forego placing it on my pastor, who is notorious for possessing a very healthy pair of lungs, and who is not afraid to use them to arrive at plenty of SPL with his voice. I chose rather to clip the mic to our worship leader, Steve Cass, who is an accomplished songwriter and musician and is known for being a bit more soft-spoken. The mic provided a good solid signal, in spite of Steve’s sotto voce. More importantly, however, the transduction was highly intelligible, and rich in its character."
"For lack of a better way of putting it, this mic just sounds 'broadcast-y' to me, and I mean that in a very good way. This mic would be a very good choice for a television network—it just sounds remarkable. DPA has never failed to impress me with their products, and the 4080 lavalier mic is no exception to that tradition. This is a very high-quality mic."
By John McJunkin
Church Production Magazine, July 2008