DPA’s
d:mension™ 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone, which was supplied by the company’s Australian distributor Amber Technology Ltd, proved so effective that Blinkhorn has now made it a permanent addition to his field recording rig.
“It has become indispensable,” he says. “One of the key reasons why I wanted to use the 5100 was because of its uniquely lightweight, stout nature. DPA’s innovative design solution for arranging multiple mic capsules in a sleek, surprisingly portable and discrete array made using the unit very simplistic, so it was an absolute pleasure to work with. Once attached to the tripod it was effortless to manage, easily configurable and surprisingly simply to transport. It plugs into a recording unit via a Lemo multi-pin to six XLR cable and has colour-coded cabling, which is a very helpful pneumonic tool for remembering the correctly assigned channels.”
The Yucatan region is renowned for its high humidity, especially during the summer months, so Blinkhorn made sure that his d:mension™ 5100 microphone was safely tucked away in its case when not in use.
“Not that the extreme humidity impeded the mic’s functionality in any way,” he says. “It’s safe to say that it can operate under very extreme conditions and its ability to cope with higher than usual levels of wind was also commendable (thanks to its charismatic-looking ‘hat’ or WJ5100 Windjammer). I positioned the unit at the front of a catamaran under full sail around Cuba to excellent effect, and the many coastlines encountered offered plenty of need for the windjammer to attenuate wind noise, resulting in some excellent, clean recordings.”