For panel discussions, the RA is using DPA
4080 miniature cardioid microphones that are usually attached to panellists’ lapels. Fox was introduced to these by an external contractor and was so impressed that he decided to try them out for himself.
"There are features on the
4080 that simply work amazingly well - actually better than all the other manufacturers’ lapel capsules that I have tried on site,” he says. “The unnecessary makeup gain on the 4080s, compared to the other capsules we’ve tried, means that we need less EQ overall. In fact I’ve been able to run a few events with no EQ on channels or on the master bus, something I previously thought was unachievable.”
Fox adds that many of the RA’s events are recorded for archive and for podcast, with the production handled by the in-house AV team.
“Whichever DPA mics we choose, from
4080s or our recently adopted
6066 Headset microphones, we know we will be making the best possible source recordings that will need the minimal amount of postproduction. The proven track record of DPA mics at the Benjamin West Lecture Theatre means that I am now looking to expand the RA’s stock across other sites and for a variety of specialised applications.”