Post Magazine takes a closer look at our 4017 and 4018 pencil mics with MMP-B and MMP-C amps.
"The 4017 — with both the MMP-C and MMP-B preamps — sounds great. It has transparency in the highs, extreme clarity overall, beautiful low tone representation and it picks up almost nothing off-axis. In fact, this was the first characteristic that struck me. I always thought the MKH 416 did a decent job of noise rejection, but its performance in this respect pales in comparison with the 4017. The 4018 is even a tad better at this.
What the 4017 does pick up off-axis has the exact same sound coloration as what is dead ahead — there’s absolutely no coloration at all. I doubt if you can do better than this capsule with the MMP-C preamp, except when you’re recording audio with a lot of booming. In that case, I found you’ll be better off with an MMP-B with its permanent low-cut and two switchable filters.
(...) The reason why DPA Microphones’ products are so good is that microphone abuse is part of their manufacturing process and that they go at great lengths to find a mic’s breaking point sound-wise.
How else can you describe a test the company ran with its microphones recording a space shuttle launch only 175m from the rocket engine and exposed to flames and chemicals, or taking the microphones to the Arctic to record ambient sounds at -45°C? The company has also taken its microphones into the rain to record raindrops and have demonstrated the omnidirectional microphones’ behavior after being submerged in water.
All of this knocking about happens for one reason only: to find out how the materials in the capsule behave because it is essential to the stability of a microphone that the materials in the cartridge work well together. They must expand and contract together while exposed to heat or cold.
DPA must be the only company that publishes which materials it uses and why. It has a treasure trove of information on this matter on its Website. One of the things you learn there is that making microphones that capture sound as accurate as physics allow and which perform in all circumstances you would care to use them doesn’t stop at sputtering a bit of gold on a capsule. It involves an in-depth knowledge of sound and physics and an R&D department that goes to extremes to find the best combination for the most accurate sound capture.
The resulting products are pioneering and the best money can buy. The 4017 and 4018 are no exception."
(Erik Vlietnck, Post Magazine)
Read the full review...