REDSHARK NEWS REVIEWS 4097 CORE INTERVIEW KIT

"The Interview Kit brings in a few accessories that professional broadcasters will require, including a Rycote Windjammer and a Manfrotto MPCOMPACT telescope boom weighing 320g with the mic and a plastic transmitter plate for wired and wireless transmitters mounted.

 

The plate is fastened to the boom pole with a velcro strap and your transmitter fixed in place by another strap. The boom pole has a 1/4in mounting screw in the bottom where you can as another option fasten the plate and hold the transmitter. Fully extended, the boom pole measures 135cm, which is exactly the minimum safe distance from others in COVID-19 times.
 

And while the mic already existed, that’s what the kit was developed for, according to DPA’s VP marketing, Anne Berggrein. She said the complete interview solution was developed as a result of the company recognising the need for good sound even with distance interviewing. They pushed this solution through so it could help people do their job safely in these difficult times.
 

My guess is that it will far outlive COVID-19 times, not only because of the mic’s quality of sound, but also because the kit is extremely lightweight and handy to use.
 

The gooseneck, cold shoe mount and the top of the boom have rubber shock mounts/gaskets built-in to deaden sounds from handling the pole, while the cold shoe mount and the gooseneck can be unmounted, allowing you to use the microphone on a tripod or directly attached to a transmitter.

The boom pole does lack a couple of features that sound recordists love. For example, it doesn’t allow you to route the cable inside the pole. In this case, however, that’s not really a problem as the MicroDot cable is very thin and practically unbreakable, so it can easily be wound around the pole. Even when it just hangs, the risk of a ticking sound when there’s some wind that hits the cable will hardly be audible (gale-force winds may be a different story)."

You can read the full review here.