It has transparency in the highs, extreme clarity overall, beautiful low tone representation and it picks up almost nothing off-axis.
"When I mention a shotgun microphone many of you will spontaneously think of a Sennheiser MKH 416 or perhaps a Schoeps CMIT 5. But if you’re really into quality and flexibility, a DPA Microphones d:dicate™ 4017 or – for smaller spaces and other recording types – a d:dicate 4018 could be a much better fit. These mics are available with three different preamps for different environments and come with DPA’s reputation as one of the top microphone suppliers for recording classical concerts, which is a very strong reference.
(...)
The d:dicate 4017 – with both the MMP-C and MMP-B preamps – sounds great and very, very accurate. 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 yet a tad better at this."
(Erik Vlietinck, Visulas Producer)
Read the full review and listen to audio samples here...