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[BradPinder]

Hi Brains Trust...

Is anyone out there using a DPA d-fine 4066 with a Sennheiser G3 EW500 wireless system? If so what sensitivity setting are you having to use? The background is that we are having to crank our sensitivity all the way up to 0dB to get a decent audio level; this however then introduces a large amount of hiss/static into the signal. Using a different (albeit very low quality) headset, I only need to run the sensitivity at -33dB, thus eliminating the hiss (at the cost of a rather hollow sound).

I've swapped out the connector and cable on the DPA mic with those from an older unit we had floating around, but still get the same issue. Has anyone else com across anything similar?

thanks

[Russell Ault]

Is anyone out there using a DPA d-fine 4066 with a Sennheiser G3 EW500 wireless system? If so what sensitivity setting are you having to use? The background is that we are having to crank our sensitivity all the way up to 0dB to get a decent audio level; this however then introduces a large amount of hiss/static into the signal. [...]

I haven't used that particular combination, but I've used plenty of 4061s (identical specs to the 4066) with G3/G4 EW TXs and don't recall dealing with anything like what you're describing. Sitting here I can't tell you exactly what isn't working properly, but I'm quite certain that something definitely isn't.

-Russ

[Keith Broughton]

I agree with Russell. Having used these mics with G3 transmitters, I have not encountered the problem of not enough gain.
Something may not be wired correctly in the connector(s)

[Russell Ault]

[...]
Something may not be wired correctly in the connector(s)

Could be a wiring issue, could be a bad capsule, I suppose it might even be a pack issue (the DPAs tend to be pretty power-hungry, so if the pack isn't sending out enough bias voltage that might result in the problem you're describing, even if a different type of headset appears to be working correctly).

Do you have any other TXs you can test the mic on?

-Russ

[BradPinder]

Thanks for the advice Russ and Keith. I have tested on a different transmitter, so am pretty sure it is the mic. Thanks for the confirmation.

Cheers

[Russell Ault]

Thanks for the advice Russ and Keith. I have tested on a different transmitter, so am pretty sure it is the mic. Thanks for the confirmation.
[...]

With these things I've found that it's almost always the mic.

(As a theatre person I sometimes forget that not everyone views $700 microphones as consumables...)

-Russ

[Tim McCulloch]

With these things I've found that it's almost always the mic.

(As a theatre person I sometimes forget that not everyone views $700 microphones as consumables...)

-Russ

That's more than my house payment.

I used to work a lot as Local A2 for B'way tours, my first exposure to the upper end Sennheisers where the model number is approximately the price.  My "day gig" boss asked me how they sounded.  "Really good, almost like a $50 mic cable!"

I remember the original west coast production of Jesus Christ, Superstar at Universal City Studios Amphitheater (the very first season it was open; later covered and renamed for Gibson, most recently demolished) and every singer had a wired SM58 with some of the most discreet cable pages, ever.  I think I was 15 or 16.  The presence of wired mics didn't ruin the presentation and I just figured if you're doing a rock opera, seeing rock and roll was part of the design.

Today that would be "Blasphemy, Audio Dept!"

[Russell Ault]

[...] Today that would be "Blasphemy, Audio Dept!"

Not so much for that show: the 2012 UK arena tour was much more rock and roll than it was theatre, complete with AKG headsets and two monitor engineers mixing stage wedges. The FOH engineer I believe had no theatre experience at all (in interviews he said that he chatted with ALW's long-serving Sound Designer as the tour was being put together; I can only imagine how that conversation went). My impression was that part of the goal was to bring the production back to feeling of the first American tour...

-Russ

[Tim McCulloch]

Not so much for that show: the 2012 UK arena tour was much more rock and roll than it was theatre, complete with AKG headsets and two monitor engineers mixing stage wedges. The FOH engineer I believe had no theatre experience at all (in interviews he said that he chatted with ALW's long-serving Sound Designer as the tour was being put together; I can only imagine how that conversation went). My impression was that part of the goal was to bring the production back to feeling of the first American tour...

-Russ

I was thinking of the blasphemy in the larger theatre audio sense, but...  I'm glad to hear not every production is an exercise in wireless excess.  Wired excess is much more satisfying!

[Russell Ault]

I was thinking of the blasphemy in the larger theatre audio sense, but...

As I say, I'm sure the conversations between that FOH engineer and ALW's SD were fascinating...

-Russ

[Scott Helmke]

You should have no lack of gain with a DPA mic, those things are pretty hot.

The correct pinout for DPA into an Evolution beltpack is shield to sleeve, conductor to tip.  Ring can be shorted to sleeve.

[Russell Ault]

[...] Ring can be shorted to sleeve.

According to Sennheiser, the 3.5mm connector's ring must be shorted to ground when using a microphone to achieve proper muting of the line input circuitry (the ring is the line input).

-Russ

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