This video compares the sounds of the DPA 6060, DPA 4061, and Sanken cos 11d microphones. Talent: Jay Holben Mic test by Kally Williams See how the mics compare.
I think the COS11 enhances inteligibility notably. The DPAs sound fuller, with more body, the 4061 being brighter than 6060. I like all three for their strengths, can't choose. Maybe 4061 has a bit more low end. And the 6060 is the best of all three for hiding. It would have been better to use 4060 for the comparison as it has same sensitivity as 6060 and a similar noise floor (COS11 8.9mV/Pa, 6060 and 4060 20mV/Pa, 6061/4061 6mV/Pa)
I didn’t know who Jay Holben was when listening to this mic comparison a couple months back. Today at Cinegear expo I attended a seminar presenting a new Standard Evaluation Material short film created by the ASC and directed by Jay Holben. When I saw Jay sit down as part of the panel discussing the material, I had this feeling that I’d heard his voice and seen his face before, but I couldn’t figure out when or where. A few hours later I thought back to this video and immediately went to the description. To my surprise, I’d definitely seen him before.
Oh wow, the 4061 sounds incredibly cleaner (less background noise) than the others in the outside test! Also, a lot cleaner for the loud speaking tests, so it's my choice for a keeper! 🙂
i personally use the sanken cos-11 for the rugged wiring and mic head.Sanken cos-11 also sounds good. My lavs takes a beating from shoots. ive had other mics and they have heads/wires come apart. ive even bought a mic and had the shielding peal off within a less than a month and the manufacturer wouldn't fix it/replace it. The shoot i had it on we didnt do anything abnormal. i then i just decided to go with sankens. My sankens are still going strong.
Thanks for this I think I like the Sanken the best out the box, however the 4061 has better isolation and perhaps if you have two or more dialogues going the DPA would do a better job!
The street example is three different ambience in terms of cars as he didn't have the mics hooked up with one take. But rather changed mics and retake. Meaning we hear in the 6060 a car which one might assume the 6060 having less off axis rejection or simply alot more content from distance but really it just happened to have a car come past in that particular take. Although I appreciate the comparison I think if all mics where hooked up at the same time with a single take that we would have a better comparison. Just saying. To me on my headphone 4061 sounds best but with a touch more distant content then 6060. Cos 11 is rock solid but is a little noisy and more distant content. I think 6060 is the best here. I own 4061 and cos11 both are great but I think I am going with the 6060's in the future but my only concern is will the 6060 handle sweat better and does it recover quicker from being saturated by sweat. I live in northern Australia and thinking I might have to just stay with cos11's because they are simply bullet proof. Well not the cables but the capsules atleast.
So subjective, they're all excellent. To my ears the DPAs play well together. For general use I like the 11d for their rugged "get it done" utility and great sound. That said, I do find they are not the best for of the low level, low frequency dialog. This is exemplified in your test as well as It seems to fall apart a little in your sample. Perhaps could be fixed by placement. I really like the 4061 sound for the quiet dialog sample. If I was going to replace my mics I would likely use the 4060 or 6060 series now that cable/capsule durability has been addressed.
I was hoping you could tell me where the mics were placed on the talent? I'm hearing a high level of distortion on the cos11 and I’m wondering if maybe the placement was suboptimal. Obviously the alternate possibility is that the 6060 is just THAT clean. Didn’t want to jump to any conclusions though. Thanks!
Hi, the mics are exposed on talent, it’s clipped to his shirt and if you look hard enough you can see it in the video. To me, I don’t really hear a high level of distortion on the cos 11...are you referring to the loud spoken dialogue or anytime the Sanken is used?
The audio level on the Lectrosonics just needed dropping down slightly. As you can tell I'm a big fan of the cos11. The cable is that little thicker but trust me,they can stand incredible knocks and strain. They're just a little more Omni than the DPA's.
I'm a semi professional indie sound recordist and sound editor mixer. I hear that all the pros will only use DPA Lavs now, like the ones here. Yes the 6060 sounds great, but honestly the 4061 and Cos 11 are not that far removed. Someone told me that the Cos 11 are old hat, and I can hear that it is the most inferior out of the 3, but my opinion hasn't changed. The end user - the audience, is never gonna know the difference. You can only tell side by side comparison. I use Countryman B6, despised by many. But with a little post processing they sound great.
Great comparison! How lucky of you to have these mics! DPA is backordered on the 606x series. The formfactor and performance is something to be excited over. Can't wait for my 6061's to arrive! Question: Is there a reason you went with a 6060 as opposed to a 6061? Do you find yourself using 40/6061's for standard dialog more often than the 60's?
Hi! The DPA 6060 is actually my first DPA lav mic, the 4061 was just loaned to me for this video. I’m still learning the DPA mics, and I’ve been wondering if I should have went with the 6061 instead of the 6060. It would be cool to see how those mics compare.
@@KaityandKally I decided on the 6061 so it could be more versitile, and use with louder sources. The SMDWB/SMWB have enough gain to drive the mic in quieter situations, and can be more forgiving to loud transients. I believe the 61's have a slightly higher max SPL as well. I think you can't really go wrong with either the 60 or the 61. Great mics, easy to hide! Can't wait to get mine. Nice kit!
I had the DPA 4061 on a shoot recently, and the gain on my lectro transmitter had to be pretty much to maximum for regular voice operation. Loudest human scream is rated at 129db... So I decided to go with the 6060 instead. The noise floor is lower on the 6060 which is going to be more of my recording than jet engine. If I need something specifics for loud operation, I'll rent the low sensitivity if I actually need it. But it would be great to hear maybe actual situation that the 6060 wouldn't perform well. Kaity and Kally, any situation the 6060 couldn't perform ?
@@mochouinard Good to know. I like your approach. How was the noise on the 4061? I believe the difference in noise floor between the 6060/61's was around 1dB. Hopefully impersievable. Did you have any headroom left in your TX gain when using the 4061, or have any issues with it on set? I find myself capturing Foley, SFX, and musicians in studio and on location, so I figured some of the sources I might want to spot mic or get stereo captures of do occasionally get louder than the human voice, which influenced my decision towards going with the 6061's. Hoping (and think) there's enough gain in the Lectro TX's to drive the 61's for soft spoken voice. Otherwise, that would be a dealbreaker for me!
Interesting test, I had never heard of those companies but given the prices they must be known at a certain tier of video production. (eg: not the usual youtuber budget, heh) ;D
Haha, I rate them exactly opposite! 4061, 6060, 11D. The 4061 sounds the most neutral on my monitors. It's easy to thicken up the voice without other artifacts with a simple plugin, if you're a fan of the COS11 coloration. I used COS11s extensively and exclusively for 18months, so maybe I'm just ready for a change.
@@benchdawn Moreover, the comparison is perfect! And furthermore, okay, let's agree: 4060 and 6060 are PRETTY the same. If you need smaller lav, go with 6060, if not, you can take 4060. But the most important comparison is about gain staging/noice floor and so on. It's good that the comparison touches this problem. The issue is, if it is better to take xx60 or xx61!!!
Thanks for this! Superb way of showing their sound character! 👌🏼
Look at Jay!! This is awesome!
I think the COS11 enhances inteligibility notably. The DPAs sound fuller, with more body, the 4061 being brighter than 6060. I like all three for their strengths, can't choose. Maybe 4061 has a bit more low end. And the 6060 is the best of all three for hiding. It would have been better to use 4060 for the comparison as it has same sensitivity as 6060 and a similar noise floor (COS11 8.9mV/Pa, 6060 and 4060 20mV/Pa, 6061/4061 6mV/Pa)
Az a true microphone aficionado I can tell you I love this channel! Great information and content. I'll be back!!!
I didn’t know who Jay Holben was when listening to this mic comparison a couple months back. Today at Cinegear expo I attended a seminar presenting a new Standard Evaluation Material short film created by the ASC and directed by Jay Holben. When I saw Jay sit down as part of the panel discussing the material, I had this feeling that I’d heard his voice and seen his face before, but I couldn’t figure out when or where. A few hours later I thought back to this video and immediately went to the description. To my surprise, I’d definitely seen him before.
Love all of them! Very “clean” review without “noise” …!!! 🔥🔥🔥😁😍
Sanken cos11 🙌 DPA 6060 worst of all, lot of ambience noise, bad off axis rejection.... and overpriced... Thank you for comparisons, great video!
You‘ll find that a surprising amount of omnidirectional microphones will have “bad off axis rejection”. 😅
Oh wow, the 4061 sounds incredibly cleaner (less background noise) than the others in the outside test! Also, a lot cleaner for the loud speaking tests, so it's my choice for a keeper! 🙂
i personally use the sanken cos-11 for the rugged wiring and mic head.Sanken cos-11 also sounds good. My lavs takes a beating from shoots. ive had other mics and they have heads/wires come apart. ive even bought a mic and had the shielding peal off within a less than a month and the manufacturer wouldn't fix it/replace it. The shoot i had it on we didnt do anything abnormal. i then i just decided to go with sankens. My sankens are still going strong.
This is a serious consideration, durability. The COS-11 wins in that regard.
Did you have DPA mics fall apart?
With the cable being so thin, I'm always afraid of breaking it off.
Great. Please do one video explaining how to hide the lav mic.
4061 👍🏻
Really liked the sanken
Yes me too
And $200 per mic saved.
Thanks for this I think I like the Sanken the best out the box, however the 4061 has better isolation and perhaps if you have two or more dialogues going the DPA would do a better job!
The street example is three different ambience in terms of cars as he didn't have the mics hooked up with one take. But rather changed mics and retake. Meaning we hear in the 6060 a car which one might assume the 6060 having less off axis rejection or simply alot more content from distance but really it just happened to have a car come past in that particular take. Although I appreciate the comparison I think if all mics where hooked up at the same time with a single take that we would have a better comparison. Just saying. To me on my headphone 4061 sounds best but with a touch more distant content then 6060. Cos 11 is rock solid but is a little noisy and more distant content. I think 6060 is the best here. I own 4061 and cos11 both are great but I think I am going with the 6060's in the future but my only concern is will the 6060 handle sweat better and does it recover quicker from being saturated by sweat. I live in northern Australia and thinking I might have to just stay with cos11's because they are simply bullet proof. Well not the cables but the capsules atleast.
Agree (about all 3 at once for each case) But a beautiful review anyway
Will the 6060 series work with a Sennheiser G4? I know the 4063 version is for low voltage power supplies.
So subjective, they're all excellent. To my ears the DPAs play well together. For general use I like the 11d for their rugged "get it done" utility and great sound. That said, I do find they are not the best for of the low level, low frequency dialog. This is exemplified in your test as well as It seems to fall apart a little in your sample. Perhaps could be fixed by placement. I really like the 4061 sound for the quiet dialog sample. If I was going to replace my mics I would likely use the 4060 or 6060 series now that cable/capsule durability has been addressed.
like the 6060 more. but 4061 sounds more open.
OMG, Kally, what an unbelievably beautiful voice (and way of using it) you have. Amazing. Just perfect.
I was hoping you could tell me where the mics were placed on the talent?
I'm hearing a high level of distortion on the cos11 and I’m wondering if maybe the placement was suboptimal.
Obviously the alternate possibility is that the 6060 is just THAT clean. Didn’t want to jump to any conclusions though. Thanks!
Hi, the mics are exposed on talent, it’s clipped to his shirt and if you look hard enough you can see it in the video. To me, I don’t really hear a high level of distortion on the cos 11...are you referring to the loud spoken dialogue or anytime the Sanken is used?
The audio level on the Lectrosonics just needed dropping down slightly. As you can tell I'm a big fan of the cos11. The cable is that little thicker but trust me,they can stand incredible knocks and strain. They're just a little more Omni than the DPA's.
I heard that distortion too
👏👍
I'm a semi professional indie sound recordist and sound editor mixer. I hear that all the pros will only use DPA Lavs now, like the ones here. Yes the 6060 sounds great, but honestly the 4061 and Cos 11 are not that far removed. Someone told me that the Cos 11 are old hat, and I can hear that it is the most inferior out of the 3, but my opinion hasn't changed. The end user - the audience, is never gonna know the difference. You can only tell side by side comparison. I use Countryman B6, despised by many. But with a little post processing they sound great.
Great comparison! How lucky of you to have these mics! DPA is backordered on the 606x series. The formfactor and performance is something to be excited over. Can't wait for my 6061's to arrive!
Question: Is there a reason you went with a 6060 as opposed to a 6061? Do you find yourself using 40/6061's for standard dialog more often than the 60's?
Hi! The DPA 6060 is actually my first DPA lav mic, the 4061 was just loaned to me for this video. I’m still learning the DPA mics, and I’ve been wondering if I should have went with the 6061 instead of the 6060. It would be cool to see how those mics compare.
@@KaityandKally I decided on the 6061 so it could be more versitile, and use with louder sources. The SMDWB/SMWB have enough gain to drive the mic in quieter situations, and can be more forgiving to loud transients. I believe the 61's have a slightly higher max SPL as well. I think you can't really go wrong with either the 60 or the 61. Great mics, easy to hide! Can't wait to get mine. Nice kit!
I had the DPA 4061 on a shoot recently, and the gain on my lectro transmitter had to be pretty much to maximum for regular voice operation. Loudest human scream is rated at 129db... So I decided to go with the 6060 instead. The noise floor is lower on the 6060 which is going to be more of my recording than jet engine. If I need something specifics for loud operation, I'll rent the low sensitivity if I actually need it. But it would be great to hear maybe actual situation that the 6060 wouldn't perform well. Kaity and Kally, any situation the 6060 couldn't perform ?
@@mochouinard Good to know. I like your approach. How was the noise on the 4061? I believe the difference in noise floor between the 6060/61's was around 1dB. Hopefully impersievable. Did you have any headroom left in your TX gain when using the 4061, or have any issues with it on set? I find myself capturing Foley, SFX, and musicians in studio and on location, so I figured some of the sources I might want to spot mic or get stereo captures of do occasionally get louder than the human voice, which influenced my decision towards going with the 6061's. Hoping (and think) there's enough gain in the Lectro TX's to drive the 61's for soft spoken voice. Otherwise, that would be a dealbreaker for me!
Interesting test, I had never heard of those companies but given the prices they must be known at a certain tier of video production. (eg: not the usual youtuber budget, heh) ;D
Sanken cos 11d
This isn't very useful with the talent giving a very different performance for each microphone. All three should've been recorded at once.
amen
I agree.
4061
Cool video but I wish you touched on rejection and used all three for the same moments of dialogue
In order of quality: 11D, 6060, 4061
Haha, I rate them exactly opposite! 4061, 6060, 11D. The 4061 sounds the most neutral on my monitors. It's easy to thicken up the voice without other artifacts with a simple plugin, if you're a fan of the COS11 coloration. I used COS11s extensively and exclusively for 18months, so maybe I'm just ready for a change.
I am happy I am not the only one who thinks the 11D sounds better :D
@@gyulahajdu2798 Same here. 11d sounds more like narrative film :P
I didn’t bother watching the video because the 6060 should be compared with the 4060 and not the 4061.
You are not right. 4060 and 6060 are the same, the only difference is their size ;)
@@marcinp.-yourlifepath2450 it’s not true they sound different. I own both. 4061 is just different gain staging.
@@benchdawn What do you mean by 'I own both'? Please, precise
@@benchdawn Moreover, the comparison is perfect!
And furthermore, okay, let's agree: 4060 and 6060 are PRETTY the same. If you need smaller lav, go with 6060, if not, you can take 4060. But the most important comparison is about gain staging/noice floor and so on. It's good that the comparison touches this problem. The issue is, if it is better to take xx60 or xx61!!!
@@benchdawnwhich one has better sound for audience recordings of loud club performances?
4061