DPA's d:screet 6060 - The New Superhero mic. Sound Speeds!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ย. 2018
- This is BIG although it's very much not...
With all the potential of becoming the next lavalier microphone used in supersuits across the motion picture industry I welcome you to my review of the DPA d:screet 6060 lavalier microphone with Core Technology!
Learn more about the 6060 at:
www.dpamicrophones.com/3mm
Parents share their successes and failures with their children to make them better. Fully embracing this spirit and sentiment, DPA has poured nothing but the best it has to offer into the 6060!
I'll be honest, when I first heard of the 6060 I was confused when I saw everything it has to offer. It has better specs than the competition, it’s smaller, rugged, feels great to the touch and comes in all the colors we require in the motion picture industry. Best of all - Core by DPA Technology is included! Very confusing indeed but how can you not love it if it’s true?!
I compared the 6060 to two other industry standard lavs - the Sanken COS-11D and Countryman B6. The Sanken, is known for it’s full sound with presence boost to help overcome chin shadow and the Countryman B6 is the smallest professional lav on the market and the mic of choice to hid in movie superhero suits. Note… I didn’t include the 4060, 4160 or 4660 because I just wanted to test the new addition only.
I recorded 8 samples of each microphone, 4 different locations (next to light traffic, next to heavy traffic, in a concrete garage with A/C running and in a carpeted room without the A/C running) and 2 different ways (underneath my shirt and on top of my shirt). When I listened to the samples I was blown away by the natural, full range sound that is the 6060.
Anybody who is familiar with the DPA 40 series lavs may agree with me; they sound great and when placed correctly, they can sometimes sound like a boom mic. That’s a very bold statement, I know, but one I don’t just hand out because I am a boom operator. On some TV shows and movies I’ve worked on, we’ve had to place microphones in the hair of actors. Hair mics sound great if you can hide them properly. After testing and playing around with the 6060, I can’t think of a better mic to go in an actors hair. It’s full sound and small size screams for it to be hidden in hair and I’ll bet new opportunities will open up for hair mics in the film industry because of it.
How about a couple of practical applications? One trick we’ve sometimes used on a COS-11D is putting a small safety pin thru a piece of heat shrink then putting that around the lav so it can be safety pinned under an actor’s clothing. The 6060 would be a great (and better) candidate for such a rig when tapes or other adhesives can’t be used on an actor’s skin or shows on clothing. Additionally I can see the 6060 cap as being a high demand item if sold in multipacks because they are metal and don’t fall off but can be easily removed when you need it to. Having the wardrobe department sew a 6060 cap into actor’s wardrobe could very easily become a go to option for difficult to wire costumes. Best of all, the lav can be quickly removed from the cap so the costume could be laundered whenever they need it to be! That’s what I call a problem solver!
In closing let me stress that I think listening to any mic, whether a lav, large diaphragm or anything in between, is crucial if you’re constantly on a quest for the best possible sound for your tracks. The size, the build quality, the natural sound, the ease of use, the quick remove cap, the low noise floor, the high SPL, the industry leading THD, Core by DPA - pick any three from that list and it deserves a listen but all of them… ALL OF THEM?!?!?! Yeah… you need to hear it to believe it.
-------------------------------------------------------
Fact check the specs I reported!
Sanken Specs: www.sanken-mic.com/en/product/...
Countryman Specs: www.countryman.com/b6-omnidir...
-------------------------------------------------------
Full disclosure:
DPA Microphones sent me this 6060 as a loaner to review. This in no way affected my review.
Make sure to subscribe for more content!
Have a question? Write it in the comments below or email SoundSpeeds@yahoo.com
Join us on Facebook: / soundspeeds
Follow us on Twitter: / soundspeedsyt
Interested in becoming a patron? / soundspeeds
To make a donation: www.paypal.me/SoundSpeeds
All donations received will go directly back into this channel.
If there's something specific you'd like the donation funds to be spent on, please specify in the donation notes or send me an email.
This is probably one of the best reviews of the 6060. Great stuff!!
Thank you!
Yes Allen, best lav review vid I've ever seen. In the future, please include "Walking with Lavaliere on" tests. That is what we do on set all the time which is a good indicator of clothing noise, proximity effect.
Great point George. Thank you for the feedback!
Nice job! Appreciate all the work you did!!
Thank you. It's a great mic
First, this is the best lav review video I've ever seen, so thanks for that. Didn't need headphones because I'm listening in a proper treated and tuned studio environment. I think this new product from DPA sounds excellent, and in these recording tests the B6 seems to pale in comparison to both the COS-11D and 4060. One big difference between the 6060 and the COS-11D mic is the 6060 sounds much more open which is very nice. However my only criticism is I'm hearing a good bit of sibilance in the highs on the 6060, in which the COS11-D handles much better. But this is nothing a quality de-esser in the right hands couldn't handle in audio post. Great job DPA !
Wait until you hear the actual lav. TH-cam isn't great at reproducing highs in critical listening circumstances. Monday...
I prefer the COS, probably a matter of taste.
Yeah, a matter of preference indeed.
Awesome review! Really helped a lot. Thanks dude!
Glad to help
This was a fantastic test Sound speed, I take my hat off to you....i have the DPA 4060 and I love it....but the new subminiature is fantastic. Also i love the look of your booth...can you tell me what wedge foam brand that you are using and the thickness of it please
Thank you. I love DPA products too. This isn't actually a booth, it's a set piece made to look like what many people identify as a booth from this angle. Behind me are simple 2 inch thick 12" X 12" panels:
amzn.to/2Rvbcrd
My voice isn't very deep and because of the distance behind me, it acoustically works with everything else I'm doing where you can't see. In front of me is a bunch of 4" Owens Corning 703 to tame most of the bounce from my voice. I also use dense upholstery foam in smaller places, where I need pieces to jam between the surfaces, the ceiling, etc. I designed it to be effective and quiet but it's not got enough isolation to professionally record voice over. You can see some of it (but not all) in this video:
th-cam.com/video/WGI2pdQ92Qg/w-d-xo.html
Thanks a lot
Thanks for watching. :-)
oohhhhhh....... exciting, seems like it will be living up to all the hype!
Dude... this video doesn't do it justice.
Great video! It's been 5 years since this review. Is there anything better than the 6060 now?
Depends on what you like. I love this mic but sometimes a 4060/1 gives a better result for fidelity.
Thanks so much for this. Have you done one for the 4061?
No but it's still very solid. I love them.
Dude…killer review!!
Thanks dude.
i thought B6 sounded great, but Sanken and DPA are monsters!
And DPA is much more natural sounding to my ears than Sankens.
Really cool review. I personally own both 4061 and 6061 and they sound really great! I've a question: Apart from the sensitivity is there a difference in quality in recording dialogue between 6060 and 6061?
Not that I can tell. If recording loud sounds the less sensitive will give you better results and vice versa but that goes without saying.
Sound Speeds You mean that for very soft dialogs the 6060 would perform better than the 6061? Because this was my concern when it comes to choose between 6060 and 6061. My choice fell on 6061 because it seemed to me the most versatile.
Exactly right. The 6060 is higher sensitivity so soft spoken talent would be higher up over the noise floor than the 6061. The 6061 has a higher SPL though so if you're recording loud sources, you'll have more headroom before clipping on the 6061.
@@SoundSpeeds What if you're recording float? Would the mic itself clip or would the float make it so there isn't danger of clipping anymore (for example, on a Mixpre II) ?
Look at the mic specs, watch this video and you tell me. ;-)
th-cam.com/video/xyMUAWXjrhA/w-d-xo.html
got 4 of them .. working perfetcly fine with my wisycoms :)
Yes! They are really awesome. I love them.
@@SoundSpeeds honestly I think the beste combo I have used so far 😅👌🏻
A digital transmitter and the 6060, yes indeed!
Out of curiosity, what was the rest of your chain after the lav on the voice tests in different environments? Did you go cabled or through a wireless system? The 6060 sounds absolutely gorgeous! I'm looking forward to what Ursa come up with for this one as well!
Great question!
6060 > Lectro SMV > Lectro UCR411 > MixPre-6.
No post processing.
Please do a review of the DPA 4671
Sorry but not likely
great work! I own 4 cos-11s but now want DPAs, I hate you LOL...
You'll thank me later.
How does the 6060 compare to the 4060 in sound quality? Also will the 6060 come in a matched stereo set with included accessories like the 4060?
Very similar. I didn't compare the 4060 in this review because I wanted to put it against the current superhero (small) lav and the most common one.
I’ve never used these mics but in all the comparison videos I’ve watched with the Countryman B6 it ranks towards the bottom for me. I don’t think it sounds good and have never understood why it’s used in the professional film industry. The COS11D and 6060 sound amazing to me. The 6060 especially has a very balanced sound. If I had the money I’d go for one of those but the lav I find most pleasing for a lower price is the Voice Technologies VT500 or 506. I thought about getting the Tram TR50 until I heard how fragile they are.
DPAs are less rugged than many others too but they sound so good. Still my favorite.
Which is the thinnest / tiniest professional lavalier mic ? The Countryman B6 or the Sennheiser MKE 1 or something else ?
B6 but the DPA 6060 is slightly bigger but sounds much better
Excelente.
Sí
oh. I need somes now
Links in the description.
Can for smartphone android samsung.....???
No. This is a top tier professional model.
The fuck..... I am a sanken fan through and through (cos11d, cs3e, css5), but I think i've found a new love.
Yeah, it's an amazing mic. My favorite AAMOF
which cap was used on the b6 during recording? (as they influence the high frequencies)
Good question. Flat (+0)
@@SoundSpeeds that's what I assumed when listening. I was missing some brightness on the b6 (I use the middle length cap most of the time)
Yeah. I preferred running it flatter against the flatter 6060 for comparison.
@@midirausch Do you happen to use a rubber mount for the B6? Im wondering if you use you middle length cap while using the mount?
For cinema, the best is? Dpa 6060 or b6?
6060. Hands down.
This video is great! But I would really like to hear the DPA 4061 vs. 6061 vs. 4071 - I think this 6060 sounds a little severe. The frequency response is nice, but the sound seems to "jump" as opposed to sounding more balanced on the COS-11. Perhaps due to larger diaphragm? DPA claims to lose no quality between this and the 4060, but there must be some difference, otherwise they'd just abandon the 4060.
Going out to record samples on location takes time. Would a test inside my presentation set piece work for a fidelity test?
I think just an under the shirt test would be sufficient. In your typical configuration.
@@rpsharman Lemme see what I can do.
I did fact check you as invited ! why didnt you use the standard sensitivity B6 and cos11 instead of the low sens' versions would have given a fairly similar sensitivity and noise performance to the 6060 ! at least on paper..
I used the standard sensitivity of everything. The B6 and COS-11d are available in low, medium and high sensitivity but the 6060 is only available in Low and High so I had to pick one of the two. Based on specs, those featured were the best fit. If I used the low sensitivity versions of the B6 and COS-11d, they would have had low noise floors but everything else wouldn't have made sense. Look at all the specs and tell me which 6060 is the best fit to compare against which version of the other two to give the best comparison of all mics?
That’s not how I see it’ I spend a lot of time researching my mics , the medium sens versions of the b6 and cos11 are going to have much poorer noise performance than the high sens dpa Simply’
the high sens of all models is a level playing field and only nominal differences on paper or the medium sens b6 and cos11 and low sens 6060 , as I’m sure you know and maybe in time there’ll be a 6062 as well for extra low sensitivity so there’s a high medium and low send from all manufacturers in the relevant model but that’s irrelevant hear
I'm starting to think that dpa stands for Dam pro Audio
Close! I've been told it's Danish Professional Audio.
Ilari beat me to it
So after all these years, how would you compare the 6060 and the 4060? Is the 4060 a higher quality sound?
There are many people that prefer the sound of the 4060 to the 6060 but some prefer the 6060 over the 4060. As always, it depends on your preference.
@@SoundSpeeds What is your personal preference? I take your opinion more seriously than most because I know how serious you are about this stuff.
Depends on the voice. Usually 4060 but on some voices the 6060.
@SoundSpeeds Makes sense. This is exactly why sound is such an expensive hobby. You need have two mics to try two mics. I suppose the biggest factor for these two would be how hidden the mic needs to be, but I wondered if the 6060 sounded worse in general as a tradeoff for that size benefit.
Not really.
Hi Allen, I have a wierd situation. I'm going do an enormous series of youtube stories that I will tell as I play a drumset. And I'll be acting a bit as I drum,. So I don't want a mic in frame. I'm not sure if I should get a lav or a shotgun. Your specific advice would be incredibly appreciated.
Oh wow... That's not an easy one. If you're playing loudly while talking at regular volume, you're going to have challenges. There's no ideal solution here but what I'd lean towards is a low profile headset mic that goes over one or both ears and has a small, thin mic come out and go towards your mouth. It wouldn't be very noticable in a wide shot but would get your mouth close to the mic. A dynamic would normally be what I'd recommend but out of frame it wouldn't work. A shotgun would pull out a loud drum set no matter what. A lav would get rustled around as you drum. If a headset (this would be my choice but there are many with a low profile form factor like this on Amazon: www.dpamicrophones.com/headset/6066-subminiature-headset-microphone) like this really wouldn't work, maybe wear a hat and put a lav up in the hat. I've done that at times and it sounds very good and close. Check this out as an example: th-cam.com/video/NjpmATaSTak/w-d-xo.html
@@SoundSpeeds Wow. Thankyou so much for your reply. OK, there is a fact I can't believe I omitted. I'm so sorry. The drums are electronic pads (fitted on top of the drums as they're designed to be). The cymbals are made of quiet special alloy that's drilled with 100's of holes for safe practicing---which my students have broken. So, they're even quieter. My hi hats are the real deal, but they are a quiet type, and won't be played beyond 10% of their potential volume for.these videos. So there is sound, coming from those cymbals. My current vocal mic is an AT 2035, mounted overhead and pointed at my mouth. I'm out of town right now.. But next week, I will record a video of my current setup. I could also test how loud the different parts are with a handheld meter as part of the vid.
I really loved your hat mic from your link in your reply.
Thank you. In that case a shotgun may work if you place it close to parallel to the ground aimed over the top of your head. That would point it off you drums and still pick up your mouth just fine. Check this out.
th-cam.com/video/Xg0X90t7qds/w-d-xo.html
@@SoundSpeeds OK. I wonder how I could get my hands on some test mics in the Seattle area. I'll start google-ing. Thanks for this additional recommendation. I had watched your shotgun mic video you linked above in hopes that it would apply to me a few days ago. And didn't catch on that your across the top of the head technique might work for me. I'm guessing that I'll just have to have the shotgun at top of head height, but far enough in front that my sticks would never accidentally make contact.
Listen. Try different things and see what sounds best.
You rock!
Thanks man
Fact checkeroo:
The maximum SPL specs you compared were not the same specs. The max SPL you quoted for the COS-11D was 123 dB SPL, but the site you link to doesn't show the standard overload sound level, it shows a 1% THD measurement, where as the usual measurement is 10% THD. Meaning that the spec shown for the Sanken was measured to a much stricter bar, where it is actually the same as the 6060's. The 1% THD max SPL of the 6060 is also 123 dB SPL. The 6060 spec you show in the video is the 10% THD measurement, which is correctly 134 dB SPL, but an unfair comparison, as the COS-11D's 10% THD max SPL measurement would also be higher than the 123 db SPL measurement for 1% THD.
This a very easy mistake to make, though, so I don't really blame you for it. This is a pretty confusing spec.
Oh yeah, I must have missed that. Great catch!
I have three of these but I have to be honest I usually favour the 4060s over them, the 6060 definitely has its uses but the mic capsule is extremely prone to popping, especially when 'hidden' behind a button, in a tie knot or exposed on a clip
Really?!?!?! That's not been my experience at all. If you only had one, I'd question if yours was defective but three...
@@SoundSpeeds thanks for getting back!. It’s generally not on speech, just exhalation, laughter or when the person say tilts their head down near the mic whilst talking, even when the gain on the tx is pretty low its been an issue for me. It could be that the pick up on the 6060 is from the top of the mic and the 4060’s is from one side and is pretty well protected by the removable tip, also worth mentioning that the paintable caps seem to leave the mic capsule even more exposed than with the provided caps. It’s also a bit annoying that the white 6060 comes with a silver tip and not a white tip, so you are forced to buy the paintable caps in order to get a white cap, and they aren’t cheap.
Many of these things were revealed later. I complained about the non-white tip when I saw the white version launch but it's a limitation of the material. It's not available in a white color and painting it makes it too think and the sound changes.
The 4060 is omnidirectional. The 4160 Slim (discontinued) was also but it had an area of the side that was open. Lavs are technically omnidirectional due to frequency pickup but the detail is really only there when on axis.
@@SoundSpeeds ah i didnt know that about the white mics, I shouldn't have doubted dpa. the 4060 is of course omni directional but if you take the cap off one you will see that one side has dots and the other side doesnt, so in theory its better if you mount it dots facing outwards
I know what you're saying but it's engineered to be omnidirectional. If you listen to it though, it's more detailed out the end.
Is this mic is suitable for mega Churches?
Totally! You'll sound amazing!
@@SoundSpeeds there's is any noise and reverb sound?
I'm expecting sound like this th-cam.com/video/gwROFW6hxFM/w-d-xo.html
Lavs are great for limiting reverb in big rooms provided your monitors aren't up too loud and/or behind the speaker. The monitors shouldn't be facing the pastor anyway but if they are, you'll hear undesirable sounds. The DPA 6060 would sound beautiful provided you have a good quality transmitter to use with it. That's the thing though! A low quality transmitter won't be able to showcase the amazing sound of the 6060 and in that case you should use something more economical. What transmitters are you using? Feel free to email me if you'd like suggestions for your specific scenario.
Audiotechnica ATW-11F
last production I was on the cap fell off after just a few days, gone forever. talent unmiked themselves and it was put in place with sticky stuff. the rest is history... also hear loads of people preferring the sound of the 4060. this size cant come without a caveat.
I understand. That kind of thing happens. The first dau I used at 4160 Slim on set, talent required himself and ripped the cable out of the element. It was a prototype so that sucked but it was fixed and survived.
@@SoundSpeeds these stories are so common that I am considering to swap out all my 4060s to the heavy duty ones, they have about the same cable diameter like the Sanken and fit in the Sanken Bubblebee concealers (Sankens are just more rugged). Maybe worth a video on durability? Go break some expensive lavs for us! ;)
I'd love to but I loose tons of money of this channel for 1000 views and to make back only 25 cents in other ways. DPA does have some videos about them stress testing the rugged 4060 series. Check those out... what is it called? The 4660?
@@SoundSpeeds oh yeah I remember those videos. yeah the 4660 can really take a beating. I of course thought of dpa and sanken sending you free samples (without a return shipping label);)
I doubt they'd do that knowing I was going to destroy them.
I liked the photo and sound comparisons,, but the spec comparisons are a bit unfair. You used less sensitive versions of the Sanken and Countryman mics to compare to the DPA. The most sensitive COS11D is rated at 17,8 mV/Pa with 28db noise, and the most sensitive B6 (W4), is rated at 16 mV/Pa with 24db noise.
Great point but I'll say this... I used the middle of the road sensitivity versions of all mics, not high or low gain. If I had used the low sensitivity version of the 6060, it would have had a lower noise floor than the W4.
@@SoundSpeeds True, when compared to the B6 W5.
@@crasianator1986 I verified the specs DPA sent me before putting them in the video and even gave the links so I could be facet checked. Thanks for keeping me honest.
The b6 sounds the best
I very much disagree
I don't get the thing with putting a mic on your chest and (even worse) under the shirt - it doesn't sound very good with any microphone (as the lower midrange get acoustically amplified by the vibrations from the chest and high frequencies get attenuated as well, since those goes mostly forward when you speak and not down as much - your shirt may also have some "muffling" effect at high frequencies if it's thick and you have the mic under it). Why even bother getting a high quality mic, if you are going to ruin your recording by such a crappy microphone placement anyway? Yes it does filter out background noise - but it gives poor quality recording of the voice as well... Just place the mic in front or on the camera, is much better.
But the microphone capsules them self seem pretty impressive being just 3 mm in diameter and still not worse than 24-26 dB(A) of self noise. To bad that the sensitivity falls rapidly over 25 kHz (according to the graph) - because if there is one thing those mics should be good at, it's recording ultra sonic (with the mics free mounted on a stick). The off axis frequency responce is probably quite good all the way up to like 60 kHz with such a small capsule (given that the total sensitivity doesn't fall too much). Ok, humans don't hear that high, but it's still fun to be able to watch them on a spectrograph - and you can also pitch down sounds for cool effect and get really cool effects when the ultra sonic get into the audiable range.
It's designed for film work where hiding a lav is required. It's the best on the market. If you don't like it, you won't like any.
@@SoundSpeeds Yes, but no mic will sound good with such a placement - it's all about the acoustic properties of the sound in this case. Just put your ear a few cm from the chest of someone talking and you will hear the problem very clearly.
It's quite impressive that they are so small and are still not very noisy - but (given how I see it), the rapid loss of sensitivity up into the ultra sonic range kind of defeat the purpose of them being that small (wich would be good off axis frequency response).
Using them on a camera or using them as table mic in front of you for example (wich gives way better audio quality compared to have them on the shirt), you need a holder for them - wich takes up most of the space anyway. So there is no big benefit there ether - compared to use standard 6 or 10 mm capsules...
I understand what you're saying but it's not entirely accurate. I've been using lav mics since 1994 and understand the acoustic properties of lavs and how placement affects the sound. You're right about lavs sounding better outside of clothing but concealing them is a must. Micro omnidirectional capsules, such as lavs, don't pick up lower frequencies nearly as well on the chest as you may expect. A large or small capsule diaphragm mic on the chest would exaggerate the low end but that doesn't happen with lavs. Many lavs, like the 6060, excel when poked thru a button hole or hidden somewhere in direct line of sight to the mouth and are small enough to be used in such rigs. The 4071, in contrast, has a 5dB presence boost between 4-6k (which is similar but not exactly like the 406X with a cap on it) to compensate for chin shadow and HF loss when placed under clothing. I've used the 6060 on the chest for 2 years and when placed correctly, it's extremely effective on the chest. When planted on a table or away from a mouth, you won't get as hot of a signal out of a lav so you have to gain up bringing up the self noise. Keep in mind, it's a omnidirectional capsule so you don't have to worry about proximity effect from the chest nearly as much as you'd expect.
@@SoundSpeeds Yes, of course it's as bad as if you would use a directional microphone on your chest (now that would be really awful with it's proximity effect and sensitivity to wind and handling noise, haha) - but still not great. Of course this mic probably get it as good as you can get given the conditions. And yes - your video sounded good compared to what you typically hear in TV shows or on the news or even movies (american movies are usually the worst
- it sounds almost like they talk in a trash can sometimes, haha)
But, you can still hear it's a "shirt mic" so to say. This is pretty much like if if you are filming hand held while walking and running, then try to reduce the camera shake problem by buying a better camera.
It may help somewhat (if the new camera has better image stabilization), but will still not be nearly as good as keeping the old camera and buy a gimball or something instead... It may be that you don't have space for a stabilizer - but that doesn't change the fact that it's a waste of money to buy a new camera for that reason.
I think it's the same thing with the mic in this case. If you can't do anything about the real problem that causes quality loss, there is no reason to throw away a lot of money on a small improvement. But that's just me....
Lav mics serve a purpose and if post does their job well, a well placed lav can sound like a boom. If you watch American TV on TV it's processed too much and sounds like garbage (same with tormented versions) but if you buy the box sets or see movies in the theater, it sounds much better. Streaming original content sounds better than on networks too.