DPA SMK4061 - a good experience

[littledog]

Had to record a concert last night where they were doing simultaneous video, and wanted to keep the forest of mic stands to a minimum. They had rented a 9' Yamaha concert grand, and i thought this was a good excuse to pick up one of the DPA stereo mic kits. (This was for a jazz quartet plus vocalist.)

DPA tried to steer me toward their $3000 cardioid one, but I thought I'd take a chance on the SMK4061, which consists of two miniature omnis, with a host of mounting accessories. These include flat disk mounts to create boundary mics, magnetic mounts that attach right to the inner frame, stick-on mounts, as well as wind screens. The best thing, was this kit was only $800.

I'm happy to report the results were outstanding. The piano was set-up with the lid on the short stick for visual and other reasons, and I ended up using the magnetic mounts set so that the mics were about a foot back from the hammers and about 2 inches off of the strings.

I've always preferred omnis for close-mics on piano, because I like to avoid the closer strings sounding different because of proximity effect, and the off axis coloration issues are better. Before the concert I had experimented at home on my Steinway with the diferent mounting options, and depending on the situation, you can get a tremendous variety of piano sounds depending on whether you use them as boundary mics under the lid, hanging down from the fully open lid, or attached to the frame with magnets. And of course, you have all the infinite positioning options with any of the above.

Anyway, the end result was a fantastic piano sound. Both the pianist and some other engineers who heard it that night were very impressed.

I highly recommend these mics. At that price, I think the kit was one of my best "bang for the buck" purchases I've ever made. "High end" sound at a very reasonable price. Of course, part of me still would like to try the $3000 option, to see if it really sounds that much "better".

I look forward to trying them out on acoustic bass, cello, guitar, violin, harp, and other instruments as well.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who is using this type of piano mic scheme.

[Schaap]

You can get a huge sound if mounted on a ac. guitar, sometimes too huge .
On ac. bass it is also good and you should definately try it as a room mic.

Henk

[T.RayBullard]

the classical/location forum might get more bites, D...

[jpupo74]

Originally Posted by littledog

Had to record a concert last night where they were doing simultaneous video, and wanted to keep the forest of mic stands to a minimum. They had rented a 9' Yamaha concert grand, and i thought this was a good excuse to pick up one of the DPA stereo mic kits. (This was for a jazz quartet plus vocalist.)

DPA tried to steer me toward their $3000 cardioid one, but I thought I'd take a chance on the SMK4061, which consists of two miniature omnis, with a host of mounting accessories. These include flat disk mounts to create boundary mics, magnetic mounts that attach right to the inner frame, stick-on mounts, as well as wind screens. The best thing, was this kit was only $800.

I'm happy to report the results were outstanding. The piano was set-up with the lid on the short stick for visual and other reasons, and I ended up using the magnetic mounts set so that the mics were about a foot back from the hammers and about 2 inches off of the strings.

I've always preferred omnis for close-mics on piano, because I like to avoid the closer strings sounding different because of proximity effect, and the off axis coloration issues are better. Before the concert I had experimented at home on my Steinway with the diferent mounting options, and depending on the situation, you can get a tremendous variety of piano sounds depending on whether you use them as boundary mics under the lid, hanging down from the fully open lid, or attached to the frame with magnets. And of course, you have all the infinite positioning options with any of the above.

Anyway, the end result was a fantastic piano sound. Both the pianist and some other engineers who heard it that night were very impressed.

I highly recommend these mics. At that price, I think the kit was one of my best "bang for the buck" purchases I've ever made. "High end" sound at a very reasonable price. Of course, part of me still would like to try the $3000 option, to see if it really sounds that much "better".

I look forward to trying them out on acoustic bass, cello, guitar, violin, harp, and other instruments as well.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who is using this type of piano mic scheme.

That mic is REALLY noisy...
AB it with a 4060 or 4006...
You'll cry...
Well...at least it's all taht for 800...

Pupo

[ISedlacek]

Originally Posted by jpupo74

That mic is REALLY noisy...
AB it with a 4060 or 4006...
You'll cry...

That´s true. I did an AB comparison between these two ... 4060 is (soundwise) indeed just a "little brother" ... Yet in the end I liked Schoeps MK2 more than 4006 .... More pleasant and "musical" ...

[doubledecker]

I would also recommend DPA-(ex Bruel&Kjaer) mics to anyone.I think i used 4006 on just about everything and it never seizes to amaze me.Brilliant microphones

[petessound@hotm]

hum, time to dig up an old thread! i was totally blown away by the 4006 but have since been rather excited by these small stereo mics. has anyone run them through a PA with a moniter near by? my instincts tell me to be very afraid of omnis in live sound but im sick of crappy piano sounds.

the piano is often played along with drums so the stage does get quite load (soul/RNB) tho i would also expect them to deal with the classical stuff that i do.

anyone?

[lookinforthebest]

Looking for the best all around solution to miking a Grand in a live situation. I've read a ton of blog, reviews, and testimonies. I've found that in general there are 2 major camps that the concept can be broken into.
1. Stereo miking with 2 condenser mics. (DPA kits, earthworks, schoeps etc...)
2. Pickup style options (BarcusBerry, Hippinstills ....)

I've seen a number of shows with Acoustic Grands being used. I've talked to as many engineers as I can regarding how to get a great piano sound. I'm still on my quest, but I'd love some input from people that have experience.

1. A DPA mic kit (smk4061)
2. A pick-up mic (Hippinstill)
3. A combo of the above to create the ideal....

Anyone good for a comment?

[springer]

Having used the SMK4061 for the first time last week, I would say that they work well under two conditions:
1) closed lid - would think this to be optimal for these as they are so small profile.
2) jazz group with tasteful drummer (trio) - forget it if you have a full on banger! The spill caught by these little devils is astounding sometimes too much as they doubled for me as crowd mics!
I am really on the fence with these as they are so easily positioned but don't sound as good as the AKG c480 or the Royers for me. But DAMN are they easy on the back - no mic stands.
Definitely wouldn't use them for classical piano or louder groups so they are very limited.

[fuddfar]

Originally Posted by littledog

Had to record a concert last night where they were doing simultaneous video, and wanted to keep the forest of mic stands to a minimum. They had rented a 9' Yamaha concert grand, and i thought this was a good excuse to pick up one of the DPA stereo mic kits. (This was for a jazz quartet plus vocalist.)

DPA tried to steer me toward their $3000 cardioid one, but I thought I'd take a chance on the SMK4061, which consists of two miniature omnis, with a host of mounting accessories. These include flat disk mounts to create boundary mics, magnetic mounts that attach right to the inner frame, stick-on mounts, as well as wind screens. The best thing, was this kit was only $800.

I'm happy to report the results were outstanding. The piano was set-up with the lid on the short stick for visual and other reasons, and I ended up using the magnetic mounts set so that the mics were about a foot back from the hammers and about 2 inches off of the strings.

I've always preferred omnis for close-mics on piano, because I like to avoid the closer strings sounding different because of proximity effect, and the off axis coloration issues are better. Before the concert I had experimented at home on my Steinway with the diferent mounting options, and depending on the situation, you can get a tremendous variety of piano sounds depending on whether you use them as boundary mics under the lid, hanging down from the fully open lid, or attached to the frame with magnets. And of course, you have all the infinite positioning options with any of the above.

Anyway, the end result was a fantastic piano sound. Both the pianist and some other engineers who heard it that night were very impressed.

I highly recommend these mics. At that price, I think the kit was one of my best "bang for the buck" purchases I've ever made. "High end" sound at a very reasonable price. Of course, part of me still would like to try the $3000 option, to see if it really sounds that much "better".

I look forward to trying them out on acoustic bass, cello, guitar, violin, harp, and other instruments as well.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who is using this type of piano mic scheme.

We have used that kit for 3 years as our room mics and they are insane. I had our studio drummer play and recorded the Tribes kit with just those 2 mics. I did a tab to transients thing and cut the tracks to 3 stereo tracks so that I could play with eq and 'verb. Just love the looks on people's faces when I say it was recorded with those two things hanging from the ceiling that are the size of Q-Tips.
They are known for being among the best for closed lid piano.
In the last month I used them for room mics (with 4 other DPA 4023s,closer miced) on strings twice and an A Capella group.
The magnetic base fits right on the end of a mic stand without a mic clip.
We put a pair at ear level, left and right on the kit, as an experiment and the drummer bought them. We had to get others.