Double Bass DPA 4099B

[estesbass]

I know it's been stated here before, but I just wanted to personally relay to everyone here that the DPA 4099B mic absolutely rules.

I just got mine about 2 weeks ago, and use it in conjunction with a Realist.

It really brought my live bass sound to life, especially with arco, finger/fretboard noise, and overall clarity.

I love the Realist, but it's virtually impossible to get any sort of realism out of it from about 4k on up.

It has incredible feedback resistance too, which is amazing for a condenser mic. I did 5 shows with it last week on big stages with no amp -- just a blend of the Realist and DPA through my monitor, and no feedback at all.

Well I could go on -- but, in summary -- 2 thumbs up.

 

[Treyzer]

estesbass,

I'm really interested in this mic. How good is the off axis sound rejection? Put another way, when the mic is on, how noticeable is the crowd noise or room buzz coming through the mic?

 

[Bill Amatneek]

estesbass,

I'm really interested in this mic. How good is the off axis sound rejection? Put another way, when the mic is on, how noticeable is the crowd noise or room buzz coming through the mic?

The off axis rejection is good, BUT, room sound does bounce off the top of the bass and into the mic, I've noticed.
Best regards to all,
Bill Amatneek

 

[Ric Vice]

estesbass,

I'm really interested in this mic. How good is the off axis sound rejection? Put another way, when the mic is on, how noticeable is the crowd noise or room buzz coming through the mic?

Treyzer,
Since it's a mini shotgun it has very good off axis, but it is a microphone. I've only used it in conjunction with a pickup. I don't recall that crowd noise was that much of an issue either. Using it into a amp didn't work as well as sending it out to the mains.

Ric

 

[Bill Amatneek]

Treyzer,
Using it into a amp didn't work as well as sending it out to the mains.

Ric

I agree w/ Ric on this point.
Best,
Bill Amatneek

 

[Treyzer]

Thanks guys. This is why I still enjoy Talk Bass Double Bass. Seems like this mic is very good if you're doing concerts on a good size stage with at least some separation from other instruments and you're running it FOH. Best Regards,

T

 

[Roger Davis]

Thanks guys. This is why I still enjoy Talk Bass Double Bass. Seems like this mic is very good if you're doing concerts on a good size stage with at least some separation from other instruments and you're running it FOH. Best Regards,

T

Still works very well if you have your own 'mini PA' such as a QSC K10 on a pole near you. Good for small gigs too; I'm finding that the setup is also a good fix for rooms/stages that are acoustically challenging with a pickup.

 

[Bill Amatneek]

Still works very well if you have your own 'mini PA' such as a QSC K10 on a pole near you. Good for small gigs too; I'm finding that the setup is also a good fix for rooms/stages that are acoustically challenging with a pickup.

Roger, What adjustments do you make w/ the QSC K10 (I'm assuming you own one) when you use it? Do you have the DEEP switch on when you put your bass thru it, for instance?

Best,
BA

 

[jrlynch]

what the qsc demonstrates is how heavily colored most bass amps sound, which is why the 4009 sounds so remarkable through the qsc10 ... btw, i'm not particularly keen on the "deep" switch on the qsc ... it might have some use in running a slab directly into it, but it really doesn't bring anything to the db party.

jeff.

Treyzer,
Since it's a mini shotgun it has very good off axis, but it is a microphone. I've only used it in conjunction with a pickup. I don't recall that crowd noise was that much of an issue either. Using it into a amp didn't work as well as sending it out to the mains.

Ric

 

[Roger Davis]

Roger, What adjustments do you make w/ the QSC K10 (I'm assuming you own one) when you use it? Do you have the DEEP switch on when you put your bass thru it, for instance?

Best,
BA

Bill, I had all sorts of strange settings on the QSC when I tried it in my room at home, incl deep, but when I got to the gig I set it to all the 'flat' settings. I use a Headway as a preamp and I don't even need to use the filters to kill feedback. Incidentally as I was an early adopter I could only get the DPA with the high pass filter, not the 'bass' model. The UK distributors advised me to have this one to mitigate the proximity effect and it works very well for me. With the DPA you are very much in a 'garbage in/garbage out' situation so you need to have a reasonable bass with a nice voice.

 

[Matt Hare]

Have any DPA 4099b users had this experience:

The open A string played pizz creates enough movement in the strings between the tailpiece and bridge that the mic's signal sounds like it is buzzing? It is as if the harness resonates sympathetically to that note.

-Matt