The decision to try the DPA d:facto Vocal Mics on the show was on suggestion from Australian rental company JPJ Audio. "JPJ's Brad Adamson told me he had DPA d:factos and we were keen to try them on a couple of TV shows we were working on," explains John Simpson, senior audio director of The Voice Australia. "DPA has a great reputation for high-quality mics and this interested me because I hadn't been happy with any capsules on the RF systems we were using."
Given DPA's pedigree, Simpson knew that the mics would shine through the moment he brought up the faders. "I realized we wouldn't need that old EQ curve anymore," he says. "The sound was natural, present and uncoloured, like having a top-notch studio condenser available as RF. We don't have to process anywhere near as much as we used to and everything sounds better; vocalists and presenters, male or female. The d:factos make it much easier to sit voices in a mix."
Simpson adds that the vocal coach for the programme was equally pleased. "He [the vocal coach] thinks they are a significant step up from anything he has heard and is very impressed, as are the operators at Monitors, FOH and Broadcast," he says. "Just keep making them. The capsules are the best thing we've heard for RF mics in a long time and have been an asset for us."
(Jim Evans)
