[Music] In this episode, just a quick look and some samples from the DPA 2017 shotgun microphone. Now DPA makes another shotgun microphone called the 4017; it also is a modular microphone, meaning you can attach different preamplifier units to it, and the question I think a lot of people are going to have is, what's the difference- is the 2017 basically just a 4017 that's not modular and that doesn't have a high pass filter and doesn't have a presence boost? And the answer is no, it's actually a completely new design, and that is something that you can see over on DPA's website- for example, they kind of compare the two, 4017 and the 2017, so it is a new design. One huge difference, of course, is the price- it's a $995 microphone versus over $2,000 for most configurations of the 4017.

So let's first get you some raw samples, unprocessed, of the 2017, the 4017b, and the Sennheiser MKH416. It was easier to know it than to explain why I know it. If you were asked to prove that two and two made four, you might find some difficulty, and yet you are quite sure of the fact.

Let's talk you through some other things, some additional samples and some of my impressions. First of all, this is another small shotgun microphone with the DPA sound- DPA sound to me is pretty transparent, pretty neutral, pretty true to life, versus something that's a little bit more- I always feel like, for example, the Sennheiser is a little bit colored, in a really positive way, in most cases it sounds good, but I feel like the DPA is a little bit closer to real life, and that kind of manifests itself in a few different ways- let's take a look.

The 2017 is small and lightweight- 184 millimeters long, 115 grams- way smaller and lighter than, for example, the Sennheiser MKH416, so it is a lot easier to boom out on the end of a pole if you're going to be doing that all day long.

We did do our practical noise floor sample- let me just roll that so you can see what that's about; this is not a scientific test, this is a practical test of, in practical terms, where the noise floor comes out. All right, this is our practical noise floor sample- I'm at 47dB on the DPA 2017, and we're in our typical position here, I've got sound blankets to either side, sound blanket on the table in front of me, sound blanket back by the camera, blanket on the floor behind me, and this is what it sounds like. I'm going to go ahead and leave a few moments of silence and we'll be able to measure that as our practical noise floor.

Here's a sample of handling noise with a Rycote shock mount- more specifically that's the Rycote shock mount that comes with a Cyclone, which is also very similar to the Nano Shield. So in short, it appears to me that if you put this on a quality shock mount, you're not going to have a lot of huge issues in terms of handling noise when you are booming it by hand.

Sibilance- it seems again, as a microphone that's fairly neutral, it handles sibilance nicely. I have a lot of sibilance in my voice, it of course picks it up, but it also doesn't overemphasize it like so many microphones do: she sells seashells by the seashore, by the seashore she sells seashells. When you're booming a mic, usually plosives are not an issue, because here, for example, we're booming it, it's just right here out of the frame, typically that's not going to be an issue, but just for grins and giggles, here's a sample of that: Peter Piper picked a peck of purple pickled peppers.

Now off-axis coloration is kind of a big deal with shotgun microphones- in fact let's get you a couple of samples. I'm going to go out by Interstate 80 in the United States here, plenty of traffic, and hear how the 2017 does relative to the Sennheiser MKH416. All right, in this case I'm using the DPA 2017, I've got Interstate 80 about 100 meters that way, let me give you some on-axis captured audio of the interstate, and now off-axis of the interstate, and what we're looking for here is does the off-axis sound just reduce in level, or does it change qualitatively, like does the tone change- back to the interstate, and then off axis to the interstate.

In this case we're using the MKH416- my test here, or sample here, is we've got Interstate 80 just over there, I've got a road that comes here, another road that goes across there, and what we're trying to assess here is off-axis sounds- do they sound natural and just quieter, or do they sound tonally different, so that's the real question. So let me turn the microphone towards I-80 interstate- okay, so you're hearing some vehicles pass there, now they're off axis, I'm going to go ahead and be quiet for just a moment here so you can hear what they sound like. I had another vehicle that was on axis, now off axis- did you notice, as it drove by, it had sort of a weird, almost phasing effect, like it just changed in some way.

All right, here is the DPA 2017- it is directly on axis right now, and what I'm doing here is a couple of things: number one, we're in an incredibly reverberant space, so that's one thing, just so you get a sample there as well, and then I also wanted to kind of give a clearer example of the off-axis coloration, so let's go ahead and do that. I'm going to go ahead and turn the microphone to 90 degrees off axis, and you're getting a lot more reflected sound right now, and the sound coming in from the sides as well, and then we're going to go ahead and keep turning the microphone so that it's 180 degrees off axis, completely talking into the back of the microphone, and let's kind of make our way back- here we are now at 90 degrees off axis, and we're making our way back so that we are directly on axis at 0 degrees, so there's a sense for how colored the off-axis sound is on the 2017.

All right, in this case we're working with the 4017b from DPA as well- we are directly on axis right now, I'm going to go ahead and turn so that we are 90 degrees off axis, so we're talking into the side of the microphone, plus you're picking up any reflected sound in this incredibly reverberant space- we're now at 180 degrees off axis, I'm talking into the back of the microphone, coming back to 90 degrees where we're talking into the side of the microphone, and then finally back on axis at 0 degrees, so that you can hear what overall the coloration sounds like when you're off axis from the 4017b.

All right, now we have the Sennheiser MKH416 directly on axis right now, and I'm going to go ahead and start turning that so that we're talking now into the side of the microphone, we're off axis 90 degrees, and let's go ahead and keep turning that around so that we are at 180 degrees off axis, talking into the back of the microphone, and I can bring it back this direction so that we're talking into the side of the microphone, and then finally back on axis at 0 degrees, so you can hear the off-axis coloration of the Sennheiser MKH416.

In terms of RF interference, if you have radio frequency stuff going on around the microphone, what happens? We tested with three different things: we tested with a wireless transmitter, a microphone transmitter, specifically the Sound Devices A20 transmitter set at 483 MHz, also with a phone with Wi-Fi and with LTE right up next to the microphone, and we did not experience any sort of radio frequency interference issues, so in our initial test at least, RF doesn't appear to be a problem.

The microphone comes with a 2-year warranty, and at the time of this review is priced at $995. No microphone is perfect, but I had a really hard time finding things that I didn't like about this microphone. I guess if I had to really stretch- it doesn't have a low cut or a high pass filter, it also doesn't have the presence boost filter, so I guess- switch- that when you stick the microphone in a zeppelin-type cover for use outdoors, it doesn't have a way to kind of compensate for that, you have to do that in post instead. Not a huge deal, but if that's a really important feature to you, that's where something like the 4017 with the B preamplifier might be a better choice.

Okay, so here's the complicated part- how do I feel about this? So I purchased the 4017b with my own money several years ago, well before this was available; I also own a Sennheiser MKH416, which I purchased with my own money. This one is on loan to me from B&H Photo- they haven't told me that I have to say anything in particular, not paying me to make this video, they were just kind enough to loan it to me. So what are my recommendations? I think, obviously, price-wise this is much closer- my sense is that the off-axis coloration on the DPA is a little bit better- in other words, the off-axis sound just sounds quieter, not colored, not as if its tone has shifted or it sounds otherworldly- you get a bit more of that, I feel, with the Sennheiser MKH416. This is a nuance- for some people it's not going to be a big deal, for others who care about this, it could be a big deal, and that could be the reason why a 2017 might be a better choice for you.

I would say if I were spending my money, I would probably choose the 2017 over the 416- the reason I own the Sennheiser 416 is that it's so well known, and it's a good microphone to use as sort of a comparison basis when I'm evaluating other microphones. So that's my overall take- if I were buying today, would I buy this or the 4017b? I would probably buy this, to be honest, although I really do like that presence boost filter- it's really nice to be able to hand over audio to a post team that's ready to go, and if I'm booming outdoors and I have either my Rycote Nano Shield or the Cyclone on to protect it from the wind, being able to restore or boost some of those higher frequencies that get cut by the wind protection is a really nice thing. So if you've got the budget, I would probably buy a 4017b; again, if not, if you're on a tighter budget, the 2017 is a pretty amazing mic for the money.

So hopefully that was helpful for you- if you have any questions go ahead and leave those down below, and if you've not already subscribed make sure you do that- get out there and make some great sound.