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Schoeps MiniCMIT or DPA 4017b


Alex Weinberg

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If you lack the experience to make a decision as to what tools you need, you're not ready to buy either. Get something less expensive and use it to learn to listen, then, when a better tool is needed, you'll be in a position to make a decision that is yours and yours alone to make.

 

You won't go wrong owning a 416 which is a legendary professional mic available at an easy price. Many of us started out with a lesser mic than that.

 

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I am only going to get 1 and I like them both in different ways. I like the b preamp on the DPA for the Low Cut & High Boost Filters the MiniCMIT does not have those features just the built in low cut. What do you guys think sounds more like you are really there? They are both RFI shielded I know the DPA works in humidity. Has the humidity issues been fixed that other Schoeps suffer from in the MiniCMIT?

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I’ve used this process to audition headphones in the past but it ought to work equally well for microphones. 

 

I rigged a boom pole with a C-stand to hold the microphone in an advantageous position. I recruited a friend or sales person to read lines and positioned myself (and the recorder) about six or eight feet away from the speaker. At that distance one can hear the spoken lines directly and adjust playback to about the same level. In my situation, I listened directly and then swapped headsets to identify which sounded most like the direct voice. 

 

To audition microphones one would (of course) stick with one set of phones but cross fade between the dpa and the Schoeps rugged on the same pole. From time to time remove the headset to compare each microphone with the direct sound. 

 

This, obviously, is a limited test. There are other characteristics to consider including sensitivity, performance in high sound pressure conditions, weather sealing, immunity to RF, etc. But it is a useful way to get a sense of “truthfulness.” A better test would also include listening to instruments, both male and female voices, etc. 

 

If there are no audio shops at a convenient distance, it would be worth the cost to arrange a rental to check out both candidates over a weekend. If you coordinate with any of the pro audio shops, I’m sure you could make an arrangement to apply the rental cost toward purchase. If there are no audio shops in your whole country, you should try to make contact with a mixer in your area who might help you make listening tests with the gear he/she has available. Even if none of the microphones are available, the critical listening process is still valuable and you would have an opportunity to make a good contact. 

 

David

 

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They are different. I have the mini CMIT and love it. Sounds fantastic, forgiving off axis, light, and has great reach. The mini is pretty easy to use in low ceiling rooms too. Not the most directional mic out there, but certainly not bad.

 

I’ve used the DPA and noticed it sounded similar, but not quite as special as the schoeps. More directional. Also a very nice mic. Would love to have both some day.

 

If youre only going to have one mic, I would go 416. You can’t kill it if you tried and sounds very, very good.

 

Like many others have said listen to them before you buy if you can.

 

My humble opinion.

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My "one mic" could really be the 4017B. It's light, it has a practically non-existent rear lobe despite being a shotgun and it sounds great. The off-axis response is beautiful and it makes booming easier, works pretty darn well for both interiors and exteriors. Great reach as well. I like how neutral and natural it sounds. A mixer I work with pretty regularly actually has the 4017B as the only boom mic in his kit, and I completely understand why.

I've only used the original CMIT 5U, not the mini, and I liked that as well. It's been a couple of years since I used a CMIT, so I can't recall how it sounds well enough to compare it to a 4017B which I just used last week. I do remember that the CMIT 5U sounded really good in interior locations as well. Compared to an MKH50 the response is flatter and it's a bit less sensitive, but I'd say the same thing about the 4017B off the top of my head.

I own a 416 and as much as I like it and I trust it, I consider it to be for exterior locations or big halls only. It doesn't always do well with high-frequency sounds off axis, it may even emphasize them. Recorded some pretty gnarly pan sizzle on a cooking show even though the pan should have been way off pattern visually. Still 90% of the time a 416 sounds absolutely lovely and it will take pretty much whatever conditions are thrown at it.

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18 hours ago, Alex Weinberg said:

The c vs b preamp sound virturaly identical you just lose the filtering options. Thanks JonG for making me feel better about humidity and the Schoeps.

 

The difference between MMP-B & MMP-C Preamp isn't only at filtering options. The MMP-B Max. SPL is 138 dB; MMP-C Max. SPL is 146 dB. The MMP-B is single balanced output and the MMP-C is impedance balancing with active drive. You can see a different current consumption and also a maximum output voltage (in RMS terms) between them. If I had to choose between MMP-B and MMP-C, my choice will be MMP-C.

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4 hours ago, Derek H said:

You guys don’t miss the low cut on the mmp-c?

 

As with everything else, this comes down to personal preferences, but I usually don’t use the high pass on mics anyway.  Most mixers have this feature built in before hitting the pre-amp. I prefer to do it at the mixer stage, since I listen and determine what is or isn’t needed, and (at least with SD) it’s variable and therefore gives me more options.

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4 hours ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

 

As with everything else, this comes down to personal preferences, but I usually don’t use the high pass on mics anyway.  Most mixers have this feature built in before hitting the pre-amp. I prefer to do it at the mixer stage, since I listen and determine what is or isn’t needed, and (at least with SD) it’s variable and therefore gives me more options.

low cut on mic before pre stage help reducing handling noise and wind noise actually

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1 hour ago, joinwooHK said:

low cut on mic before pre stage help reducing handling noise and wind noise actually

 

Yeah I like having it available on the mic. I had a scenario once trying to record dialog in a room that had some massive HVAC equipment on the other side of the wall where a CUT1 filter was the only fix because the extreme low freqs were overloading the CMC5 preamp before it even reached my recorder. 

 

But in most situations cutting HPF at the mixer works as well. 

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5 hours ago, joinwooHK said:

low cut on mic before pre stage help reducing handling noise and wind noise actually

 

I boomed a show last summer with the C preamp. Mostly with the 4017, some of it with the 4018. With proper wind protection/shock mount and somewhat decent handling technique, it was no problem.

 

3 hours ago, Derek H said:

 

Yeah I like having it available on the mic. I had a scenario once trying to record dialog in a room that had some massive HVAC equipment on the other side of the wall where a CUT1 filter was the only fix because the extreme low freqs were overloading the CMC5 preamp before it even reached my recorder. 

 

But in most situations cutting HPF at the mixer works as well. 

 

Yes, and that's what I meant by "usually". In situations like these, it does come in handy to have it.

- I could be wrong here, but this may not be as big of a problem with the DPA 4017C, since it can take a massive amount of SPL (146 dB).

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