NAMM, the SXSW of tech gear, will be featuring over 5000 brands this year, so no one stands a chance to exhaustively check out all the new gadgets. But there are a handful of tables I never pass up, and luckily this year I had the privilege to attend a pre-NAMM Adorama-sponsored event with two of them: Audio Technica and DPA.
Audio Technica Releases New Microphones and In-Ear Monitors
Audio Technica has been making transducer-based devices including affordable studio workhorse microphones for over 50 years now – you know, the black ones with the silver A on them that say 20-, 40-, or 50-something on them and all sound and look relatively similar. I actually have 3 40-somethings. But aside from the generic look, the quality of their condenser microphone line for prices $100-$1000 is indisputable, and let’s face it, they have literally thousands of products! They definitely aren’t slacking, and this year they are introducing new dynamic, boundary, and wireless microphones along with some exciting new in-ear monitors / headphones.
AE2300 Dynamic Cardioid Microphone
This is a high-end dynamic mic (rare move for AT) designed for use on versatile sources including guitar amps, percussion, horns and winds. Its special power is maintaining phase coherence from all angles — the frequency response of a given source is almost identical from all sides of the microphone, making the AE2300 great to use in a multi-mic setup. Audio Technica credits their double-dome diaphragm construction for this, and also with allowing uncommonly superb high frequency (60Hz-20kHz) and transient response. It also has a LOW-pass filter, meaning you can flip a switch to roll off the top-end over 8 kHz. This seems like a strange feature that will get little use in the studio, but perhaps in live scenarios on a really noisy or bright amp, or on a drum with hat bleed, it just might come in handy. It’ll cost you $269, ships in March 2016, and comes with an AT8471 stand clamp and a soft protective pouch.
ATM230 Dynamic Hypercardioid Microphone
This is essentially a tom mic with excellent low-end that can withstand high SPL scenarios, like, well, being two inches from a drum head. The hypercardioid pickup pattern tightly limits pickup of sound to the front of the mic, which of course is key for tom mics. Built for working musicians’ everyday use, this mic this mic actually has the capsule from the discontinued ATM25 that has become popular posthumously. Frequency response is 20Hz-12kHz, comes with an AT8665 drum mount and soft pouch, and costs $139 US.
ATW-T1007 System 10 Microphone Desk Stand Transmitter and ATW-T1006 System 10 Boundary Microphone/Transmitter
These are wireless units compatible with System 10 receivers, great for announcements at school, readings at church or temple, or conferences at work. The ATW-T1007 requires a condenser gooseneck microphone (sold separately), and ATW-T1006 is itself a boundary mic, which is one of those mics that sits on a surface like the ground or a table and looks kind of like a flattish 3D metal trapezoid. There are 2 red/green LEDs – one indicates the function of the touch sensitive user switch, which has three modes: it can toggle between talk and mute, or functions as a press-to-talk (like a talkback mic), or press-to-mute. The other indicates charging status. The mic has three gain levels, -6 dB, 0 dB, and +6 dB, and there is a low-cut filter switch. I suppose that’s enough for government work. Runs at 24-bit / 48 kHz, transmits in the 2.4 GHz range, and has 10-12 hours of battery life, charged via micro USB. ATW-T1007 costs $559 US, ATW-T1006 costs $489 US, and they ship in March 2016.
ATH-E70, ATH-E50 and ATH-E40 In-Ear Monitor (IEM) Headphones
These are very exciting! The ATH-E series are designed for use as in-ear monitors, compatible with AT’s M2 and M3 IEM wireless systems. ‘E’ for ‘Ear’, these were designed to have the sonic characteristics of the ATH-M series in a smaller package (over-ear Monitors, ‘M’ for ‘Monitor’ – look at AT’s use of logic in sku creation!). The E50 and E70 headphones are built with balanced armature driver technology, which was originally used in hearing aids but is now a mainstay in the best in-ear headphones. In this case, the combined technologies provide the volume, clarity, and small footprint of a hearing aid with the accuracy and detail that AT is famous for.
All three units have housings designed to maximize isolation from outside sound (all slightly different in shape) and silicon eartips of various sizes to ensure a proper fit. All have a “flexible memory cable” to loop over your ears for a custom-fit. All use a detachable cable so you don’t need to send in the whole thing if you break a cable. But like Audio-Technica’s mics, it’s what’s inside that counts. The ATH-E70 ($399) has the nicest components with three balanced armature drivers (Steve politely said this compares “very favorably” to the Shure SE-215’s), the ATH-E50 ($199) has a single armature driver, and the ATH-E40 ($99) has a dual phase push-pull driver, which uses two diaphragms facing each other in a dynamic driver scenario, but still sounds pretty clear and balanced across the frequency spectrum. Shipping in March 2016.
-Yes, technically these are the same as the ATH-M50x cans you know and love. The ones that, according to Steve, have recently gained immense popularity in the consumer market thanks to the fact that BEATS made wearing giant over-the-ear headphones into a fashion trend. The M stands for “Monitor”, and these cans are still some of the best on the market for doing actual mixing. But now…
You can have them in “Matte Gray”, with a “kind of Gotham City murdered-out color” according to Steve.
These are on sale for $189, $20 more than the black and white models because they look so cool.
DPA Releases New Mounting options for 4099 Instrument Microphones
DPA (Danish Pro Audio), a boutique Danish microphone company, takes a unique and opposite approach to mic manufacture when compared to Audio Technica – Where Audio Technica has a different mic for every application, DPA has one mic for any application. Their d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones can be found on stage and in studio on the various axes of best musicians in town, and with their supercardioid polar pattern they have a knack for sounding natural and exactly like the instrument they are mic’ing, with great gain before feedback. No color, no “vibe” – just, the instrument. Which for strings, horns, winds, piano, acoustic guitars, etc is exactly what you want! They come in kits with a windscreen, a shockmount built into the clip, detachable cable, and a flexible gooseneck extender.
For instrumentalists who haven’t had a proper clip to mount a dpa mic near their instrument, DPA has now released: a Universal Clamp Mount with a strong grip designed for instruments without a dedicated holder, the SM4099 Stand Mount, a Microphone Stand Mount, and an AC4099 Clip for the Accordion.
