DPA Microphones 5100 Mobile 5.1 Surround Mic

The DPA Microphones 5100 Mobile 5.1 Surround Mic is a completely self-contained plug-and-play solution for 5.1 audio capture. It brings engaging surround ambience to sport events, documentaries and other HDTV productions. This microphone is versatile and can be mounted in many ways: microphone stand, suspended from the ceiling or via a handgrip. It’s lightweight and portable, and can also withstand inclement weather conditions due to its robust nature.

The 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone uses five miniature pressure transducers. These transducers have low sensitivity to wind and mechanical noise, low distortion and low frequency response. They also have a large dynamic range.

The three front microphones in this system are time aligned to eliminate comb filtering. This also ensures frequency consistency when down mixing to stereo or mono. In contrast, the rear microphones, with standard omnidirectional patterns, are optimally spaced from both each other and the front array to simulate the most natural time arrival differences. The end result of DPA’s innovative design approach is a surround atmosphere that’s rich, smooth and fully enveloping, great in its coherence, channel separation and localization accuracy. The 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone requires no external signal processing.

This solution is targeted at surround sound recording for film, live, broadcast and studio applications. Using full surround sound is an amazing way to record a symphony. Most orchestras are a self-balancing phenomena—each instrumental part can be heard without the need for additional miking. As well, acoustic reflections and a sense of acoustic space are an important aspect of the sound of an orchestra—just as much as the instruments themselves.

For sports applications, the 5100 is easy to set up. It’s a no worry, 5.1-ambience solution that is placed centrally to cover the main camera shot and backed up by the usual spot mics for additional effects.

The 5.1 output of the microphone runs through a multipin Lemo connector. This connector carries all six electronically-balanced channels.

The microphone comes with:
A five-meter (16 ft), six-pair Mogami cable that breaks out to six Neutrik XLR-M connectors.
An Outdoor Cover (OC5100) that protects the 5100 against rain and reduces wind noise.