Metallica switch to DPA

Big Mick Hughes, front of house sound engineer for Metallica, is using DPA’s d:vote 4099 instrument microphones to capture the sound of drummer Lars Ulrich’s cymbals and toms.

“After 30 years with Metallica – and 15 years miking Lars’ drums with another brand of microphone – I was finally persuaded to test DPA microphones by Morten Uldbæk, who is the Danish distributor for Midas consoles,” Big Mick said. “I have to admit I had never considered DPA as the right kind of microphone for live rock music, but after giving them a try I was really impressed with their brightness and crispness.”

The final impetus to switch to DPA came from the studio engineers who were working on the soundtrack for Metallica’s 3D film Through the Never.

“The recording guys were not happy with our old mics because they didn’t deliver the audio they wanted across the full frequency range,” Big Mick said. “Obviously for a surround sound, 3D movie it was important that the audio was perfect so I suggested the DPA d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones and, after carrying out A/B testing, they were very happy for us to switch to them.

“Technology does move on and I’m always looking for better solutions. Now that I have discovered DPA I am looking forward to trying out a few other models and already have my eye on the d:dicate 2011 recording microphones as I’m told they are great.”

www.dpamicrophones.com