DPA Microphones’ new handheld d:facto vocal microphone was the choice of Grammy Award-winner Sting on his recent “Back To Bass” tour of Europe and the Far East.
Recording engineer Donal Hodgson, who had great success using the d:facto with Sting in the studio, recommended it to his front of house engineer, Howard Page.
“Donal knew that I had been looking for a later technology microphone for Sting on our live shows,” says Page, who is also senior director of engineering at Clair Brothers U.S. “If Donal was happy with it in the exacting environment of a recording studio, then I knew I certainly would be as well.”
Page adds, “The d:facto’s definition and clarity was a huge update on our Sting shows, and worked just as well for the in-ear monitors to which Sting listened. It’s an absolutely unique microphone that has an amazing transient response and just the right amount of proximity without the normal problems of on/off tonal differences.”
Sting’s long working relationship with Page meant that he was also happy to try the d:facto in a live environment. “Sting and I have a very good relationship, and he trusts me on all things audio. When I asked him to try the d:facto, he was more than willing to go with it,” explains Page.
The four DPA d:factos for the tour were ordered from DPA’s UK distributor, Sound Network. These were delivered to Clair’s European office in plenty of time to be included in the equipment packages for the tour. Sting has ‘A’ and ‘B’ simultaneously touring systems, each containing two d:factos – one as the main microphone and one for backup.
“We did shows in France, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Lebanon, Korea, Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok and Jakarta, so it was a huge amount of travelling,” concludes Page. “On this most recent leg of the tour, I have been in some venues with real long reverb times. The d:facto just cuts through perfectly without losing the tight, natural full-range tone that I need for Sting’s voice.”
