We designed the V2 with concert recording as its primary application, though it works fine for quiet dialog too. We designed around the sensitivity specifications of two fine miniature microphones: DPA's 4060 and 4061 (as used in our High End Binaural microphone sets). With the DPA 4060 (20mV/Pa), our customers can record loud concerts with the V2's level controls at near minimum, and moderately loud concerts with the levels turned up only a bit. With the 4061s (6 mV/Pa), they can record extremely loud concerts with the level controls at near minimum. For quiet recordings, the target was DPA's 4003 (40mV/Pa) -- its high sensitivity allows Mic2496 to use low gain settings and provide fine S/N performance.

When you select microphones to use with the V2, you should choose microphones that have sensitivity specifications similar to above three microphones. If you choose to use a low sensitivity microphone (e.g., a ribbon mic or a dynamic mic like a Shure SM-57), you'll have to turn up Mic2496's level controls near maximum and will hear more background noise.

And as with most mic pre-amps, the lower you set the gain, the lower the mic pre-amp noise you'll record.

Remember that with 24-bits of resolution and more than 120 dB of dynamic range available, you should now set your recording levels to peak at around -25 dB or even lower. At those levels, V2's true 24-bits gives you around 100 dB of dynamic range, mcuh more than is usually necessary. With 25 dB of headroom, you'll be in little danger of encountering digital clipping. You can add gain later in your DAW as necessary; adding gain there adds no additional noise.

Next