I have been seduced by the DPA 4098s for a while now. It has replaced the omnigoose as the perfect car rig microphone. I have been working on designing my own with some success.
I built a goose neck microphone that is terminated to Sennheiser 3.5mm. The gooseneck arm is from a Newwer Skype mic and the head is from a in-car-mount microphone meant for handsfree talking. The 10mm capsule was sourced from Knowles, the same company who (from a reliable source tells me) makes capsules for Countrymen. To date I have made 3, given 2 away to friends to use. I kept the last. But I didn’t feel finished. I was limited to capsules sold on the open retail market.
This past December I bought the Audio Technica Unimount. Now I am able to use any brand’s cardioid lav as a micro-boom. Being able to use any directional lav now means I don’t have to invest in speciality equipment. DPA makes a cardioid lav and now that lav can act similar to the DPA SC 4098 but not be a one trick pony like the SC 4098. Owning equipment that can do double duty is always a solid investment.
The clamp to the Unimount opens to about ~7.4mm, which is more then enough to clip to a car’s visor or rear view mirror. The clip can open wider but it will depend on the surface texture of the material to determine if the clip will snap off. Rough frabic would be fine for a wider bite, smooth leather or laminated wood may cause the clip to slide.
The foam “blimp” will accommodate lavs as thick as 9mm. Super thin lavs may require a tiny rubber band around them to make them thick enough to keep securely in place. Thicker lavs like the Shure MX184 may be stretching it.
The wire clips into place using the two cable clips. These are very sturdy and will accommodate even the thickest of lavalier wires.
Overall I’ve been very happy with the Audio Technica Unimount. I’m so happy that I’m also designing a simple table top stand that will let me clip the unimount too. This stand will allow me to use the unimount behind laptop screens as a plant mic. The mounting options are endless and give my seldom used cardioid lavalier new life.
Tell us how you’d use the unimount in your new peoduction in the comment sectiom below.
About the Author
Andrew Jones is a location sound mixer based in Los Angeles. He started in the TV and Film industry in 2004. You can email him at Andrew@HoldForSound.com
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