DPA microphones

[rick]

be very aware that a bald tech guy is about town trying to sell a pair of Stolen DPA 4015 microphones
damn hornicrooks !
somebody has to stop these guys

[Howard Jones]

I prepared an email to send to a wide group of people this morning to alert them to this. Because of the restrictive nature of the slander laws in this country, in the end I decided not to send it. Let me phrase it this way... it has become abundantly clear that the person referred to in this post has behavioural problems that are likely to cause a lot of damage to anyone who comes into contact with him or his offsider.

Where people may have once had some sympathy for this individual because it was thought that he was trying to support his sidekick deal with his own behavioural issues, it seems certain that the person referred to has now developed strong problems of his own. His cravings are apparently so powerful that he is more than willing to rip off blindly and blatantly the industry that he once respected.

His desire to raise instant cash has, in the last 3 months, seen him "hire" or "buy" some equipment (rubber cheques) which is then on-sold within 24 hours. Anyone coming into contact with this person is advised along the following lines:

Importers/Retailers/Hire Companies: Well, you have read what I just wrote - would you deal with an individual who behaved like that? I can assure you that if you have any dealings whatsoever with the person referred to, then you too will have cause to join the queue at the police station to lodge a complaint.

Studios/Engineers/Musos: if you are asked by the person referred to if you would like to purchase something that looks brand new or a piece of classic gear at a ridiculous price, please just refuse. Ask yourself - does it really look like the person offering this equipment to you is the genuine owner? You are likely to pay for something that the police just come and take off you anyway.

The two people referred to have to be utterly stopped and it is up to us as an industry to band together to get rid of a really, really bad apple in our midst.

Howard Jones

[Linear]

I prepared an email to send to a wide group of people this morning to alert them to this. Because of the restrictive nature of the slander laws in this country, in the end I decided not to send it. Let me phrase it this way... it has become abundantly clear that the person referred to in this post has behavioural problems that are likely to cause a lot of damage to anyone who comes into contact with him or his offsider.

Howard,

I'd send the email. To get a conviction for slander would require lots and lots of money, with plenty of evidence to back it up.

I would say that mr whoever wouldn't be in the position to hire a team of lawyers for something that is probably true anyway. Just don't make it defamatory (ie don't call him an @sshole), and stick to the facts that you know.

I've heard much the same from several sources, and the more people that know about this the better. If it saves one person from a fraudulant transaction then it would have been well worth it.

Chris

[Howard Jones]

I guess that most folks in Sydney would know who is being spoken about here. And yet... once in January and again last week, 2 very reputable and yet unaware organisations have supplied equipment under what turned out to be fraudulent circumstances to this individual who has re-sold the equipment to buy drugs.

I should add a further alert to what I wrote about earlier - if you are approached by this person with offers to purchase a Brook amplifier, limiter etc if only you can pay him some money upfront with the gear to be supplied in a week or two - forget it. You'll never see your money again, nor the equipment for which you think you have paid a deposit.

It is no longer any use going on the fact that this used to be a good person. He has fallen way off the edge and is desperate enough to do anything and make promises he won't keep. Just ask Rick O'Neill, Gunter Wagner, Leon Hart, Glen Phimister, Don Dowling and...

Howard Jones

[Martin]

i'm assuming if we don't know who this guy is then chances are its not very likely we are going to come in contact with him anyway right?

[Howard Jones]

No, I wouldn't assume that. He has become very devious and has been seeking out people who don't know him, precisely because those who do know him wouldn't trust him at all.

Read the second line of Rick's first post very, very carefully for an almost exact rendering of this person's surname - one letter has been altered for comic effect. If you can't get it, ask around and someone will be sure to know who is being referred to here.

This person operates out of Sydney but has been known to export his damage to Melbourne and other places.

[mark rachelle]

He tainted my name when i reccommended a summing amplifier to crystal mastering

mark hornicrook is a @#$%!

[Howard Jones]

The person referred to has been causing a lot of damage for far longer than any of us should have allowed to go on... Now it has come back to bite us.

Mark, I understand what you mean but... no-one can say that your name has been tainted. We have to take each other as we find each other. The person referred to has obviously taken some action that has caused you grief but hopefully that has now passed and the services you offer have been evaluated in their own terms.

For the others reading this, we aren't talking about a nuisance here, we are talking about a person who cold-bloodedly perpetrates cynical & criminal actions against the very industry that has supported him for so long. It is time for this to stop.

[justme]

just another little warning... this guy's at it again, it seems he's fooled syntec into a couple of neumann's...

[Damien]

is this the cheap u89 on evilbay?

that i was about to bid on

[rick]

i think the 89 is fine
but do you really want an 89 ..?
me thinks not

[NYMo]

Todays connundrum...

Was it because the Crocodile was replaced by the Wide Mouth Frog ??

[davidspearritt]

i think the 89 is fine
but do you really want an 89 ..?
me thinks not

Yes I do. For classical work its a beauty!

[rick]

hmmm

really...?

not too dull...? unfocused..?cloudy

if i were to write down the neumann microphone that i just cannot see the point in it would be an 89, then a close runner up the tlm 170 .
the tlm 170 sounds clinical and the 89 sounded flat

but they both won lots of awards when they came out
and they have sold thousands of each model so ...?

well i guess i just dont get it

they just dont sound like neumanns to me
too much of the wrong kind of electronics for my liking

[davidspearritt]

Exactly the two models favoured for classical work, along with the 192 since they all share the same, much more, neutral capsule and extended electronics. The TLM170 is one of the most popular classical mics around and much coveted.

The freq response curves tell the story, no hyped midrange or HF to give that hyped sound. We classical folk like the mic to be as uncoloured as possible, especially when recording say a shrill soprano who could shred a capsule at ten paces.

[rick]

dave i think that is fair enough, if you are clever enough to know those neumann mics have the same (ie smaller capsule) then the larger ones from favorite neumanns then your opinions are perfectly in tune with your needs.

and well worth the post

i know they are well regarded mics and could even be discribed as sought after,
i just never understood why !
still dont :)

i once bought a two tlm 170s for $1800 from a closing down studio (rhinocereos) and could not get to grips will the "flat tone" of them,
i put them at the bottom of the drawer for a few months

then my mate and i swapped Roger climpson (yes the news reader) two tlm 170s for his personal 1958 c-12 !

both parties were very happy with the deal let me tell you
different strokes for different folks i guess

its interesting that this comes up under a thread for dpa microphones
which are totally the bees kness for classical work, and are ultra linear really small diaphram condensers
dpa mics used to be known as B&K for those that are wondering...

[Roy]

So Rick, if for some unfortunate reason you could only have 1 Neumann- which would it be? Just out of curiosity. Or what's your favourite?

[davidspearritt]

dave i think that is fair enough, if you are clever enough to know those neumann mics have the same (ie smaller capsule) then the larger ones from favorite neumanns then your opinions are perfectly in tune with your needs.

Actually the capsules are not smaller. Its just that they are different and have a smoother off axis response to the U87 etc giving a more natural sound quality for all angles of incidence. Most of the other LDC neumanns are used for close directional miking, the U89, TLM170 and TLM193 are more for ambient micing.

If you have any more bumping around in the bottom drawer let me know. :)

[rick]

....from the full colour coffee table neumann dealer book
"neumann the microphone company "( limited run of 100 copies ) and only two in australia the one i have and the one i gave guntar wagner as a present because he could not get one.....

"in 1980 a slightly smaller version of the u87 was launched:the u89,
which was handier and lighter then the u87 it used a smaller capsule the k89, with a polyester diaphragm and offered 5 different polar patterns

or

in 1983 neumann introduced the tlm 170 it employed the same dual capsule as the u89, however it did not have a transformer etc etc


so i think you might find you are mistaken about the actual sizes of the capsules .the thing is they are noticably different and smaller when you look at them to clean them but maybe not obvious just through the grill.

what you will find when you investigate is the 89 capsules (the k89) and the tlm capsules are smaller then and have different resononce tuning holes and are made in a different number of parts then the bigger 47/49 (m7 or the k47/49 ) (one piece) capsules and just a bit smaller then the u87 k67 now named( k870/67 ) two piece capsules

but this is just getting a bit to dweeby to just to prove my point

however as you have confirmed there are a bunch of people that like these mikes and they do have applications that i dont need /want

but the thing for me is most neumanns share a similar tone or "colouring" if you like

i think these mics sound very unlike neumanns

the thing that i really like about a neumann u47 tube ( my fave ) or an m49 ( my other fave) is the soundstage and the larger then life sound.
they just sound like finished recordings to me.

the u89 and the tlm 170 always leave me looking for an equaliser.


i find that a little ironic , because they are meant to be amonst the flatter responding neumanns

the km series of course being smaller capsules again are much flatter in response yet they still sound like neumanns to me
so go figure

but all this is stuff i have figured out for myself over years of use/misuse without looking at graphs books and charts, just microphones that get used or ones that sit in the drawer.

there is a silver u89 that sits in my mates drawer that he never uses i talked him into buying a wagner u47 and that was the end of the 89 for him.
make a silly offer on the u89 and i will put to him

[davidspearritt]

Thanks Rick, I tried to find my Neumann literature to determine exact size of the capsules, they are not that much smaller, they are all still LD condensers, 1mm off the diameter will not make a profound difference to the sound, and as you say, the KM SDC still sound like Neumanns.

Will contact you off list re U89. :) Will make an offer after we sell our M149 which we never use.

[mal stanley]

I use 89s often...especially live jazz recording for ABC and hire jobs..
the fact that they are fairly flat but still quite directional means they can focus in on a sound without too much hyped up spill..important when you have other instruments like drums close by...I've also used them in the studio with a nice valve preamp for a bright instrument...not too shabby...

[Howard Jones]

One of the people recently damaged by contact with the 2 persons referred to at the start of this thread has sent the following update:

Just giving you an update on the D*le/Horni*rook thing... I had a call from the police tonight and they said that they are presently unable to find either of them despite all sorts of knocking on their door and unsuccessful calls etc..
The police have put them on the wanted list which means that if they:
Get pulled over on the road
attempt to leave the country
apply for a license
have activity with the tax dept
etc etc etc
They will be arrested.
D*le has apparently all sorts of form including a ramraiding incident!!
Not sure if that is one of those ATM things or not. But the police have linked several things together including Horni*rooks recent fraud from Amber tech.

I said what if they just keep on doing the same thing over and over again...he said the last time he put a suspect on the wanted list he
was picked up in 3 days !!

Apparently not being able to find someone is not unusual when they are
devious...which is understandable. Anyhow that's the situation and I'm keeping you up to date as promised...

Constable Tanzini said spread the word around your colleagues about the
reliability re doing business with these guys