DPA 2017 SHOTGUN MICROPHONE

THE MOST DURABLE SHOTGUN MIC EVER!

The 2017 Shotgun Microphone offers highly directional capabilities, providing crystal-clear sound and reliable performance even in very challenging conditions.

Its acoustical performance sets it apart from any competition. It efficiently rejects off-axis sounds and boasts a notably linear off-axis frequency response, surpassing many similar shotgun microphones. These are exactly the capabilities that result in an authentic sound.

Additionally, the 2017 maintains consistent performance in diverse conditions, including cold weather, humid environments, and generally challenging situations.

In conclusion, the microphone’s shorter and lighter design outperforms many others, despite its long interference tube. This makes the 2017 a practical choice for a wide range of applications.

• Accurate, clean sound from the primary sound source combines effortlessly with natural sound captured off-axis
• Extraordinary durability, with reinforced construction to perform in challenging environments, including high humidity
• Outstanding off-axis rejection for optimal isolation of the desired sound source
• Extremely directional pick-up pattern, with an effective interference tube in a compact housing
• Easy to set up, position and use in fixed positions, on booms and on camera systems
• Low self-noise, for excellent performance in quiet environments or with many open microphones

ACCURATE NATURAL SOUND

2017 is designed to ensure that the sound from the primary sound source combines effortlessly with natural sound captured off-axis. The sound is clear and lifelike, including the heavily-attenuated off-axis input. It exhibits the same non-coloration of the off-axis response. Meaning it sounds like what is coming in on-axis, just damped accordingly with the side and rear entries.

Many other shotgun mics don’t pick up off-axis sound naturally, making, for example, the crowd noise sound more like a waterfall or even completely unrecognizable.

EXTRAORDINARY DURABILITY

The 2017 is constructed to withstand rough handling as well as difficult situations, such as cold climates and humidity.

DPA have designed the encapsulating structure without moving mechanical parts and have found just the right thickness of material and ideal uniform pattern of slits on the grid. These things combined make the microphone extremely resistant to mechanical impact. In addition, the materials used in the capsule design and electronics ensure the mic is resistant to moisture, temperature and condensation issues.

The 2017 has a thick, robust body construction of brass that is exceptionally durable and known for its corrosion resistance and tolerance against metal fatigue. In addition, the surfaces of the mic are treated with a protective black chrome finish, which ensures more graceful ageing.

OUTSTANDING OFF-AXIS REJECTION

The 2017, like all DPA’s directional mics, has outstanding performance off-axis. Due to the expertly designed interference tube technology, all off-axis input is highly attenuated.

This means that the 2017 delivers comparable directionality to other market mics but achieves better balance and uniformity in off-axis pickup due to its well-crafted design. This gives the user a well-balanced compromise between natural off-axis sound and maximal off-axis rejection.

EXTREMELY DIRECTIONAL PICK-UP PATTERN

The 2017 is an extremely directional shotgun microphone. It shows impressive attenuation at 90° (around -10 dB) and maximal rejection around 125° (more than -20 dB). Its polar pattern provides a more even pickup of “on-scene” (0°) sound sources than many widely-used shotgun microphones and a larger rejection of out-of-scene noises, thereby achieving a better overall performance than many competing mics on the market.

EASY TO SET UP, POSITION & USE

2017 is shorter, lighter and easier to use than competitive mics. Its smaller dimensions allow it to fit in smaller wind protection units and, since there are no buttons to push on it, you can place it in its protection unit and forget about it.

In addition, the carefully-designed interference tube, combined with the uniform 360° grid, ensures consistent results even if the actual microphone gets rotated around the central axis. Other shotguns, with a less uniform grid pattern, suffer from shifts in sound color, if the mic is unintentionally rotated.

LOW SELF-NOISE

With an extreme SPL (Sound Pressure Level) handling of 143 dB SPL Peak, low self-noise of 13 dB(A) and a 130 dB dynamic range, the 2017 excels where other good shotgun microphones fail, making it useful in applications where shotguns traditionally do not perform well.

Low self-noise is useful when you need to capture/amplify quiet sources or when many microphones are open at the same time.

THOROUGHLY TESTED TO EXCEL IN THE HARSHEST SITUATIONS

The 2017 has successfully met the testing standards, demonstrating its physical robustness against mechanical impact and resistance to humidity and condensation

Numerous tests ensure the microphone’s resilience, showing it remains functional when rolled off shelves or dropped onto hard floors.

Moreover, it withstands direct rain exposure and quickly recovers, returning to peak performance faster than many other shotgun microphones on the market.

DESIGN CHOICES BY R&D

Every decision was made by optimizing theoretical algorithms and performing extensive design modelling. This scientific approach allowed to understand and seperate the dependencies between approximately 100 parameters, each of which influences mic performance. This way, DPA could identify and overcome challenges and therefore, design a shotgun mic that was envisioned, without compromising on clarity, consistency or durability.

COMPARING THE 2017 and 4017 

While both the 2017 and 4017 are high-quality, professional shotgun mics, they do have their differences. Here is a quick rundown of key features to help you choose the right mic for your situation.