testing the d-series hydrophones against the DPA8011's:
http://soundcloud.com/jezrileyfrench/hydrophone-tests-d-series-vs
<http://soundcloud.com/jezrileyfrench/hydrophone-tests-d-series-vs>
'd-series' hydrophone design (available from June 2012 from
hydrophones.blogspot.com)
first section are the DPA's then the d-series !
The DPA's are no longer in production but did used to cost over =A31000
each & if you want one now you'd be lucky to find them below =A32000
each second hand.
So, my d-series will be priced around =A360 each & though I say it
myself i'm very pleased with the way they stacked up in comparison with
the DPA's.
The DPA's have a stronger signal as they have a built in additional
pre-amp, however the most interesting difference is the way the two
hydrophone designs pick up some of the same sounds but at different
levels. Indeed the DPA's seem not to pick up at all lots of the subtle
sounds the d-series do. The DPA's seem to focus on the higher end sounds
& the d-series cover a wider range of sounds more equally. I know i'm
biased but I much prefer the sound of the d-series, which to my ears
capture a more diverse, richer & more complex sound world.
Another interesting fact is that the DPA's had hardly any low frequency
response. I tried applying various low pass filters on the Sound Devices
recorder to them & none made any difference to the sound. This was a
surprise indeed & i'm somewhat puzzled by that.
Both recordings were made directly into the SD7 series recorder, with
gain levels equal & in the same location: 2 hydrophones of each model
either side of a small wooden pier on an inlet on the east coast of
sweden in May 2012.
Of course, the d-series are my design so as I said earlier I am biased,
but lets just say that i'm very pleased by the way they perform next to
the DPA's.
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