DPAs d:facto Vocal Microphone Wins New Fans
The lead singers of Travis and Wet Wet Wet are now firm fans after switching to d:facto for their recent live gigs.
Fran Healey, the lead singer of UK band Travis, and Marti Pellow, the lead singer of Wet Wet Wet, are the latest in the growing list of vocalists to switch to DPAs d:facto Vocal Microphone. In both cases the artists made the change on the recommendation of their live sound engineer, Tom Wiggans.
I have no problem recommending DPAs new d:facto microphone because Im so impressed with the results it has delivered for Fran and Marti - and for Dougie Payne, Travis bass player, who is also using one for his backing vocals, Wiggans says. Before I tried d:facto, I had tried quite a few new vocal microphones that made big promises, but always ended up going back to the microphone that people have been using for over 40 years. However, the d:factos clarity and ability to capture the true sound source without extraneous background noise has made a real difference to the way I work. I now have much more time to concentrate on other details because my vocal fader is just vocal, I dont have to deal with anywhere near as much ambient mush bleeding into the mix.
Tom Wiggans was introduced to the microphone by Rob Ramon, product manager for DPAs UK distributor, Sound Network.
Rob was at one of the gigs Travis played at the Roundhouse in London, and afterwards he came backstage and introduced himself, Wiggans said. I was already familiar with DPA having used the companys overhead and instrument mics. When I heard about d:facto I was keen to try one, so Rob arranged a demo. I didnt get a chance to try it until we were in Paris a few days later. Pablo Wheeler (Travis Monitor Engineer) and I were able to do an A/B comparison with it against the mic Fran usually used. It sounded amazing - so good that after the show I realised I was going to need better reverbs. The difference was really noticeable.
After such a positive experience, Wiggans was happy to specify two d:facto Vocal Microphones for the rest of the Travis tour, which was taking in a number of South American cities.
I had one for Fran and one for Dougie, both of whom were delighted with the way their vocals were sounding, Wiggans says. We then flew straight to some Scottish shows, and unfortunately all our equipment went astray so we had to borrow stuff for a couple of shows. Thankfully, our gear arrived for the last show, and as soon as the band walked on stage and spotted we had the mics back everyone was much happier. Missing something when you don't have it is always a good indication of how good it is.
After completing the Travis tour, Tom Wiggans took his d:facto vocal microphones straight out on the road again - only this time with Wet Wet Wet.
My original plan was to have Marti try the mic in rehearsal so that we could see how he got on with it, but he was having none of that, Wiggans says. He wanted to try it straight away so Chris Trimby (Wets Monitor Engineer) just threw him on stage with it, blind. The d:facto sounded brilliant from the off and Marti was absolutely chuffed to bits. He liked the weight and feel of it in his hand. From a performance point of view he felt it was really well balanced.
Tom Wiggans has also been using DPAs d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones to capture drums and brass. These were supplied by SSE Audio Group in the UK and used on the Travis tour.
The minute we miked up Neil Primroses drums with the d:vote 4099, everyone was blown away, Wiggans says. People were coming up to me and asking what Id done to make the drums sound so real. All the attack that you get with acoustic drums was there - it sounded like you were standing right next to them, only through a PA. They were just as good on Wet Wet Wets brass section, which tends to be quite loud. Once again there was no problem with feedback or rejection.
Both Travis and Wet Wet Wet will be playing live in coming months - Travis is off to the Far East in March/April, while Wet Wet Wet has a number of racecourse gigs lines up for the summer. For Tom Wiggans and for the lead singers, the choice of microphone is now easy.
It will be DPAs d:facto without any doubt, Wiggans says. From now on, when it comes to vocal mics, its always going to be my first choice.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
17/07/2025
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers today introduced its Content Provenance and Authenticity (CPA) in Media Study Group (S...
17/07/2025
NEW YORK Despite widespread concerns about a soft advertising market, NBCUniversal said it closed its 2025-26 upfront negotiation cycle with a record ad sales v...
17/07/2025
NEW YORK Television advertising remains an effective means to market and influence younger baby boomer and Generation X consumers approaching retirement age, ac...
17/07/2025
ALLENTOWN, Pa. & JERSEY CITY, N.J. Service Electric Cable TV and OpenVault have announced that the operator is deploying the OpenVault Proactive Network Manage...
17/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following up on his first major policy speech just two ago, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is promising to buck the usual summ...
17/07/2025
Luxembourg, 14 July 2025 - SES received the final regulatory approvals for the SES-Intelsat transaction, including the US Federal Communications Commission.
O...
17/07/2025
Berklee Alumni Nominated for 2025 Emmy Awards Twenty-three Berklee alumni received nominations across categories in sound mixing, sound editing, and compositi...
16/07/2025
It's Emmy nominations day, and Sundance Institute storytellers are basking i...
16/07/2025
Spotify's podcast editorial team is always on the hunt for shows and episodes that spark conversation, push boundaries, and keep us coming back for more. As...
16/07/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
16/07/2025
Join us at IBC this September and take control of your content. Discover how we're bringing a new level of purpose and precision to the application of AI in...
16/07/2025
Warsaw - Poland, June 24, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, has released its latest May All Screens Video Landscape...
16/07/2025
Bluey Tops Nielsen's Overall Streaming List with More Than 25 Billion Minutes Streamed from January through June 2025
Big June Vaults Squid Game into Top O...
16/07/2025
TV SIM, the SBT affiliate serving Esp rito Santo state in Brazil, has launched a transmitter upgrade initiative with the installation of a Rohde & Schwarz R&S T...
16/07/2025
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, is turning its vision to the future of automation with its demonstrations ...
16/07/2025
Ikegami announces a new addition to its UNICAM-XE product range with the introduction of the UHK-X700RF wireless portable camera: The new version has the same f...
16/07/2025
Today, Amazon Web Services added TwelveLabs as a new model provider to Amazon Bedrock, delivering what could be the most significant breakthrough in enterprise ...
16/07/2025
NEW YORK Streaming platforms continued to dominate TV viewing patterns in June, with data from Nielsen's 50th monthly report of The Gauge showing that strea...
16/07/2025
MAHWAH, NJ Ikegami has introduced the the UHK-X700RF wireless portable camera, a new addition to its UNICAM-XE product range with the same feature set, operatio...
16/07/2025
LONDON IBC2025 organizers said global attendees will have access to a new feature that will integrate Amsterdam's GVB public transport pass into the officia...
16/07/2025
July 16th, 2025
Tribeca Films to Release the Acclaimed LARPing Doc WE CAN BE HEROES by Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons, Alongside a Slate of Festival-Favori...
16/07/2025
Deltatre Acquires Endeavor Streaming in Major Streaming Industry Move The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 By Brandon Costa, Direc...
16/07/2025
SVG Regional Sports Production Summit 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch ...
16/07/2025
Wednesday 16 July 2025
Sky and ITV today announced an extension of their long-standing partnership, which will see ITV's content and services remain seamle...
16/07/2025
Sky Sports lifts the lid on Lions life with hilarious behind-the-scenes mockumentaryWednesday 16 July 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cooki...
16/07/2025
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA Apple TV+ today earned a record-breaking 81 Emmy Award nominations across 14 hit Apple Original titles for this year's 77th Emmy Awa...
15/07/2025
Independent media outlets in Brazil and Colombia are invited to apply for a new programme aimed at strengthening the long-term resilience of journalism in the f...
15/07/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
15/07/2025
Spotify une fuerzas con DiDi, la app l der en servicios de movilidad, delivery y...
15/07/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
15/07/2025
L3Harris put its CORVUS-RAVEN counter-small UAS capability into the hands of soldiers at VANAHEIM, showcasing its ability to provide passive signal detect, enha...
15/07/2025
Netflix Viewing Up 13.5% vs. May, Represents 42% of Monthly Gain for Streaming
...
15/07/2025
SAN FRANCISCO and BENGALARU, India Sangeeta Chakraborty has been named chief revenue officer at Amagi, a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology pro...
15/07/2025
As part of its mandate, the Advanced Television Systems Committee the U.S. organization tasked with developing advanced broadcast TV standards promotes ATSC 3.0...
15/07/2025
QuickLink, the leading global provider of multi-camera video productions and remote contributions, announces the launch of two innovative control panels Studi...
15/07/2025
Chris Kontopanos has joined leading high-quality microphone solutions manufacturer, DPA Microphones, as the company's new Regional Sales Manager for the Mid...
15/07/2025
Magnifi by VideoVerse, a global leader in AI-powered video automation, has launched a major platform upgrade built to simplify live and archival video editing f...
15/07/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will preview its latest innovations at IBC2025, Stand 7.B21. This year's showcase highlights how...
15/07/2025
IBC2025 is set to transform the onsite experience for its global attendees with the launch of a pioneering new feature: full integration of Amsterdam's GVB ...
15/07/2025
Music, sport and technology collided in spectacular fashion as ASB GlassFloor powered the debut of Beats N Buckets, Germany's first Basketball meets Hip-Ho...
15/07/2025
The Collectv, the Emmy award-winning broadcast solutions and workflows consultancy - and winner of Broadcast Tech's Team of the Year is delighted to announc...
15/07/2025
SipRadius, the expert in secure, low latency media transport, will showcase how broadcasters and media companies can take control of fragmented IP workflows at ...
15/07/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, today announced its strategic partnership with beIN ASIA PACIFIC, a leading multi-platform sports media...
15/07/2025
Company marks 15 years of innovation at the show
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and monetization at scale, will return to IBC (Hall 1, Stand F83. RAI, Amster...
15/07/2025
New software solutions extend trusted timing measurement across broadcast, venue, and professional AV applications
Hitomi Broadcast, the market leader in audi...
15/07/2025
SHENZHEN, China Telycam has added control options for its portfolio of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras with a new plug-in for Elgato's Stream Deck family of con...
DPAs d:facto Vocal Microphone Wins New Fans
