Rick Alexander Takes On Audio with DPA Microphones
Company's d:screet 4071 Miniature Omnidirectional Microphone is the audio champion for miking star athletes like Bubba Watson and Richie Browne
A 30-year industry veteran, Rick Alexander has learned the vital importance of carrying DPA Microphones' products in his audio kit. As an audio engineer for both broadcast and live events, Alexander trusts the company's mics to combat any auditory challenges he faces during a project. Whether environmental noise arises while filming on location, or the visibility of a mic is problematic, the company's d:screet 4071 Miniature Omnidirectional Microphone has always been his go-to secret audio weapon.'
Alexander first discovered DPA Microphones five years ago while searching for a lavalier, and found that the quality of the d:screet 4071 was unmatched by any other mic he'd tested. We were checking different microphones and kept returning back to the 4071, he explains. When you're in the field, you're going to be in horrible audio environments with traffic around you, an airplane flying over, a truck coming by and people talking. You never know what's going to happen. I found that the best place to pick a mic is always at NAB, where about 10,000 people are speaking at once. While testing the 4071 at the show a few years ago, we noticed how the background noise dropped out significantly.
The d:screet 4071 rejects other unwanted environmental noises as well; from weather conditions to cars, trains and airplanes. The 4071 is very impressive. In fact, we were shooting near the ocean for the first project I ever worked on with the DPAs, he recalls. The wind was loud, we had a crow that wouldn't go away. My client called me up the next week and he said, man, what did you do?' and I thought I was in trouble, but then he said, My God, remember that crow and the wind issues we had? We barely even hear it in the background.' That just sold me on the mics even more. Now when I have a client with a challenging audio situation and they're nervous about filming, I can reassure them to trust me and the mics. Sure enough, I get that call, you were right, we don't hear the trucks as much, we don't hear the plane as much, etc.'
In addition to potential environmental challenges on set, Alexander must also be prepared for the aesthetic obstacles of a shoot. When the talent needs to be close-miked without using a visible solution, the d:screet 4071 can be concealed perfectly underneath wardrobe. Recently, during two days of filming a docu-series with Richie Browne, who earned a 2012 bronze medal through the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field National Championships, Alexander needed a mic that could be hidden during exterior shots of Browne at the track.
I strapped a 4071 around Browne's chest, with a windscreen on it to kill the noise from his running, and it sounded great, says Alexander. It was a lot of long shots and even some footage from drone shots, and he was sweating the entire time, but the mic didn't fail once.
The established audio engineer discovered the true benefit of taping the d:screet 4071 underneath clothing during what he recalls his most demanding project, doing a behind-the-scenes shoot with Bubba Watson just after he won the Masters. The catch was that he'd need to change outfits 40 times without us being able to keep miking him, says Alexander. Since we were shooting with a wide shot, [booming] wasn't an option. When Bubba showed up, I taped the mic to his chest, gave a lot of slack to the cable underneath and strapped the transmitter on his thigh. Bubba said it didn't bother him at all, he changed so many times and it was windy and raining, but the audio turned out great.
Over the years, Alexander has shared his knowledge from working in the field as a Lab Specialist of audio at Full Sail University and by serving on the Board of Directors for Women in Film, an international organization.
My advice to other professionals is to spend the extra money on DPA to get the quality results they desire, Alexander adds. A lot of people don't understand that if you can get that first source of audio to sound good, it makes your job, and that of your post team, so much easier. You don't have to worry about background noise or proper mic placement. I say that to them and see the light bulbs go off. I just trust my mics and love the results.
On top of DPA's d:screet 4071, Alexander occasionally turns to a variety of the company's other mics to fit the wide range of productions he works on, including a major network singing competition show, international commercials and documentaries. Some of the industry veteran's other production experience includes serving as a booming operator on Magic City and Graceland as well as freelance work as the A1 for The Golf Channel.
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...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Rick Alexander Takes On Audio with DPA Microphones
