Recording - January 2018 - 37

If you are a laptop person, you can
also use the d:vice with your favorite
audio capture program as well. It pairs
wonderfully with a small MacBook Air.

Applications

The d:vice was originally developed
for the growing mobile electronic news
gathering (ENG) crowd, such as modern-day
reporters, bloggers and videographers.
While the iPhone's video camera gets
better and better-all of my YouTube
videos for Recording are shot with an
iPhone 7-the onboard mic is quite
low-quality. For this reason, many people
have become used to traveling with a
second audio recorder in addition to their
iPhone and/or camera.
The d:vice eliminates this need and
turns your iDevice into a high-end digital
audio capture device capable of 24/96
recording (as long as your recording
app supports it). This is a good place
to remind readers that the d:vice is an
interface, and its app doesn't have any
recording or editing capability. It's designed to work with pretty much any app
that can talk to a class-compliant Core
Audio interface rather than being dedicated
to particular proprietary hardware.
Since the d:vice has a large family of
DPA mics to choose from, you can use
it with a d:screet lavalier mic, a d:fine
over-the-ear headset, a d:vote instrument mic... even DPA's larger d:dicate
mics can be used as room mics. What's
even cooler is that you do not have to
use these mics in pairs and can mix and
match for your chosen application.
If you are wondering, "Why are we
talking about ENG in Recording?",
here are a few use cases that are applicable to our world. I have been using
the d:vice with a pair of DPA's 2011
mics on a stereo bar for field recording and sound design capture. I love
that the the d:vice, which comes with its
own high-quality nylon case plus both
mics and bar, all fit in a 7" x 2" x 2"
box. I also do a fair amount of audio
for video, and again this is a very convenient setup with a shotgun mic and
lav mic combo.
Bottom line, it sounds fantastic and
holds its own sonically with every other
device in its class on the recording interface side-think Apogee or Grace
RECORDING January 2018

37

Design-as well as the mobile ENG
side, like Sound Devices.
The only issue I have with the d:vice is
that it lacks a headphone output. That's
essential when recording audio in the
field; you don't want to wait until you get
back to the studio to know if the audio you
captured is any good! To be fair, it is not
DPA's fault that Apple killed the headphone
jack on the iPhone 7 and above. I am not
sure that one of the various headphone
splitter/adaptor cables for the iPhone 7
will be a reliable solution for a d:vice plus
headphones due to power considerations.
However, the d:vice will work side by side

with Bluetooth headphones; that's how I
used my review unit with my iPhone 7. If
you own an iPhone 5, 5S, 6/6 Plus, SE,
6S/6S Plus, or any iPad, this is a non-issue.
Headphone issue aside, the d:vice is
an amazing piece of gear, a significant
step up in quality and portability in the
world of iPhone and iPad audio capture.
It's not cheap, but genuinely high-end
audio gear rarely is.

PRICE: $659.95
MORE FROM: DPA Microphones,
www.dpamicrophones.com
http://www.dpamicrophones.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - January 2018
