Recording - June 2012 - 54

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

Swedish microphone manufacturer Milab’s roots lie in the designs of Rune Rosander and his original company Pearl Microphone Laboratories, founded in 1941. In 1978 PML was split into two companies, the second one dubbed simply Microphone Laboratories, or Milab for short, and helmed by his son Hans. Milab retained many of Rune’s classic designs, and the microphones we are looking at here are direct descendants of the Pearl DC-96 that was introduced in 1967. The first of the pair, the DC-96B, is the current production model of the older DC96, making it a vintage mic still in production 45 years later! The second mic is the new DC-96C, a transformerless design with an updated capsule and improved specs. Unique and rectangular The DC-96 mics have always had a rectangular capsule originally designed by Rune in the 1950s and known as the 2700. Aside from Milab, Pearl Labs also continues to use rectangular capsules.

specs include: Sensitivity of 6 mV/Pa (±1 dB @1 kHz); Max SPL of 122 dB (1% THD @1kHz); and a19 dBA noise level. The transformerless DC-96C comes with a 2900 capsule, an updated version of the old 2700 capsule, with improved specs and noise floor. It includes a 12 dB pad switch on the side. Its specs include: Sensitivity of 21.5 mV/Pa (±1 dB @1 kHz); Max SPL of 132 dB (1% THD at 1 kHz, 144 dB with pad); and a 12 dBA noise level. Similar sounds The DC-96B is virtually ruler flat from 1.5 kHz on down, with a slight bump from about 5-15 kHz. The DC-96C has an ever so slight boost in the low end from around 60 Hz on down, and a slightly less pronounced high end than the DC-96B. The DC-96C is also a few dB hotter in signal, so the pad was a great idea. The sonic difference between the two when A/B’d side by side is: the DC-96B has a solid evenly weighted sound with a nice forward, smooth top end. The DC-96C sounds virtually identical to its sibling, but when you switch back and forth between the two, the C’s low end blooms a tad, and the midrange opens up and gives the illusion of added clarity and depth. Since the frequency plots of both mics are quite similar, with the DC-96B

Milab
Why rectangular? For a thorough dissertation check out milabmic.com, but in simple terms, the stated benefits include dispersion of the extreme midrange resonance peaks inherent in circular capsules, and an exceptionally neutral off-axis response. Further, it is said to have the added benefit that the horizontal (shorter) plane of the capsule has a larger pickup pattern than the vertical, allowing for better control of rejection and bleed based on mic position. Body, build and kit At a height of 11/2" the capsule is a hair bigger than your average largediaphragm capsule; however, its 1/2" width allows it to reside in a side-address body that is only marginally bigger than a typical end-address pencil condenser.
54
RECORDING JUNE 2012

DC-96B & DC-96C Condenser Microphones
These Swedish mics offer unusual design and impeccable sound
The membrane is sprayed with aluminum rather than the more usual gold sputter, and is housed in a specialized internal rubber shock mount behind a single-layer mesh grille. Both mics come in the same two-piece, ultra-thick brass body. They look alike in a matte black finish with white logo and lettering, a robust build with a Boutique-Euro look. They are just a hair shy of 51/2" high and just over 1" in diameter, which makes them easy to fit where most large-diaphragm mics cannot go. Each mic comes as part of a kit with a mic clip and a windscreen, and a micspecific custom frequency plot. Specs Both DC-96 models have a doublesided cardioid capsule with a 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response. DC-96B being a touch more pronounced in the high end, this is slightly surprising, but is most likely due to the DC-96C not having a transformer. It’s not like removing a pillow from the sound, but more like the room around the source becomes more noticeable. Overall both models can be described as neutral and natural rather than thick and vibey, and yet the DC-96B does have what I would call a nice classic rounding to its top end. In use This is one of those rare reviews where I can start by saying that these mics will work on anything... period. They are not clones of a U87, but since they are similarly versatile I would use these mics on any source where you might naturally think to throw up a U87.


http://www.milabmic.com

Recording - June 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - June 2012

Recording - June 2012
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
Finale 2012 As A Tool For Sample Playback
Mark De Clive-Lowe
Applied Acoustics Systems Chromaphone.
Reviewed and Revisited: PreSonus Studio One 2.0.
Toontrack EZkeys Grand Piano
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 6: Introduction to Microphones—Part Three (From Proximity To Plosives)
Recording’s Showcase Of Sounds
Steven Slate Drums 4.0.
Sample Magic Electro and Hed Kandi: Disco House Samples
MOTU MachFive3
Reviewed and Revisited: audiobro LA Scoring Strings 2.0.
Milab DC-96B and DC-96C Condenser Microphones
Sennheiser MK 4 Condenser Microphone
Olympus LS-20M and LS-100 Portable Recorders
Readers’ Tapes
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - June 2012 - Recording - June 2012
Recording - June 2012 - Cover2
Recording - June 2012 - 1
Recording - June 2012 - 2
Recording - June 2012 - 3
Recording - June 2012 - Fade In
Recording - June 2012 - 5
Recording - June 2012 - Contents
Recording - June 2012 - 7
Recording - June 2012 - Talkback
Recording - June 2012 - 9
Recording - June 2012 - Fast Forward
Recording - June 2012 - 11
Recording - June 2012 - Finale 2012 As A Tool For Sample Playback
Recording - June 2012 - 13
Recording - June 2012 - 14
Recording - June 2012 - 15
Recording - June 2012 - 16
Recording - June 2012 - 17
Recording - June 2012 - 18
Recording - June 2012 - 19
Recording - June 2012 - Mark De Clive-Lowe
Recording - June 2012 - 21
Recording - June 2012 - 22
Recording - June 2012 - 23
Recording - June 2012 - Applied Acoustics Systems Chromaphone.
Recording - June 2012 - 25
Recording - June 2012 - Reviewed and Revisited: PreSonus Studio One 2.0.
Recording - June 2012 - 27
Recording - June 2012 - 28
Recording - June 2012 - 29
Recording - June 2012 - Toontrack EZkeys Grand Piano
Recording - June 2012 - 31
Recording - June 2012 - 32
Recording - June 2012 - 33
Recording - June 2012 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 6: Introduction to Microphones—Part Three (From Proximity To Plosives)
Recording - June 2012 - 35
Recording - June 2012 - 36
Recording - June 2012 - 37
Recording - June 2012 - Recording’s Showcase Of Sounds
Recording - June 2012 - 39
Recording - June 2012 - 40
Recording - June 2012 - 41
Recording - June 2012 - 42
Recording - June 2012 - 43
Recording - June 2012 - 44
Recording - June 2012 - 45
Recording - June 2012 - Steven Slate Drums 4.0.
Recording - June 2012 - 47
Recording - June 2012 - Sample Magic Electro and Hed Kandi: Disco House Samples
Recording - June 2012 - 49
Recording - June 2012 - MOTU MachFive3
Recording - June 2012 - 51
Recording - June 2012 - Reviewed and Revisited: audiobro LA Scoring Strings 2.0.
Recording - June 2012 - 53
Recording - June 2012 - Milab DC-96B and DC-96C Condenser Microphones
Recording - June 2012 - 55
Recording - June 2012 - Sennheiser MK 4 Condenser Microphone
Recording - June 2012 - 57
Recording - June 2012 - 58
Recording - June 2012 - 59
Recording - June 2012 - 60
Recording - June 2012 - 61
Recording - June 2012 - Olympus LS-20M and LS-100 Portable Recorders
Recording - June 2012 - 63
Recording - June 2012 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - June 2012 - Advertiser Index
Recording - June 2012 - 66
Recording - June 2012 - 67
Recording - June 2012 - 68
Recording - June 2012 - 69
Recording - June 2012 - 70
Recording - June 2012 - 71
Recording - June 2012 - Fade Out
Recording - June 2012 - Cover3
Recording - June 2012 - Cover4
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