DPA & Amber Celebrate 25-Year Relationship

Amber Technology’s General Manager of pro audio products, Leon Hart, first inked the distribution contract 25 years ago. At that stage Ole Brøsted Sørensen and Morten Støve formed Danish Pro Audio out of B&K after the respected Danish microphone brand abandoned its microphones business. As Leon Hart recalls, B&K microphones were very well regarded but occupied a narrow niche in the market: “Really, the main game was the 4006 omni. The Sydney Opera House had a pair over the orchestra, Studios 301 had stock for recording in their main room, and that was the type of market. In the beginning, DPA took those high-regarded capsules and set about finding new applications for them — thanks to different housings and designs.”

Everything changed when DPA launched its miniature (5mm) capsule. It revolutionised the sound of musical theatre, thanks to its natural sound and dependability. Leon recalls it also coincided with the musical theatre market blowing up in Australia. “Jands Production Services — the largest concert touring rental company in Australia — decided to enter the music theatre market at the time of the DPA miniature launch. They immediately saw the possibilities afforded by the DPA miniature and made a significant investment.”

The first Tier 1 musical in Australia to go with an all-DPA headworn microphone inventory was Singin’ in the Rain, supplied by Jands Production Services in 2001. “Of course, it also happens to be the musical where the mics get wet,” recalls Leon Hart. “We were given a tip by the Dutch distributor to slip a condom over the capsule to protect the microphone. Worked like a charm!”

These days the latest generation of DPA miniature microphones have an IP58 rating, and can survive the harshest dusty and wet conditions without a prophylactic.

DPA’s catalogue has grown considerably, taking its microphones into Australian retail with the popular instrument microphones and d:facto range of handheld mics for stage use.

“Long-standing distribution partners are very important to DPA,” explains DPA Vice President of Sales, Martin Møller Park. “Not only do they provide sales support and service, they carry the DPA Microphones DNA. They finish the sentences that we start. Amber Technology is that type of partner, they have done a great job for many, many years and are representing DPA in Australia in the best way we can imagine.”

The future is bright for DPA Microphones. DPA’s R&D team made the most of the enforced Covid lock-in. The result is a veritable purple-patch of new product in 2021 beginning with the recent announcement of the 4466 CORE omnidirectional and 4488 CORE directional headset microphones, which use a three-point gripping system to provide a comfortable and reliable level of grip and security on all head types.