World - Katy Perry's engineering team relies on DPA Microphones' 4088 cardioid headsets for all the pop superstar's live performances, including her current California Dreams world tour. With the fast-paced, high-action set mechanics of the tour, Perry's front-of-house engineer Peter Keppler needed a mic that could adapt to any situation.
"When selecting a microphone, I wanted something that would provide a well-balanced, open and airy sound for Katy," says Keppler. "She's a strong singer with a great voice and I thought finding a good headset mic would be a challenge. From the moment we tried the DPA 4088, I knew the sound was no longer going to be a problem."
During Thinking of You, Perry stands atop a pink cloud that allows her to fly out over the audience playing an acoustic guitar. During this performance, Perry is in front of the main PA, which can be a potentially disastrous sonic scenario regarding feedback.
"The off axis rejection performance of the DPA 4088 was a lot better than anything else I'd ever heard," Keppler explains. "All the headset mics I'd previously used sounded very unnatural - either muffled or very thin and boxy, and feedback problems were terrible. The DPA 4088 solved all of these issues.
