When would you use a VT 506 Lav instead of a VT 500

[DavidNJ]

After reading Dan's (pure drifting) excellent review, and losing my TRAM in Austria, I decided to buy a VT500. Actually, I liked the DPA 4061 and Sanken COS11x better, just not their $400+ price. The VT 500 is $235.

Now the question. There are two versions. The VT 506 has a 5db boost at 15khz. They are about equal at 10khz and below. The graphs are below.

When would you want the boost? Which is preferable for all around use? I usually boom and would use this, recording directly or with a Sennheiser wireless into a Korg MR-1 when the boom is less practical, or maybe as an adjunct.

Thanks for your help,

David

 

[Steve House]

The high-end boost is intended to compensate for the loss of highs when the mic is hidden under a layer of clothing. So the 500 is intended for normal exposed mic placements and the 506 to avoid a muffled sound when you need to hide the mic.

 

[DavidNJ]

Is the issue not capturing the signal at all or needing to eq in post? I haven't worked with a mic that had that severe a boost. If the signal is otherwise lost (the change is to the sensitivity of the pickup) then the boosted mic seems right. If the change is just an amplification in the mic, why not adjust it post?

 

[Steve House]

Is the issue not capturing the signal at all or needing to eq in post? I haven't worked with a mic that had that severe a boost. If the signal is otherwise lost (the change is to the sensitivity of the pickup) then the boosted mic seems right. If the change is just an amplification in the mic, why not adjust it post?

You'll need to ask the engineers who designed it if you really need the answer to "why market two mics, can't one do the same thing with equalization in post" question. The need to hide the mic in or under the costume is a common problem for dramatic and stage productions. A lav that is placed under several layers of clothing will sound muffled due to the selective filtering out of the high frequencies by the cloth overlaying it. Other manufacturers do the same thing, btw - either by offering different models with different response curves or by using replaceable "caps" that fit over the mic capsule to contour its response.

 

[DavidNJ]

I called Reddington, the importer (also for Schoeps and Rycote). They said the VT500 has the same capsule as the Sonotrim, the VT506 the same as the TRAM. After reviewing Dan's Lav test, listening to the Sonotrim, TRAM, and VT500, and looking and listening to different ones under and over clothing after looking at their published frequency response graphs, I thought the VT500 was the way to go. In many cases the mics with a high frequency peak were two sensitive to their environment and only worked well when the clothing acted as a filter. The DPA 4060 (which was adjustable) worked best without it high boost and the Sanken COS11x (which has a curve similar to the VT500) was of course excellent.