DPA 6388 CORE+ Headset Mic Built to Tolerate Placement Shifts

DPA Microphones has introduced the 6388 CORE+, a directional headset microphone for loud stages and spaces with high ambient noise. The company's stated aim is to remove the usual choice between strong isolation and natural sound in this type of microphone.

Less sensitive to placement

Directional headset microphones usually change their sound if the capsule moves even a little, which is common when performers adjust the headset mid-show or when volunteers put it on without care. The 6388 CORE+ uses a physically asymmetrical design, an acoustical axis shifted off the centre of the capsule and a tightly controlled proximity effect. DPA says this keeps the sound steady if the headset slips during a performance.

The boom can be mounted on the left or right side and placed beside or slightly behind the mouth instead of directly in front of it. That position reduces plosives and breath noise and makes the microphone less visible, without changing tonal balance.

Feedback and off-axis behaviour

DPA reports that the directional pattern stays consistent across frequencies, so off-axis rejection is even and predictable. For engineers this is meant to bring higher gain before feedback and less bleed from stage sources. The capsule builds on the DPA 4088 directional capsule and adds the company's patent-pending CORE+ technology, which gives more feedback rejection and clarity than the predecessor, along with a wide dynamic range for quiet and loud vocals.

Helga Somava, DPA's director of product management, said the model moves beyond the usual compromises of directional headsets.

Build and frame

• IP58 protection against dust and humidity;
• modular connectors for major wireless systems;
• several colours, sizes and terminations;
• a refined Act headset frame with soft earhook tips, firmer clip-to-frame grip, downward cable routing and a PVD-treated boom.