Pope Leo XIV's Spain Visit Relied on DPA 4098 Gooseneck Mics

Pope Leo XIV spent a week in Spain, with liturgical celebrations, public appearances and institutional events in front of very large crowds and a worldwide television audience. The final days took the visit to Gran Canaria and Tenerife, where crews had to run complex wireless operations under difficult RF conditions. SeeSound, which distributes both DPA Microphones and Wisycom in Spain, supplied and supported the microphones and wireless gear.

Microphones for the addresses

For the Pope's speeches, the production used DPA 4098 gooseneck microphones. The model is intended for spoken word, where intelligibility comes first, and it is built to resist RF interference, which matters at broadcast sites with a lot of radio activity. Lluc Torres, product manager of SeeSound's broadcast division, said the 4098 is a trusted choice whenever speech clarity is the priority.

Wireless for the Canary Islands broadcast

Hi Vision, the company that broadcast the event for local television in the Canary Islands, used a Wisycom wireless system. The equipment list included:

• Wisycom MCR54 multichannel receivers;
• MTP60 bodypack transmitters;
• MTH610 handheld transmitters;
• RPU500 full-duplex reporter systems;
• MTK982 in-ear transmitters and MPR60 receivers for monitoring.

According to Torres, the system was picked for stable RF performance and for the flexibility to move between venues as conditions changed each day. Stable links were needed not only for the live speeches but also for production work behind the scenes.

Other suppliers

Beyond DPA and Wisycom, the setup also included products from Adamson, DirectOut and VOKKERO.

Torres said there was no chance of a second take at an event of this size.