No Doubt: Gwen Stefani Hears the Difference with DPA
Monitor Engineer Eddie “El Brujo” Caipo Relies on DPA’s Sonic Consistency For the Singer’s ‘Just a Girl’ Concert Residency.
For rock or pop shows with large audiences of screaming
fans, it is common for engineers to face the challenge of audience leakage. For
Eddie “El Brujo” Caipo, monitor engineer for Gwen Stefani’s “Just a Girl”
residency at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theater in Las Vegas, that’s not the
case. Recognizing the importance of delivering pristine sound in every
performance of the popular show, Caipo appointed DPA Microphones d:facto™ 4018V
Vocal Microphone to deliver clear, natural sound.
“Throughout her 20-year career, Gwen [Stefani] has tried many microphone brands
and she has definitely noticed a difference with DPA,” he says. “She has told
me that she can hear herself more clearly on her in-ears, and this allows me to
keep her volume lower and protect her hearing.”
When Caipo was first introduced to DPA’s d:facto™, he was blown away by the
capsules’ ability to remove unwanted audience noise or stage leakage while
maintaining clarity and a clean low-end, with almost no EQ needed. “I’ve known
DPA for its high-quality, broadcast, theatre and orchestral applications, but
ever since I started using them on big pop tours, I was hooked,” he adds. “The
clarity and uncompromising quality I get while rejecting unwanted noise is, by
far, the best feature of the vocal mic. Other brands have tried to accomplish
this, but end up compromising the sonic result at the end — somehow DPA figured
it out.”
Caipo plans to expand his DPA arsenal with the addition of the d:facto™ CORE
4099 Instrument Microphone and d:dicate™ 2011 Twin Diaphragm Cardioid
Microphone. He will be utilizing these solutions for the “Just a Girl”
residency and will continue to use DPA Microphones for all his large pop
concert needs.