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DPA’s new wireless system used for Soweto Kinch/London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican

The Barbican Concert Hall hosts a wide range of performances, from classical music and jazz to spoken word and contemporary electronic projects. With nearly 2,000 seats and a highly transparent acoustic environment, it is a venue where technical decisions and consistency matter. 

It was in this setting that a collaboration between Soweto Kinch and the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) took place with both a live concert and a live album recording. This performance was supported by freelance sound engineer Jack Jordan. “The task was to balance the detailed requirements of an orchestral recording with the immediacy and impact of a contemporary, hybrid live production”, he explains. 

“The solution came not from reinventing the signal chain, but from refining it, which we were able to accomplish with DPA Microphones’ new N-Series Digital Wireless System accompanied by a DPA D:facto 4018 Handheld Microphone”, he furthers. “This allowed us to extend the familiar DPA sound all the way through wireless transmission.”

The Barbican has long relied on a substantial inventory of DPA mics, and this project marked the first time that the Barbican team had deployed the DPA N-Series on stage. “The Soweto/LSO performance placed vocals, saxophone, rhythm and a full string ensemble in close proximity”, says Jordan. “Spill control, gain stability and noise floor were critical, especially with microphones positioned close to the PA and an album recording running in parallel.”

The DPA N-Series also allowed Jordan to adjust his workflow. “Normally, the wireless rack lives behind me, so monitoring or making adjustments means using extra screens or cabling”, he explains. “Instead, I was able to keep N-Series right at my workstation, which was immediately useful. But the real benefit revealed itself in the sound. There was simply less noise floor. You don’t notice noise floor disappearing, but you absolutely realize when it’s not there. For a performance that’s being recorded, that silence matters.”

Beyond vocals, the show leaned heavily into DPA microphones across the orchestra and rhythm section, which Jordan and Barbican Centre Technical Supervisor David Robinson-Strange estimate was a 98-percent DPA live setup. Strings, percussion, brass and unconventional placements benefited from a unified sonic character. “That coherence really matters, especially across strings”, says Jordan. “Keeping the same microphone family gives you a single, intelligible soundstage instead of a collage of tones.”

Pictured (left to right): Jack Jordan and David Robinson-Strange. (Photo: DPA Microphones)

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