Hawthorn Names DPA as Its Microphone Brand of Choice

	Ben McAlonan and Jon Curnew of Hawthorn.

Hawthorn, the U.K.'s largest independent supplier of technical production services, has named DPA Microphones as its primary mic brand. Established in 1987, Hawthorn employs over 120 staff from offices around the U.K. and handles over 1,000 events every year, including gala dinners, product launches, conferences and parties.

The company's product portfolio includes state-of-the-art lighting, sound, AV, rigging, staging and drapes. It includes a wide range of DPA mics, including d:fine headset, d:screet 4060 lavalier and d:vote 4099 instrument microphones. Audio quality is very important to Hawthorn, which bases its reputation on delivering exceptionally high standards. It was this desire to use the best that initially brought DPA to the company's attention.

"It all started a few years ago when we were looking for headset microphones to replace the brand we had previously been using," says Jon Curnew, Hawthorn's head of sound. "We discovered the DPA d:fine headset microphone range and were immediately taken with the fact that they came with single- and dual-ear attachments. That versatility really appealed to us. We now have a stock of about 35 d:fine mics and we use them all the time. They are much easier to position than any other headset mic we have tried, and our customers love them."

Although Hawthorn also offers DPA d:screet 4060 lavalier mics, most of its customers prefer a headset because they don't have to worry about accidentally knocking the mic or forgetting to take it off when they go off stage. "Headsets are also better at picking up weaker voices because the microphone is positioned so close to the mouth and doesn't have to compete with background noise," Curnew says. "Once the mics are in place, they tend to stay in place. We even had a guy wear one while he was doing aerobics and the mic managed to survive.

" For musicians, Hawthorn has 17 DPA d:vote 4099 instrument mics in stock, and recently added six d:facto vocal mics, which were purchased from Sound Network, DPA's U.K. distributor. "We use the d:vote with a variety of clips and they are great because they deliver such a clean, transparent sound," Curnew adds. "We saw the d:facto at PLASA two years ago, but we needed the right event to inspire us to buy some. That turned out to be SunWalk in London's Battersea Park, a charity event raising money for breast cancer research, for which we delivered full technical production."

Four wired and two wireless d:factos were immediately put to use on the SunWalk live music stage. "Everyone loved the d:facto," Curnew continues. "They sounded amazing and we had no issues with feedback or rejection. The mics worked well across a range of artists and really brought out the subtlety in the vocalists' voices. We have since used them on other events, including an opera. It's interesting to note how often they are cropping up on artists' riders. That's another reason we felt the time was right to invest in some of our own."

Although most of Hawthorn's DPA mics are used for in-house productions, they are also available for dry hire. The d:facto vocal microphones, in particular, are already making a name for themselves amongst dry hire customers.