Pop TV Network Comedy Swedish Dicks Uses DPA Microphones

When a washed-up ex-stuntman (Peter Stormare) and overly optimistic Swedish DJ (Johan Glans) come together to form a private detective firm, who knows what will happen next. Recently making its television debut in the United States, Pop TV’s Swedish Dicks is a half-hour single-camera comedy following the new detectives as they solve some of the strangest and wildest cases LA has ever seen. To keep up with the show’s constantly-changing production needs and to capture the happenings from the unlikely duo, veteran Sound Mixer Peter Ølsted relied on a selection of DPA microphones.

In fact, Ølsted says that all production audio was recorded exclusively using the DPA mics. “I’ve been using DPA for over 20 years, and knew the mics’ reliability and versatility would make them a perfect choice for this type of production,” says Ølsted. “The show’s fast-paced shooting style and often last-minute changes meant I needed to be able to seamlessly mix from a lavalier mic, to a boom mic, to a plant mic. Having the same frequency response from every microphone in a scene made DPA my go-to manufacturer.”

For Swedish Dicks, Ølsted used a mix of DPA microphones, including the d:dicate 4017 Shotgun, d:facto 4018 Supercardioid, d:screet 4098 Supercardioid, a d:facto Vocal and both the regular and slim versions of the d:screet 4061 Omnidirectional mic. The majority of the show is boomed with the d:dicate 4017. Ølsted also used the d:facto 4018 capsule along with DPA’s MMP-GS preamp accessory, as well as the d:screet 4098, for plant mics.

“Hiding DPA’s is easier than any other mic I have tried,” says Ølsted. “My DPA’s really came in handy and excelled in relation to any competitor mic when we were filming car scenes. I was able to place the directional mics in visors, headsets, the center console – wherever I needed! The 4098s with the 4018 capsule made the dialogue inside the cars sound better than ever before. We’ll never fully eliminate the acoustical properties of a car, but with DPA, capturing car conversations is no longer a hassle.”

According to Ølsted, DPA’s d:screet lavs are just that – discreet. “The noise usually traveling via the cable is almost eliminated with DPA’s – it’s incredible. The concealer mount for the d:screet series pretty much makes it a ‘set ’em and forget ’em’ kind of situation, which is ideal on this type of production. My d:screet mics live in the concealers and it’s extremely rare I have to use other mounting techniques. I just recently started using the button hole mounts on Swedish Dicks and the results were great.”

Ølsted was impressed with every aspect of his DPA microphones.. “As per usual, the performance of my DPA’s was impeccable,” says Ølsted. In my mind, there really is no comparison. I always find myself returning to DPA after trying out other manufacturers’ microphones. I have not used any other mics with the same versatility and interaction capabilities between different models as I have with DPA. The natural sounding, flat frequency response every type of mic from DPA has, is incomparable in my opinion. I will definitely be using DPA on my future projects.”

While the show hopes to appeal to the American audience, Swedish Dicks has extensive Scandanavian roots. According to Ølsted, “I think it’s an interesting and fun thing that we are a Swedish/American show, shooting in the U.S. with Swedish directors and producers, a Norwegian DP and camera operator with cameras rented in Norway, and a Danish sound mixer using only Danish microphones (DPA). What a lineup!”

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