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Audio Microphones DPA Microphones

4006 Omnidirectional Microphone

An omnidirectional pencil microphone for recording, one of the first DPA made, adapted from a Brüel & Kjær measurement microphone.

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The 4006A omnidirectional pencil microphone
The 4006A omnidirectional pencil microphone

Pictures © DPA Microphones, from dpamicrophones.com.

Why it is renowned

The 4006 is one of DPA's best-known recording microphones, and one of the first the company developed.1 A standard 4006 flew to Mars on NASA's Perseverance rover, launched in July 2020, and recorded the first sounds from the planet's surface; ProSoundWeb reported that it was an off-the-shelf component, changed only in how it was fixed to the rover.2 It travelled with a DPA MMA-A digital interface that sent the audio to the rover's computer.2

The story

The 4006 was adapted directly from a Brüel & Kjær measurement microphone.1 It is a pencil microphone with an omnidirectional pickup, high sensitivity, a low noise floor and a linear frequency response.3 It comes as the 4006A, a compact 4006C, and a version with a rear or side cable.3

Sources
  1. About DPA Microphones. dpamicrophones.com, read 1 October 2026.
  2. DPA Components Onboard NASA's Perseverance Rover Capture First-Ever Audio From Mars, ProSoundWeb. prosoundweb.com, read 1 October 2026.
  3. 4006 Omnidirectional Microphone, DPA Microphones. dpamicrophones.com, read 1 October 2026.

Last checked 1 October 2026, against the maker's own pages.