Blue Dragonfly mic?

M

melodiousmonk

New member
I recently read something about the Dragonfly mic. They said it was the most realistic mic they had ever used and it made their recordings of amps and vocals sound like they were right there. I wonder if anyone here bought one and has anything to say about it. They are $700 or $800 so I'm very curious to hear more about them. I don't know whether that would be worth the money or not. :rolleyes:
 
I own a few Blue mics , but not the Dragonfly. I have a couple of Blue Bottles with all the capsules, a couple of Baby Bottles and a Cactus so I'm pretty familiar with their sound. They sound stellar when it's the right mic or capsule with the right source but they also can sound pretty bad when not matched to the source. They are known for not being a 1 mic fits all product..The Baby bottles are pretty cheap and they sound great on guitar cabs but i don't like them very much on accoustic (taylor 814ce).

Just my opinion but I think you'll need to get to dealer and thoroughly audition the mic and see if it works for you. It might be great or crap on your voice. They're a little finicky.

You may want to look at 1 size fits all type mics
 
slobbermonster said:
The Baby bottles are pretty cheap and they sound great on guitar cabs but i don't like them very much on accoustic (taylor 814ce).
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What are you using on your Taylor? Just curious as I also have an 814ce.
 
What are you using on your Taylor? Just curious as I also have an 814ce.
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Mostly I use the Big Blue Bottles (not the babys) but I picked up a pair of gt 44's and gt 33's (groove tubes) at Guitar center real cheap lately and I've been playing around with them. The Bottles almost have too much detail if it's a busy mix and the cheap mics actually work a little better. If it's a sparce mix then I like all the detail I can get so I'll use the Bottles for that.

Mines got the ES pickup so sometimes just any decent mic and direct is fine.
 
I use the Kiwi and Baby Bottle. I think the Kiwi is a lot like a multi-polar Dragonfly. I've only auditioned the Dragonfly, and decided to break the bank and buy the Kiwi. The Dragonfly (and all of this applies to Kiwi) is a great but finicky mic. It has a pretty abrupt proximity field and is therefore picky about placement. That means they're very good tools- if you can figure out how to use them. I'll boil it down. Word- Dragonfly is a bitchin' cab mic, and some vocalists can use it some of the time. When it rocks, it rocks bigtime. When it's the wrong mic for the job, it sucks. Spend $100 on a good cheap cab mic, say Sennheiser e609 silver, and buy a cool mic like a Dragonfly or AT4060, AKG C414, Rode NTK, etc., only if the main vocalist has checked it out, and it sounds good through the preamp you want to use. Otherwise, it's just hit and miss, like shoes. -Richie
 
The Dragonfly is a nice mic. There are two incarnations of the mic. There is the Dragonfly, which is I believe is tuned to be C12ish in sound. And, then there is the limited edition Dragonfly Deluxe, which essentially is a Blue Kiwi without the multiple patterns.

I own a Dragonfly. I love this mic. I like it on vocals and on acoustic guitar. I can't recall ever using it on guitar amps. I haven't found an acoustic guitar situation with a steel string where it didn't give me some great sounds. It's sort of like any good vocal condenser in that it sounds good on a good number of voices but there are certain folks that'll need a different mic. For those occasions, I usually reach for a dynamic mic anyhow such as a Beyer Soundstar MKII.

I seem to recall some of the pro guys over at 3daudioinc's forum saying they like this mic for drum overheads. I've never used it in that setting.
 
I don't know whether it was C7sus or Track Rat that noted the Dragonfly was good on cabs, but the Kiwi definitely is, although I prefer not to use it on really loud ones. For that, I'll select a less expensive dynamic.-Richie
 
i have a dragonfly as well, and i can't say enough good about it. it's a spectacular mic.

however, it's very particular. it either works on the source or it doesn't. and placement with it is crucial--a fraction of an inch makes a world of difference.


that said, it's very nice on my voice (the first mic that i've been able to say that about), and it's very nice on my Martin D15, my buddy's Martin HD28V and on the amps I've put it in front of. it's been quite nice as a mono drum overhead as well. so, pro or not :D, i've used it in the same places that the "pros" have and have gotten totally satisfying results. enough so much that i wish i had a 2nd one.


cheers,
wade
 
I own one too...it won an audition w/ my voice over several other competitors (some significantly more expensive)...it made it sound the most natural.

Comments on the proximity field are accurate...it comes on hard, fast and loud.

I've not tried it on acoustic guitar (I own a Larravee), but now I'm excited to try.

Best-

K
 
<<I've not tried it on acoustic guitar (I own a Larravee), but now I'm excited to try>>

it may take a little work to find a good spot for it--careful not to get it too close to the soundhole lest you end up with lots of boom. :b

i usually use it about 4ft out in conjunction with a pair of 603's (one at 12th, one over the shoulder) and it's quite nice.


cheers,
wade
 
I just opened mines for X-Mas... and shoot it sounds hot on vocals... Especially deep voices it seems, I had three different vocalists try it out and it sounded great on all three!
 
I own a Kiwi, a Cactus, a Baby Bottle, a Blueberry, and a Dragonfly (standard). I use the Dragonfly almost exclusively as an electric guitar amp mic. My cabinets use Celestion Vintage 30s. It is great on both clean and overdriven guitars.

I do not think it sounds like the Kiwi; in the same family, sure, but I wouldn't view it as substitutable. The Dragonfly has a more scooped out midrange and less presence. I think it is quite versatile.

Blue mics are probably more finicky than many other mics, but that means the engineer has to work a bit harder at positioning and mic/pre selection. They are aided by the rotating capsule as on the Dragonfly and Mouse and the multiple patterns as on the Cactus and Kiwi, and also by the reduced (compared to many other mics) proximity effect which means that proximity effect can be used much more creatively as a low EQ control. If you are willing to experiment, you can get a lot of different and great sounds.

If you don't want to experiment creatively, maybe a Blue mic isn't the right choice.
 
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