Blue Spark Microphone

guitargirl7

guitargirl7

New member
I'm looking to purchase a new microphone for recording vocals in my home studio. I've heard quite a bit about the Blue Spark mic, and wanted to know if it was any good?

Thanks!
 
just from what I've read and it seems like a decent mic.
Do you have access to it? As in try it on your vocals to see if it fits you?
Do you have a pre that has phantom power?
 
Dogbreath said:
just from what I've read and it seems like a decent mic.
Do you have access to it? As in try it on your vocals to see if it fits you?
Do you have a pre that has phantom power?
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I don't have access to it, but am curious as to how I can get any before purchasing. I have m-audio fast track "II" that has phantom power on it. My only problem is that it came with PTSE software, which is crap. Apparently you can't run the fast track without PTSE software on a PC. What is your opinion on that?
 
I hate to be "that guy" but how "good" a mic is completely subjective and depends wildly on how/what you use it for.

female vocals are also notorious for really needing the right mic for particular voice. The last session i did with a female vocalists we ended up trying a lot of mic's before we found the one that worked best for her voice (surprisingly we ended up using a rode NT1a which i thought would be too bright and sibilant and was my last choice!) The one's i thought might work sounded awful on her particular voice, even though those are my "go to" mics for vocals 9 out of 10 times.

my advice; go and try one in a store and see if it works on your voice.

The PTSE thing seems like a massive pain in the arse, but the avid website seems to think it'll work with most DAW's so it may be worth downloading the free trial of Reaper and seeing if it works
 
Justsomeguy said:
I hate to be "that guy" but how "good" a mic is completely subjective and depends wildly on how/what you use it for.

female vocals are also notorious for really needing the right mic for particular voice. The last session i did with a female vocalists we ended up trying a lot of mic's before we found the one that worked best for her voice (surprisingly we ended up using a rode NT1a which i thought would be too bright and sibilant and was my last choice!) The one's i thought might work sounded awful on her particular voice, even though those are my "go to" mics for vocals 9 out of 10 times.

my advice; go and try one in a store and see if it works on your voice.

The PTSE thing seems like a massive pain in the arse, but the avid website seems to think it'll work with most DAW's so it may be worth downloading the free trial of Reaper and seeing if it works
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In this situation, I truly appreciate you being "that guy". I am going to take your advice on this one on all of the above. I'll stay posted on my findings. Thank you!
 
guitargirl7 said:
In this situation, I truly appreciate you being "that guy"
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tbh, i was surprised someone hadn't beaten me to it :p

there are alot of good mics in the same price range as the blue spark so you're bound to find something that works. just try as many as you can and try not to rush the process. if you don't find something straight away, try not to just settle for something because it's easier. the last mic i bought took about 3 months of searching to find something to fit my needs but it was well worth it.

How much can your budget go to?
 
Justsomeguy said:
tbh, i was surprised someone hadn't beaten me to it :p

there are alot of good mics in the same price range as the blue spark so you're bound to find something that works. just try as many as you can and try not to rush the process. if you don't find something straight away, try not to just settle for something because it's easier. the last mic i bought took about 3 months of searching to find something to fit my needs but it was well worth it.

How much can your budget go to?
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Honestly, I'm saving up for new software, so $200 is about the range. I was looking into the Shure SM58 mic, but from the cuts I heard on You Tube, I liked the sound of the blue spark better.
 
I remember moresound speaking highly of the Spark.
He recommended a Sennheiser e602 and some SM81's to me that are perfect.
So I'm sure his recommending of the spark is spot on.

I do have a male voice though. since im a male. so. things are a little different for you.
 
guitargirl7 said:
Honestly, I'm saving up for new software, so $200 is about the range. I was looking into the Shure SM58 mic, but from the cuts I heard on You Tube, I liked the sound of the blue spark better.
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What software are you saving for? is it a DAW or plugins? without continuing to be "that guy" (sigh) a better suited mic would pay much more dividends than better software. a $3000 mic recorded into a cheap DAW will sound better than a $30 mic into some crazy Pro tools HD system as the mic has MUCH more impact on the sound than the DAW does

SM58's, whilst pretty much the live vocal mic standard, are very rarely used as a studio vocal mic as it doesn't have the clarity and high frequency response of most condenser mics (like the Blue Spark). if you were doing alot of live work or really loud screamo-esque singing the SM58 may work well in those situations, but from what you've said, a Large Diaphragm Condenser (LDC) mic is probably gonna be the best fit.

If you listening to clips on youtube, make sure you view them in the highest res possible and take them with a pinch of salt. there are some dedicated websites to mic shootouts which can be very useful to give you a rough idea, but as i said, always try before you buy.

my mic suggestions (that may or may not work but find some clips on the net to listen to and see what you think) are:

sE2200a
sEZ3300a
rode NT1a (normally not my recommendation for female vocals, but the last session reminded me not to rule things out just because i don't think it'll work)
Apex 460
Blue Bluebird
Blue Baby Bottle
MXL 990
AT2020

i have no idea of the $ price because, as a uk guy i don't deal with dollars much, but the UK price for all of those are under £200
 
Like everyone has been saying a spark may or may not be the microphone to work capturing your vocals.

The only nationwide store now that carries demo microphones of any quantity is Guitar center - How far do you live from one?


You know we should start a *borrow and try out* microphone club here for serious members only.

Do you have any sample clips of your vocals that you can post here via soundcloud or like media?
It would help some for us to be able to help narrow down the possible choices for you.
 
moresound said:
You know we should start a *borrow and try out* microphone club here for serious members only.

Do you have any sample clips of your vocals that you can post here via soundcloud or like media?
It would help some for us to be able to help narrow down the possible choices for you.
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I'd be well up for a "borrow and try" type group, although i fear i would get jealous of being this side of the pond when you're all sharing you're cool US brand mic's that i want but can't afford the postage/import duties :(

Some clips of you singing would be great to help us tailor our suggestions. it doesn't matter hugely about the quality, just something that gives an idea of your voice would be useful
 
Justsomeguy said:
I'd be well up for a "borrow and try" type group, although i fear i would get jealous of being this side of the pond when you're all sharing you're cool US brand mic's that i want but can't afford the postage/import duties :(
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There could be a UK division! Just don't tell the Scots :p
 
kidkage said:
Yeah, back to the 58. The only thing I've ever heard about it being used in a studio was on Linkin Parks first album.
It seems believable enough but I still doubt it Hybrid Theory - Esaul (Linkin Park Demo) (Live) [HD] - YouTube
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yeah, it's an odd one as i've heard of records where the main vocal is an SM57 (the first one off the top of my head is Kings of Leon's "Sex on Fire"), but i can't think of any that are an SM58. i'm sure there's loads, especially those tracks where it was the guide vocal that they kept as it was the best performance.

I know i've said it before, but i'm really in love with the Blue Encore 100 for live vocals and guide vocals in the studio. I always redo the vocals later, but the guides with the encore 100 already sounds pretty sweet and i've done plenty of early mixes for bands just leaving the guide vocals in where you think "yeah, sounds good" and does a good job at helping to see where/how the finished vocals will sit in the mix.
 
Hmmm I might look into an encore.

I'm actually looking to get a good handheld dynamic that could give quality guide vox that I could save if needed.
I don't really like my 57 on my voice. Taking my B1 everywhere and holding it in my hands isn't practical. And my bass pedal doesnt have phantom power :p.
And my behringer... well... I prefer it to the 57. But. you know.

I've only really been looking at the Shure beta series.
Cant believe I haven't thought about other brands :facepalm: what a n00b right?!
 
kidkage said:
Hmmm I might look into an encore.

I'm actually looking to get a good handheld dynamic that could give quality guide vox that I could save if needed.

I've only really been looking at the Shure beta series.
Cant believe I haven't thought about other brands :facepalm: what a n00b right?!
Click to expand...

tbh it was happy accident that i stumbled across the encore 100 whilst trying to find the best deal on a new 57. the Blue brand name peaked my interest and i thought "hmm, lets see what clips there are online" and they all sounded awesome and i thought "sod it, for £60, if i don't like it i can bung it back on ebay and continue my hunt for a cheap 57". They also do an encore 200 and encore 300, one of which is a phantom powered dynamic mic (weird right, or is it just me that thinks that! it's not for the capsule, it was something to do with helping it keep a hotter signal over long cable runs). to my ears the 200 and 300 don't sound that great and for the price of those two a 57 or beta is much better, but the encore 100 is awesome sauce! So much so i leant mine to a friend who does a lot of live sound work and he not only refuses to give it back (he uses it much more than me, i don't actually mind) but he's also bought himself one out of his dedicated "57 budget" as he calls it :p

the only downfall of the encore 100 is the handling noise is pretty high (well, about the same as the shure PG58) so as a handheld mic it's not great, but on a stand there's no problems! :D Also, it doesn't have the same mid range punch that a 57 has so on snares and guitar amps it sounds more natural, which i really like, but doesn't make them cut through a mix in the same way as a 57. however, that's just a matter of personal taste. i've still got an arsenal of 57's and 58's but the encore 100 has taken over vocal duties and every now and then gets used on clean guitar amps

and not thinking about other brands by no means make you a n00b! there's a reason that the SM57 and SM58's get used so much and have such a good rep and although there are many more brands they seem to be more hit and miss IMO. for example, some of the sennheiser handheld dynamics are awesome, but some of them sound a bit "sharp" to my ears, and for the same price as a 58, a 58 is a much safer bet
 
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