Blue "ball" mics? On sale-ish, any good?

C

c_corie

New member
It looks they've discontinued them, maybe for a while now, and they seem to be around $50 for the dynamics, and a bit more for the 8-ball condenser, are any of these any good? Even just to have sort of around, cause I've heard clips and they seem.....decent, but idk if they are just that, or better?
 
I currently use Blue's Bluebird. This is a great mic for recording vocals and acoustic instruments. Its sensitive enough to record even my didgeridoo on occasion. The only issue i found is that it does not record bass levels well. and it is a bit on the heavy side so the shockmount tends to loosen after a bit. However, that being said, I feel it was a great buy! p.s. I also recomend the use of a reflexion filter 3.5 for vocals. creats a great focal point for these mics.

Cheers!
 
As for the "Ball" mic, I have heard not so good things about it. A couple of friends have had issues with it having fuzzy recordings and they are having to spend too much time with Waves to fix them.
 
I saw that these were on sale too, so I ordered the blue kickball mic.

2177j-dgBzL._SL500_AA200_.jpg


I figured $50 isn't a whole lot, and I just might get a good (and cheap!) kick drum mic out of the deal.

I've been using an Audix F14 and I recently discovered it really shines on bass cabinets and on bigger toms, so I've been looking for a kick replacement anyway.

I should get it sometime next week. I'm going to be recording a couple of bands next week too so I should be able to really test it out.
 
Back when we were poor and had no gear, we recorded an entire album with just the blue snoball and garage band. Although the quality of the recordings was not what you'd call professional, it was good enough. For the price, they actually sound pretty good on some vocals. We had no issues with fuzziness.
 
I've got one. Not a bad mic. For guitar - think of it kinda like a SM57 with a little bump in the low mids. On voice - certainly adds a unique character. It's not my go to but would work for a color mic. Certainly look scool...;)
 
just got a kickball, haven't really tried it on much yet. The first one I got was damaged and got slot of distortion, but I sent it back and got another one and it's fine. I got it because I heard it sounded good on screams, and I think it does.
 
I've got a Blueball... mainly because I saw them on sale for $50 a while back and couldn't resist. Haven't found much use for it, actually. Doesn't shine on vocals or acoustic instruments, which are what I find myself doing a lot of these days. But, I have heard lots of good things about how they sound on guitar amps... and I'm sure I've got a bit of that in my future.
 
Ya

Well with the kickball i alway like to stick it in the drum pretty close to where the beater hits but just a bit off axis then mix that in with a ribbon mic i have sitting about 2 feet back from the reso head.
 
I'm resurrecting this threat to mention that Blue's discontinued ball mics are really cheap on Ebay these days (e.g. about $30). While the phantom power requirement is kind of a nuisance on these mics, but still... under $50 is a really reasonable price. I've used the Blue ball on vocals and on electric guitar. The Kick ball works well enough for recording a bass amp.

Don't get me wrong.. you're not going to fool anyone into thinking you recorded with a condenser mic, but they sound about the same as Shure SM-57, which a lot of guys seem to like.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top