Blue Baby Bottle - on the verge

  • Thread starter Thread starter nuemes
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nuemes

nuemes

Be Here Now
After reading up here and elsewhere I'm nearly convinced to purchase a new Blue Baby Bottle this week for $499. Its use will be on a lower range male vocal folk-rock/alt country style (dynamics range from soft to mildly loud, never screaming) and strummed steel string acoustic guitar (cheap Fender DG3). 80% of the time the vocal & guitar will be recorded seperatley, the other 20% together.

I currently have a MXL V67 which I've been pleased with on my voice and a MXL603S, which has too much high end and not enough mid/bass for my taste on acoustic guitar. My preamp is a Mackie 1202, recording onto ADAT. I also have a SM57, SM58, Presonus BlueMax & JoeMeek compresser.

From reading here it sounds like the Baby Bottle doesn't have hyped higher frequencies, which I like, and it appears to work well on both vocals and acoustic guitar, depending on the voice and the guitar... I like the idea that it has a mid scoop and solid bass response.

Here's my dilema: I want a high quality condenser for under $500 that can pick up excellent detail and that sounds smooth - NOT BRITTLE - (impossible to have both in this pricerange?). $499 is a large expendature for me given that this is a home studio. I don't want to purchase an inappropriate mic under any circumstances and will try a few out before buying.

Given all of this information, if you had the setup I have and were recording vocal & acoustic guitar, would you choose the Blue Baby Bottle or another mic for under $500?

Thank you
 
nuemes said:
After reading up here and elsewhere I'm nearly convinced to purchase a new Blue Baby Bottle this week for $499. Its use will be on a lower range male vocal folk-rock/alt country style (dynamics range from soft to mildly loud, never screaming) and strummed steel string acoustic guitar (cheap Fender DG3). 80% of the time the vocal & guitar will be recorded seperatley, the other 20% together.

I currently have a MXL V67 which I've been pleased with on my voice and a MXL603S, which has too much high end and not enough mid/bass for my taste on acoustic guitar. My preamp is a Mackie 1202, recording onto ADAT. I also have a SM57, SM58, Presonus BlueMax & JoeMeek compresser.

From reading here it sounds like the Baby Bottle doesn't have hyped higher frequencies, which I like, and it appears to work well on both vocals and acoustic guitar, depending on the voice and the guitar... I like the idea that it has a mid scoop and solid bass response.

Here's my dilema: I want a high quality condenser for under $500 that can pick up excellent detail and that sounds smooth - NOT BRITTLE - (impossible to have both in this pricerange?). $499 is a large expendature for me given that this is a home studio. I don't want to purchase an inappropriate mic under any circumstances and will try a few out before buying.

Given all of this information, if you had the setup I have and were recording vocal & acoustic guitar, would you choose the Blue Baby Bottle or another mic for under $500?

Thank you
Click to expand...

Also try the KSM32. The Baby Bottle looks cooler though.
 
i own the baby bottle and i like it alot. it's my main lage diaphragm condenser. it has a fair amount of midrange which may help or hurt you although i'm very happy with it. if i were you I'd also look very carefully at the AT4050 or the AT4040 as well as the ksm32. i believe the Audio technica mics are a bit more neutral sounding. you could consider purchasing the AT4040 and still have enough coin left to get yourself a DMP3 which I believe makes a beautiful combo for general applications. however, should you decide on the blue, you'll be happy. it's good for vocals and loves acoustic guitars.
 
Nuemes, I bought a baby bottle a few months ago, and have been pleased with the results so far.

You said you don't like mics with "hyped" higher frequencies but you should know that, if anything, the baby bottle's high end is a bit "under-hyped" if that makes any sense.

If you'll be using this mic for all or most of your tracks, be prepared to get some very mid-rangy mixes. Now, don't get me wrong, this will be very subtle but definitely present. Subtle enough to be liked as a flavor by myself after using the mic on virtually every track that I've done on my current project.

It is definitely a very unique sounding mic, though.

After working with this mic for a few months, I'm itching to get something a little more "airy" on the top end, but after researching, you can't really get a lot better top end than the baby bottle without spending some major bucks.

REading about the sounds of your current mics, I think the baby bottle would be a good addition.
 
farodyssey said:
If you'll be using this mic for all or most of your tracks, be prepared to get some very mid-rangy mixes.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that the Baby Bottle takes very well to EQ. I've done entire songs with the Baby Bottle that sounded great after I EQ'd certain tracks.

The Baby Bottle is a great mic.
 
Thanks mshilarious, steelpetals, farodyssey, & cominginsecond. I'm going to get it tomorrow :)

Out of curiosity, what media are each of you recording to (DAW, ADAT, tape, etc) and what kind of preamps are working for you with the Baby Bottle?
 
I really like the combo of my Summit 2BA-221 and my Baby Bottle. My DMP3 works well too. In fact, I haven't really found a preamp that doesn't work well with it. I think that because it's such a hot mic, the preamp doesn't matter as much because you can run the preamp at such low gains.
 
nuemes said:
Thanks mshilarious, steelpetals, farodyssey, & cominginsecond. I'm going to get it tomorrow :)

Out of curiosity, what media are each of you recording to (DAW, ADAT, tape, etc) and what kind of preamps are working for you with the Baby Bottle?
Click to expand...

I used a DAW and HDR, and either Presonus MP20 or the pres on an A&H Mixwizard. I don't focus very much on pres, I just get good quality basic pres and worry more about mic selection & placement.

The BB is still pretty new for me, but I've tested it a lot. I like it on lots of acoustic instruments, mainly strings; due to its frequency curve, it's a good compromise between a dynamic tone with a condenser response. I might give it a try live too, it could be very useful there.
 
mshilarious said:
it's a good compromise between a dynamic tone with a condenser response. QUOTE]

That sounds perfect. I've found that the condensers I have can't give enough bite and that my ideal is somewhere between the V67 & SM58 I have now.
Click to expand...
 
I use both an RNP, Joe meek VC1, and DMP3 with the bb. All work well. Like I said, if your'e buying it at guitar center, also check out the AT4040 and the KSM32. you still may choose the bb, but for objective and completeness sake.
 
I purchased the Blue Baby Bottle last night for $516 including metal pop filter, shock mount and Blue cable. After a day of testing I can say that I'm entirely pleased with the mic on my voice and even more so on acoustic guitar (mind you it's $400 more than the MXL mics...) The Baby Bottle helps even out the tone of the guitar and picks up nuance without being at all harsh. It's much more clear and articulate than the MXL V67 & 603 that I'd been using previously.

I made some quick MP3's of the different mics: http://www.myspace.com/nuemes

1st song is MXL603s on acoustic guitar, MXLV67 on vocal.
2nd song is MXL603s on acoustic guitar, Baby Bottle on vocal.
3rd song is Blue Baby Bottle on both acoustic & vocal.

Mic > Mackie 1202VLZ > Presonus BlueMax > DP4 gate > ADAT
 
nuemes said:
I purchased the Blue Baby Bottle last night for $516 including metal pop filter, shock mount and Blue cable. After a day of testing I can say that I'm entirely pleased with the mic on my voice and even more so on acoustic guitar (mind you it's $400 more than the MXL mics...) The Baby Bottle helps even out the tone of the guitar and picks up nuance without being at all harsh. It's much more clear and articulate than the MXL V67 & 603 that I'd been using previously.

I made some quick MP3's of the different mics: http://www.myspace.com/nuemes

1st song is MXL603s on acoustic guitar, MXLV67 on vocal.
2nd song is MXL603s on acoustic guitar, Baby Bottle on vocal.
3rd song is Blue Baby Bottle on both acoustic & vocal.

Mic > Mackie 1202VLZ > Presonus BlueMax > DP4 gate > ADAT
Click to expand...

Yep #3 is quite the improvement. Congrats!
 
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