Blue Mics

[Wiggy]

Hey Folks,

I'm new here and to recording and need some help. The guy at Guitar Center was trying to talk me into a Blue Babby Bottle mic and said it would be a good choice for my first mic as it was good for acoustic guitar and vocals. Yet I read through these posts and I see NOONE using ANY Blue products.

Also, I picked up an ART Studio V3 for cheap to get some tube sound...did I waist my $$ on this pre?

Talk to me...

Thanks

 

[knightsy]

Are you taking the piss?

 

[Wiggy]

Pardon me?

 

[Warhead]

The BLUE Baby Bottle is awesome on acoustic, many vocals, drums, you name it. Cool vibe to it as far as looks goes too. Very natural sound with some bite but no screechy high end like a lot of lower cost condensors. Sort of brings together "flat" and "musical" responses in one mic.

Sorry...but it's hard to describe this stuff even though I am surrounded by it!

War

 

[lbcstudios]

alot of ppl use the blue mic, i have read many good things about it.. search this forum for more info on it.

 

[EleKtriKaz]

Sound great on acoustic guitar. I sat in on a session during which a rosewood Taylor acoustic was recorded with the baby bottle, and it came out really great.

 

[Big Kenny]

The blue rox.......the art does not

 

[Wiggy]

This is great stuff...thanks.

How about a good pre to to go with it? Any suggestions? I am using a MBox with focusrite pre's built in. Looking for a little tubbyness

Thanks

 

[EleKtriKaz]

"Tubbyness"? Oh....you want your sound to be "fat".

Just kidding, I realize that you want a "tube" sound. Depends on the budget. I have heard a lot of experienced people on this board say not to mess around with "tube" preamps under $1000. Just something to think about. Also, lest we start WWIII, don't confuse warmth with "tube".

 

[ozraves]

I'm going to eval an Mbox this weekend and I'll be using a Baby Bottle at times. I might be able to give you some insight. What's the budget on the mic pre?

 

[Wiggy]

I don't want a war on my hands

Educate me on warmth vs. tube. I guess I'm really looking for warmth. Especially given that I will most likely use the Blue on vocals as well as acoustic guitar for now.

Thanks

 

[Wiggy]

I'm going to eval an Mbox this weekend and I'll be using a Baby Bottle at times. I might be able to give you some insight. What's the budget on the mic pre?

Budget on pre? hmm... lets say $500 and go from there for now. That would make the mic and pre together around $1,000 total.

Looking forward to your review.

 

[mshilarious]

Educate me on warmth vs. tube.

I find it better to think of low-end tube gear as adding overtones, mostly in the mid to high-midrange, rather than adding warmth which is more of a distortion-free midrange boost. The tube ('tewb') sound is an effect that works nicely for many things, but it's not clean warmth in that the addition of overtones is by definition not clean--it's dirty, but if its musical dirt, then it can be nice.

High-end tube gear is reknown for its ability to generate gobs of low-noise, low-distortion gain. At least that what I read, I can't afford 'em.

 

[EleKtriKaz]

I would not be the right person to educate you on the whole tube vs. warmth thing, but hopefully some of the regulars will stop by and fill us in.

 

[OneRoomStudios]

Well if you're going to stay away from tubes and but still need a preamp, I have heard nothing but good things about FMR's RNP (Really Nice Preamp). Another option would be the Presonus Eureka, which has a compressor and parametric EQ built in. I don't own either, but I've tried the Eureka and it sounds pretty decent, although from what I've heard the RNP blows it away in terms of clarity.

On 8thstreet.com the RNP is going for $474.95 and the Eureka is going for $499

 

[Richard Monroe]

B.L.U.E. rocks. I'm a fan of the baby bottle, Dragonfly, and Kiwi, which is my main vocal mic. You are wrong. Lots of people here use and swear by B.L.U.E.
Better preamps than those Focusrites are expensive, starting about $500. I like Grace Design 101. For cheap, consider the new Joemeek threeQ. Not a tube in sight, but Joemeek compression will definitely give you a different sound, which is often a good one. Sorry, thumbs down on the ART.-Richie

 

[Big Kenny]

I use the baby bottle with the focusrite vmp and get wonderful sounds. the vmp has very many "extras" The expander works great as does the de esser. eq is good the vintage harmonics is a bit weird, but can be applied tastefully. The tube warmth sounds cool when used sparingly. The attenuator on the gain can be very helpful, applying more high or low on input. The downside is the Chinese pots. All in all for home recording I think it is good at this price point.

 

[Larry Blevins]

Ditto the Baby Bottle on acoustic instruments. It's excellent.

 

[Wiggy]

I use the baby bottle with the focusrite vmp and get wonderful sounds.

Just went to the Focusrite site and saw that they are now bundleing the vmp with the new Bluebird. Anyone out there use the Bluebird yet? Is it better than the Baby Bottle? They say it was made for Digi and Focusrite exclusively.

Thanks

 

[Big Kenny]

get the bottle