BLue?

[pjbelsch]

Hi,
Has anyone had any luck with Blue Mics? My friend that was in the recording business swore by them saying they out performed everything and didnt break the bank. I was also wondering if anyone had experience with the Blue Raspberry?

[jim1960]

I haven't used the Raspberry but I do own the Kiwi and the Woodpecker. Both are excellent mics. I also own a Snowball that I leave on my desktop for Skype usage and some folks on the other end have remarked on the clarity of that mic. Some years ago, I gave a friend the Baby Bottle as a gift. He raves about it still.

[ljguitar]

Hi pjb

I found them 'acceptable' but not 'exceptional' and opted for more traditional mics (Neumann, Shure, Rode, AKG, and Audio Technica) when equipping an acoustic studio which I operated for 8 years.

I also own some Peluso CEMC6 which are a knockoff of Schoepps and do a great job.

The thing about the Blue is the designs look unique cosmetically, but I didn't find they produced any more audio detail than other mics, and they actually lacked some of the options I needed/wanted/used in studio (switchable pickup patterns and/or switchable capsules).

I think their $200-300 large diaphragm mics are OK for the price, and comparable to similar mics from other companies. I sure didn't find them 'magic' nor was I tempted to buy them. I stayed with solid, dependable mics for day-to-day work.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by pjbelsch

Hi,
Has anyone had any luck with Blue Mics? My friend that was in the recording business swore by them saying they out performed everything and didnt break the bank. I was also wondering if anyone had experience with the Blue Raspberry?

I own quite a few nice microphones (many upper tier Neumanns) and used to feel Blue mics were fantastic, although I felt they were of higher quality when made in Latvia. The mics I own are the: Cactus, Kiwi, Blueberry, and Dragonfly. The Kiwi is still one of my most used microphones especially paired with the Blue Robbie preamp, it's just a great combo. They have since contracted with various builders, with many of their mics now being produced in China. And with that, I wouldn't trust the quality and tone of the Chinese produced Blues which are on the lower end, and that would include the Rasberry. I recently purchased a used E300 and two E200 vocal mics from them, and the E300 has developed problems, and the first pair of E200 had problems rendering all of them unusable! The problem was that the mics weren't shielded properly and were picking up various noises (cell phones, computers, etc), noises that weren't being picked up by any of my Shure mics (Neumann KMS 105, Shure Beta 87, Shure Sm58, etc) And the company that I bought them from had reported back to me they had many returns on these Blue mics! Not a good track record!!!

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

...many of their mics now being produced in China.

Do you know when that happened? All my Blue mics are on the older side and I was unaware of this.

[pjbelsch]

Originally Posted by jim1960

Do you know when that happened? All my Blue mics are on the older side and I was unaware of this.

lowered manufacturing costs=higher profit.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by pjbelsch

lowered manufacturing costs=higher profit.

I understand why. I was asking when.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by jim1960

I understand why. I was asking when.

Jim I'm assuming that you have the pro line mics (Bottle, Cactus, Kiwi, Mouse, Blueberry, Dragonfly), it's only the lower line stuff that's produced in China. The pro-line stuff is mfd in USA. They used to be made in Latvia, but Blue had a very contentious falling out with the Latvia mfd (who now makes Violet and JZ) so they had to search out new manufacturing. Some people feel the original Blue mics mfd in Latvia were their finest.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

Jim I'm assuming that you have the pro line mics (Bottle, Cactus, Kiwi, Mouse, Blueberry, Dragonfly), it's only the lower line stuff that's produced in China. The pro-line stuff is mfd in USA. They used to made made in Latvia but Blue had a very contentious falling out with the Latvia mfd (who now makes Violet and JZ) so they had to search out new manufacturing. Some people feel the original Blue mics mfd in Latvia were their finest.

I have a Kiwi and a Woodpecker. When I pair the Kiwi with my Demeter VTMP-2c, it's pretty amazing. The Woodpecker is very nice on acoustic guitar. I usually prefer the Hardy M1 with that mic.

[BoneDigger]

I own a Blueberry and I've been quite happy with it.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by BoneDigger

I own a Blueberry and I've been quite happy with it.

I like the Blueberry too.

[fitness1]

I doubt I'll ever own anything else. VERY happy with them. Encore 200 for vocals and Hummingbird for guitars. Feel like I stole something

[Trevor B.]

Originally Posted by pjbelsch

Hi,
Has anyone had any luck with Blue Mics? My friend that was in the recording business swore by them saying they out performed everything and didnt break the bank. I was also wondering if anyone had experience with the Blue Raspberry?

I have no experience with Blue mics but love my Miktek CV4, Sennheiser MHK 800 P48s and matched pair of Gefell M300s. That said, I recently discovered a remarkable sounding stereo ribbon mic from Sontronics called the Apollo (since updated to the Apollo 2). Check out how great this mic sounds (even in a youtube video). It sounds to me like it's in the same league as the Royer SF-24 but for 1/3 the price.

[hyenik]

I use Blue Baby Bottle long time. Great microphone for acoustic guitar and cheap.