Bluebird mic review

[Phil O]

Just thought I'd give you some thoughts on my latest mic purchase.

I just got a Bluebird mic from Sweetwater for $300. It comes with a nice wooden box and a shock mount/pop filter accessory pack. The shock mount is adequate, but not as robust as some other manufacturers'. The pop filter is tiny and made out of metal. It clamps directly on the mic. Despite it's appearance, it seems to do the job.

The mic itself is quite neutral sounding with a slight bump in the low and high end, but not so much as to sound hyped...just enough to give it some color. It sounds similar to my Audio Technica 4050CM5 in cardioid mode, but with a little more warmth. So far, I've tried it on vocals, guitar and banjo. For vocals it seems to accurately capture what I'm hearing with my ears (what you hear is what you get). I guess this can be good or bad, depending on the vocal sound you're looking for. I didn't much care for it on acoustic guitar and went back to an AKG 451b, which is my "go-to" for guitar. On banjo, however, it was stellar. It brought out that percussive clucky sound that gives a banjo its character.

This is not a "wow" mic, but for the price it is an excellent addition to anyone's mic cabinet. It definitely out-performs other mics in this price range.

I hope this was useful to someone.

Phil

[James Steele]

Thanks Phil. I've heard good things about B.L.U.E. mics. My favorite vocal mic for my voice is the Red Type B which is made by B.L.U.E. Great mics... but I think B.L.U.E. shut down Red or something like that.

[kgdrum]

I think Blue actually re badged the Red Type A and B and folded into the Blue line,.............................

[therealbigd]

I recently bought a second 8-ball, I use my first one on EVERYTHING!

its high SPL limit makes it great on kick drum, but it sounded so clear on a guitar amp, and then made for some great vocals. It's got a quite sharp sound, no warmth like valves (even in a TL Audio valve desk!), so it's great for anything that needs clarity or needs to cut through the mix. I think im just going to keep buying them! Anybody tried the BlueBall? Im interested in it!

[jlaudon]

My friend told me about a ribbon mic for 109 bucks that to him sounds great for the price, especially on overheads for drums, and even some vocals - I ordered one, but it hasn't arrived yet

http://ppadirectimports.com/microphones.html