Condenser mic recs?

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by jorri » Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:03 am

lastlol wrote:
Sat Feb 06, 2021 5:34 am
I use an Aston Origin on vocals and acoustic guitar, it is a really fantastic mic for the price.
I see the Astons revered a lot for their cheaper price. The Spirit too.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by mediocreplayer » Sun Feb 14, 2021 7:49 pm

How do people feel about Blue microphones?

I am thinking of picking up the Bottle Rocket Lite 1 locker, mostly because...it looks cool. And maybe something with 4 capsules would make me not think about mics for a while?

Image

But I am interested in hearing opinions about Blue in general.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by øøøøøøø » Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:59 am

Opinions about BLUE in general are tricky, because the trademark has been through several radically-different phases over the years.

Early on, their focus was on high-end microphones and modification/reworking of some vintage classics (to mixed reviews... I'm not a fan of the U47s they retrofitted to use EF86 tubes, for instance). Their flagship microphone, the Bottle, was a large tube mic (reminiscent of the old CMV3) with interchangeable capsules.

In this era, their focus was the high-end pro audio market... they could've rightly been called a "boutique" mic manufacturer (at least by aspiration).

At some point, I believe they developed a relationship with Apple and started making podcasting microphones in addition to their professional line (which was already starting to include more and more product targeted toward the mid-level pro and prosumer markets).

Shortly thereafter they were sold to a private equity firm (we all know what that usually means for making quality-minded audio gear), and then eventually to Logitech, who are the current owners.

Logitech is a computer peripherals company, and the BLUE trademark is now probably more associated with that market... product for people who do streaming, podcasting, etc.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by mediocreplayer » Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:00 pm

Blue is owned by Logitech?! :derp:

Thanks for the response! Really appreciate your input throughout the thread. It seems that this bottle rocket is a pretty good deal for a made-in-USA mic, assuming the capsules do a good job of copping the tones of the microphones they are modeled after.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by øøøøøøø » Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:46 am

I'll qualify this by saying that I don't really see country of origin as an especially-consistent predictor of quality in 2021, but I don't believe BLUE mics have ever been made in USA?

If they are now, that's probably a new development!

The acronym BLUE stands for "Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics," and before all the ownership changes they were made, as the name suggests, in Latvia.

The original people behind BLUE now have another company, called JZ (formerly "Violet Microphones") which basically continues the tradition of the old BLUE mics in Riga, Latvia.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by CorporateDisguise » Tue Feb 16, 2021 5:38 am

I have a Blue Bluebird. It was definitely a very hyped mic at the time, and I fell for it. That’s not to say it’s not a good mic. It does a job, although it’s a bit more limited than I had hoped. It has a bit of an accentuated top end that can sound brittle on somethings. As a vocal mic, it’s a bit to sibilant in my opinion, which I think is made worse by its extra treble response. I do like it as a room mic for drums or even guitar sometimes, as the extra top end helps it not sound to dull or muffled.

I hear good things about the Blue Bottle. I kinda wish I had done more research before I purchase the Bluebird and just gotten the Blue Bottle instead.

That said, the build quality is good enough and it seems to be sturdy. It has had no issues in the few years I’ve owned it.

(I’m also not an engineer, nor do I work in a legitimate recording studio. This is all just from experience making demos at home in an untreated environment. So take everything I say with a grain of salt, because I certainly don’t have great ears.)

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by mediocreplayer » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:07 am

øøøøøøø wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:46 am
I'll qualify this by saying that I don't really see country of origin as an especially-consistent predictor of quality in 2021, but I don't believe BLUE mics have ever been made in USA?

If they are now, that's probably a new development!

The acronym BLUE stands for "Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics," and before all the ownership changes they were made, as the name suggests, in Latvia.

The original people behind BLUE now have another company, called JZ (formerly "Violet Microphones") which basically continues the tradition of the old BLUE mics in Riga, Latvia.
The BLUE mics come in two tiers, roughly divided as those below $1k are made in China and those $1k and above are made in the US. I agree with you that country of origin is not necessarily a reliable predictor of quality.

Do you have experience with the JZ mics? They just released a new one apparently, the BB29, which can currently be bought at half price.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by øøøøøøø » Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:24 am

I’ve never had the chance to try either JZ or Violet mics.

I did have the chance to use several BLUE mics back in the day, including the Blueberry, the Dragonfly and the Mouse.

My basis for experience-based comparison at the time was a bit scant, but I remember liking the Blueberry and especially the Mouse (the latter specifically on outside bass drum).

I haven’t had the chance to use a BLUE mic from any era in many years, except for a YETI USB podcast mic (with inbuilt preamp, headphone amp and DAC/ADC). I thought it was quite good at its price point and for its target application!

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by Larry Mal » Wed Mar 17, 2021 2:41 pm

I used to have some Baby Bottles back in the day, and they are pretty good microphones for the used price I paid for them. At the time, I made sure to get the ones made in Latvia as opposed to the newer ones made in China, it was explained to me that the quality of them was dumbed down when the production shifted to China.

I would still say that if one had a budget of $200, then a Baby Bottle would be a fine choice.
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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by my bloody television » Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:48 am

I ended up pulling the trigger on the Gefell mt71s and couldn’t be happier. Thanks for the recommendation Brad! I went back and forth for a long time between the Gefell and the TLM103, at some points thinking it was a safer option to grab the Neumann because of all the dialogue online about it and it’s seemingly wide use. Then there was a time where I really confused myself and decided I should be more conscious of my initial budget and look at all the options under 1k. Ultimately I’m glad I stretched the budget a little because this mic is fantastic. Great build quality and perfect sound for my purposes.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by øøøøøøø » Fri Apr 30, 2021 3:16 pm

my bloody television wrote:
Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:48 am
I ended up pulling the trigger on the Gefell mt71s and couldn’t be happier. Thanks for the recommendation Brad! I went back and forth for a long time between the Gefell and the TLM103, at some points thinking it was a safer option to grab the Neumann because of all the dialogue online about it and it’s seemingly wide use. Then there was a time where I really confused myself and decided I should be more conscious of my initial budget and look at all the options under 1k. Ultimately I’m glad I stretched the budget a little because this mic is fantastic. Great build quality and perfect sound for my purposes.
So glad to hear that!

I really do feel like that mic nails the price/performance sweet spot almost better than any other

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by lastlol » Thu May 20, 2021 8:33 am

I plan to upgrade my Aston Origin, and I'm looking for a mic that will sound good for intimate/folk songs vocals, rather soft singing, without taking too much noises. Do you think the mt71s would be allright ? I had a Rode NT1 that I liked but that died a few years ago, I also had an AT2020 that I found too "mat" in French (dull ?) sounding, and the Aston that gives me too much sibilances when I sing close to it.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by Plumerai » Mon Aug 16, 2021 5:00 am

I bought the gefell MT71s a few months ago based on the rec's here. It was a huge improvement over my at4033. Vocals (female) cut through with very little eq. The highs are smooth.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by øøøøøøø » Mon Aug 16, 2021 9:56 am

lastlol wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 8:33 am
I plan to upgrade my Aston Origin, and I'm looking for a mic that will sound good for intimate/folk songs vocals, rather soft singing, without taking too much noises. Do you think the mt71s would be allright ? I had a Rode NT1 that I liked but that died a few years ago, I also had an AT2020 that I found too "mat" in French (dull ?) sounding, and the Aston that gives me too much sibilances when I sing close to it.
I think the odds are good that you'd like it, but want to reiterate that it's tricky to predict how well a mic will perform on an individual voice without trying it.

I recently was working with an artist for whom a U47 and U67 were both very poor fits. An early silver C414-comb was the winner by far (despite having a market value that's nearly an order of magnitude less).

This makes some sense (certain voices are really flattered by an edge-terminated capsule like the good brass CK12 in those early 414s). But the point is, you just never really know. Experience makes you better at educated guesses, but the best way is still to find a way to try one in person.

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Re: Condenser mic recs?

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Apr 17, 2022 11:02 am

øøøøøøø wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 3:08 pm
I'd recommend stretching to ~1100 and grabbing a Gefell MT71s (if pre-2005, even better). They are stupid good for the money, and have an excellent capsule (a true M7).

I guess I'm going to resurrect this thread as I am intrigued by these Gefells, and likely still on the hunt for a great microphone to record vocals with since I do not think this U87 I bought on eBay is likely to happen. I'm not sure what the deal is there, but I don't think that microphone is coming.

So I guess I'd put the budget around $1100 and used is fine.

Brad, can you elaborate a little more on these and how you use them? I did some reading on the M7 capsules you mention, it seems that this is just about the lowest price point one would find this capsule according to this.
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