Originally posted by Revelation:
<STRONG>I would not want to buy an old U87 as you don't know who dropped or spit into the mic through out the years. </STRONG>
Hey that's fine, just means more for me to buy and enjoy!!
Originally posted by Revelation:
<STRONG>I would not want to buy an old U87 as you don't know who dropped or spit into the mic through out the years. </STRONG>
Hey that's fine, just means more for me to buy and enjoy!!
From Sound on Sound's review of the KiwiOriginally posted by Revelation:
<STRONG>I would not want to buy an old U87 as you don't know who dropped or spit into the mic through out the years. The U87Ai seems to have a little more of that popular high end which I prefer.
True I tested it on my lunch break, but again like they said above, you need to get closer with Blue mic's to get that proximity effect. I guess by you saying thin it means it does not have the rich mid range sound of the U87. In that case you are right. There is something though about Blue mic's that I just love. Not sure if it is about the tight quality control, that I was able to talk to them directly with questions I had, or just the sound of the mic's. I think it is a combination of all of them.
For me they are both great mic's. I just can't see paying $2,800 for one and $1,999 for the other. Since they are so close (as in sounding great), I would go with the Kiwi.</STRONG>
The Kiwi is as smooth as silk — never harsh or aggressive — yet it is precisely detailed and has a very fast, accurate transient response. Whereas many mics have substantial presence peaks, the Kiwi's HF lift is very subtle and, as a result, I found the mic worked equally well on both male and female voices, combining a beautiful warmth with a clear airy top end, and lots of clarity in diction. It all translates to getting the sound right at source, and I found I didn't need to EQ the mic at all — any minor tonal changes could be effected by moving and pointing the mic, or by changing the polar pattern a couple of clicks.
It's easy to see why this is BLUE's solid-state flagship model — I can't fault it at all.
Originally posted by atlas:
<STRONG>....On the BLUE, it's not just about proximity effect. It's about the way the capsule is tuned in general...on axis, at a reasonable distance. And the electronics also. I'll take a transformer on the output of a microphone any day of the week for anything other than classical (even then it can be very nice). The BLUE is transformerless, the Soundelux and my older Neumanns have transformers.</STRONG>
Nathan,
You are correct that the Kiwi is transformerless. But, I'm pretty sure that among Blue's solid state mics, the Blueberry and one of the two versions of the Mouse both have transformers.
John
John D
SpringStone Studio
Looks like your right!The Mouse is a cardioid condenser which employs our hand-built single-membrane, large diaphragm capsule. Enclosed within a rotating spherical grille, the capsule can be positioned and adjusted in the smallest of spaces. Perfectly suited for broadcast and voiceover work, you'll find The Mouse equally at home in front of a kick drum, acoustic bass, electric bass amplifier, snare drum and any other sources where accurate reproduction of low frequency transients is desired.
Characteristics
• Polar pattern: Cardioid
• Transformer balanced Class A discrete amplifier circuit
• Blue's famous hand-built large diaphragm capsule
• Larger-than-life sound with a boost in the upper and lower frequencies and a strong presence
• Integrated suspension shockmount and rotating head for optimal placement
• Hand-tuned and tested-includes cherrywood storage box
Winner of Electronic Musician's 2000 Editors' Choice Award for Best Microphone, the Blueberry consists of a Class A discrete transformer based microphone amplifier perfectly chosen to compliment our cardioid pattern, hand- built large diaphragm capsule.![]()
Originally posted by Revelation:
<STRONG>
Looks like your right!</STRONG>
Well, that makes me one for two today.
John
John D
SpringStone Studio
Originally posted by Revelation:
<STRONG>
How can you say that? You do a vocal track, and by the time you add eq (Waves Ren, Cambridge or Oxford) and compression (LA2-A, their own color would make it almost impossible to tell which mic you used. They really are both very big and full. I just found the U87ai just a little more rich in the lower mid's while the Kiwi had a little more sparkle.</STRONG>
Well, I think that's very true in popular music.
Listen, there is NO ONE up here who could listen to a typical pop recording...and by pop I mean anything like Country, Rock, "Pop" etc....and tell me what microphone is being used. There is so much processing going on that it's ridiculous. Yes I think it's important to start with a basically good mic, but beyond that, a lot of this is probably in the realm of personal preference and not a little bit of anal retentiveness. There is more variation in a singers voice from day to day than there is the ability to hear the difference in many microphones....and pres...that are out there....on a final mix. JMHO.
Much voodoo out there. I saw one post on rec.audio.pro where an engineer did a shoot out and listed an AT4060 as coming in 2nd only to a C12. Some of the engineers couldn't hear much difference. Between a C12, and an AT4060. Go figure.
TH
Originally posted by Revelation:
<STRONG>I would not want to buy an old U87 as you don't know who dropped or spit into the mic through out the years. The U87Ai seems to have a little more of that popular high end which I prefer.
True I tested it on my lunch break, but again like they said above, you need to get closer with Blue mic's to get that proximity effect. I guess by you saying thin it means it does not have the rich mid range sound of the U87. In that case you are right. There is something though about Blue mic's that I just love. Not sure if it is about the tight quality control, that I was able to talk to them directly with questions I had, or just the sound of the mic's. I think it is a combination of all of them.
For me they are both great mic's. I just can't see paying $2,800 for one and $1,999 for the other. Since they are so close (as in sounding great), I would go with the Kiwi.</STRONG>
You will not pay 2800 for a U87ai unless you are insane
TH
Originally posted by oceantracks:
<STRONG>
Well, I think that's very true in popular music.
Listen, there is NO ONE up here who could listen to a typical pop recording...and by pop I mean anything like Country, Rock, "Pop" etc....and tell me what microphone is being used. There is so much processing going on that it's ridiculous. Yes I think it's important to start with a basically good mic, but beyond that, a lot of this is probably in the realm of personal preference and not a little bit of anal retentiveness. There is more variation in a singers voice from day to day than there is the ability to hear the difference in many microphones....and pres...that are out there....on a final mix. JMHO.
Much voodoo out there. I saw one post on rec.audio.pro where an engineer did a shoot out and listed an AT4060 as coming in 2nd only to a C12. Some of the engineers couldn't hear much difference. Between a C12, and an AT4060. Go figure.
TH</STRONG>
This brings up another question, if you have a quality mic and pre, do you really need so many different pre's and mic's if you can't tell much of a difference. Bear in mind the singer still must sound good with the mic their using, and not just using any mic.
Well, just remember that for a few decades or so records were made in a studio with a console, and all the tracks went through that console. Seldom were there racks of different mic pres to "layer" during the building of a song.
That's been great for marketing, but the reality is that no, you don't need a few hundred mics and pres
TH (again, JMHO)
I've been curious myself and have wanted to do this for a while and now this thread has given me the impetus to actually make the phone call ... my reservation is in place to rent a U87ai and an ifet7 this weekend for my own mini shoot out with my Kiwi and a few other mics I own.
For what my opinion is worth, I will report back after the weekend.
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