Blue Microphones "Robbie" Preamp

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:17 pm

I wanna know everyone's take on this preamp... I've heard really good things about it, and read great reviews from magazines, what not, but can anyone who owns it or has had experience with it tell me what their experience has been? I am thinking about giving it a try.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:20 pm

It is a GREAT preamp. Buy it and use it. I did a shoot out with some API and NEVE pre amps recently and the Robbie won hands down. We have had ours for about 2 years and it works GREAT and sounds FANTASTIC. I bought ours as a demo from GC. I had to send it back to the factory for some refurbishments but it was done at no cost to us.

I highly recommend it.

Need some more info let me know.

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:29 am

I have another question... I hope it's not stupid, but I'm looking for how I can get the best sound out of the equipmentt that I have.

I ordered the Robbie preamp just a couple days ago, and it should be coming in the mail tomorrow... I am excited for it, but I have a question.

I am running an Mbox 2 solely into an iMac G4, and using high-end Mogami XLR cables to run the mics. I'm getting the Robbie tomorrow, and will be adding it into the chain as my primary mic pre. My question is, the Mbox has preamps within itself... is that going to affect the sound of the Robbie at all? I've heard great reviews from the Robbie, but is the Mbox preamp going to down-grade the sound?

I've heard of the Apogee Mini-me converter, it's supposed to bypass the mbox preamps, but would it make THAT much of a difference that it's worth putting out the money for considering the mini-me is a preamp itself and I'm getting the Robbie?

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:24 am

The Mbox2 has line level inputs. It looks like it should be decent.

Apogee has a good name for converters, and would help you get the best out of the new preamp.

It's all about the dollars.

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:01 pm

I have a Robbie - fantastic piece of gear. Very warm sounding but low noise, easy to use, looks super cool. It's my go to for vocals paired with my Blue Blueberry. As for how to best hook it up to the Mbox, I am not sure. It has XLR outs only, so you need to convert to 1/4 to go in to the line ins. That should get you in around the pres, I think. I am actually going to try this on Friday (with an older Mbox) - I'll let you know how it goes!

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 5:30 pm

Perfect! Would it downgrade the signal at all to have the setup like that?

Mic > XLR > Robbie > 1/4" > Mbox 2

??

I guess the question is, does the 1/4" carry the signal as well as the XLR? I would think it should... but so I wouldn't use the DI input, but the LINE (TRS) if I try that?

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 5:34 pm

Wait, I just re-read what you said... so the Robbie only has XLR Outs? ok, so I would need a conversion cable from XLR to 1/4" to acheive that? I wonder if the difference is worth the price of the new cable... let me know!

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 5:52 pm

Yes, it only has a single out which is XLR.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/closeup/Robbie--img_rear.jpg

I would think you would want to get an XLR to 1/4 cable and then go in the line, so you are bypassing the Mbox's pre. I am testing this in the next day or two.

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:51 pm

You bought a $1000 preamp. Buy a $30 cable so you can hook it up to both inputs of the your interface to hear which connection is better. The worst that can happen is that there is no improvement in quality and you have a spare xlr cable. If you are serious enough about this business to buy a $1K preamp, you need to be serious enough to buy some cables so that you can do some experiments.

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:06 pm

Touche on that one. I think I actually have one of those cables... it's not the best quality like the mogami's I have, but I should still be able to tell a difference if there is one. If it's only a very close difference between the two, or the conversion cable sounds better than the mogami, then, obviously I know that the bypass of the Mbox pres is the way to go... Thanks a lot for your input you all!

Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:43 am

I just got the Robbie in the mail yesterday, hooked it up in the chain, and man was I surprised by the results! I turned the Robbie up to over 3/4 gain, didn't even turn the Mbox 2 knob (kept it at 0), and recorded something without any plugins or EQ whatsoever. MAN WAS I SURPRISED!!! I'm not sure if keeping the gain knob at 0 on the Mbox bypassed the preamp, but I sure could tell a WORLD of difference in the sound! doing an A/B comparison revealed the Robbie to have a HUGE, RICH, FULL, WARM, VERY CLEAR tonality to it... my wife said she came to the door of the studio minutes before I came out, heard my voice, and thought I was recording, so didn't come in--when I came out during the song... it startled her. And what really surprises me is that I'm using a budget Rode NT1 mic! I can only imagine what a Neumann, or even AKG, or Blue Baby Bottle, or Bottle would sound like on this thing!?! WELL WORTH THE MONEY. My hat goes off to B.L.U.E.!

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