Blue gets mentioned around here quite a bit. (Try a search. Particular mic names will help narrow it.) Several are big fans of the Bluebird. We put the Blue Woodpecker in the [[url=http://[/URL]="http://recording.or…"]Ribbon Shootout. [/]="http://recording.or…"]Ribbon Shootout. [/] Try to pick out from the audio clips.

Good Idea, thanks!

I love the two Blue mics I have right now. I got the ball which sounds great on the snare bottom and the Bluebird. I just had the bluebird sent to me so I'm still finding out what it's best on but it surprised me on acoustic guitar. I'm looking into getting the woodpecker and blueberry next.

Yup -
I dig the Bluebird - for a couple hundred bucks, it's hard to beat. It's got a nice brightness and one of the more workable and predictable proximity effects I've seen on a mic anywhere near its price.

FWIW - I won't declare this in the "objective" portion of our mic shootout that we did with the ribbon mics, but in general, I did not like the Woodpecker in the slightest!

Cheers-
J

Has anyone tried the cactus?

Yeah, I had a Cactus for a while and loved it on brightly distorted guitar cabs. It's a strange bird - very dark on first listen, but if you scrutinize it's sound, there IS high end there (and it is clear and bell-like), it's just not pronounced. Like I said, kind of a one-trick pony; almost ribbon-like but with multi patterns and requiring less gain.
I've also owned a Blueberry, a Kiwi, and (still own) two of the Dragonfly - (used to work at GC so I could get 'em for half retail on "salesman accommodation").
Have gotten rid of all but the Dragonflies, (which I really like on toms and clean Fender Twin/Telecaster-type sounds.)
Good mics, but not as consistent as Neumanns, AKGs and Shures in the same price range, i.e. listen to the one you're getting, before you buy it.

i have the bluebird and like it alot.

I picked up a Baby Bottle recently. Sounds OK, but really colors the mid to low-mid frequencies. Sounded pretty good on a guitar amp or dirty electric bass, but didn't care for it on my voice or acoustic guitar. I haven't tried it on horns, which is one of the things Blue claims it does well.

My understanding is that Blue's whole line-up is pretty application-specific. The Bluebird is an exception (and also their cheapest condenser mic). They say they tried to make that one an all-around mic. I have a friend who has the Bluebird and he likes it.

DigitraxRec
Thanks very much for the Info, I understand that they used the cactus on Krauss's vocal on the Raising Sands album. Sound like it might be a good choice for a siblant singer?

Link555 wrote: Has anyone tried the cactus?

I have a Cactus, and it is one of my very favorite mics. It's SUPERB on shrill singers, and as someone else mentioned it can seem a bit dark, but it sure shines with a little EQ on non shrill singers. It's my go to mic. Honestly, it's a modern day classic in my opinion. More people should be trying these mics. I mean it's a savior when you have a shrill singer in a major way, and who hasn't run into those...a lot. :lol: There's just some super high quality thing going on with the mic that very few mics have.

And it sure is pretty too. :oops: