The Baby Bottle is a good mic for the money but I would probably look into an AKG 414. It's way more versatile and I think it just sounds better.

If your going to get one LDC, you;ve got to think about getting something that will have am good batting average on a daily basis.

I own several Baby Bottles and 3 Akg 414's and an M-610.

My .02

Chris

I really like the K2 but you can't go wrong with the C414 either- as far as the blue bottle is concerned, I understand that this is a mic that sounds great on some voices and not so great on others... At least this is what I've read in the forums from several users. Some people just love it and does the trick for them. If you could try it out that would be great, it might be the mic for you-

On the k2 so far I've heard nothing but praise from users. I have two myself and its great on male and female vocals, super on percussion, good on acoustic guitar and electric guitar cabs. I have not tried it on acoustic piano yet.

The C414 is a great all purpose mic- sounds good on most sources. I like the K2 better for vocals but that's just me. I understand this was Freddy Mercury's vocal mic of choice- its hard to argue with that.

... Blue Baby Bottle ... Any experience with this microphone on the forum?

I demo'd one against several alternatives recently. It was very nice. I ended up with a pair of NT2000's, which I thought sounded great and were more flexible. I also demo'd the (then) new Bluebird, which I didn't like at all.

Believe the street price for the kit (mic, shock mount, case, etc.) is about $600.

I was quoted $499 for the Baby Bottle, $450 for the Bluebird. You should be able to do better than $600, though you're right, it is the common street price.

Bill

The guy who recommeded the Baby Bottle is going to loan me his plus his 414 for the weekend to try out. So, I'll be able to get an objective read on the two mics before I commit to a purchase.

I've got limited experience recording acoustic guitar, so a couple of other questions....

In a very limited capacity on an acoustic project, I have used budget type condensers (SP C4's, Samson C02's, etc.) and was marginally satisfied with the quality I've achieved. Also, this was through an Aardvark Q10 interface that I used to work with. Given the new chain of a baby bottle or 414 through the 2-610 pre, I'd expect much better results. As I don't have a lot of experience recording acoustic guitar, results before were perhaps as much as matter of bad technique as marginal equipment.

Any suggested techniques to maximize the quality of the project? The guitarist will be playing a Martin acoustic in an acoustically treated room. Plus, he's a very talented musician, so no real concerns there. I'm more concerned about micing techniques, etc., specifically with these mics.

I had planned to use either the bottle or the 414 on the "body" of the guitar, maybe a bit off axis a few inches from the hole and use the other mic or a SDC on the neck.

Thanks for the feedback so far....

Shawn

Hi

I have the Baby Bottle, and I think on stringed instruments it really sounds good: very accurate and detailed, but not harsh; if you are going to use it on vocals though try to pair it with a mellower preamp, as I think it's got a bit of upper midrange presence that on certain voices (particulary females) may be a bit sibilant; on male voices it sounded crisp, but not particulary rich in the low end, that's why I suggest to use a tube or big sounding preamp with it. In the end I think for the money it's a good sounding mic, particulary on strings.

Hope this helps

l.G.

Update

OK,

So I have a really busy 2 day session coming up. I was also able to get my hands on a Rode K2 and a shure KSM44 for this weekend's session and will, in my own limited way, develop objective assessments of the mics. From what I've read and seen so far, my expected outcome would be to prefer either the C414 or the KSM44 over the Baby Bottle, given their additional flexibility (multi pattern, LF rolloff and pad), or the K2 with that cool tube vibe. In the end, I may end up getting two of the four, if I can get the right deal. Regarding the micing technique questions, there's a boat load of information already around on these forums, so I'll incorporate some of the already highlighted techniques for the eval.

Thanks to all for the feedback so far - in this range, I'm sure I'll get something I'll be happy with.

Shawn