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 Studio Microphones
In great news for Blue Microphones Bottle enthusiasts, the striking-looking, revolutionary recording tool is now commercially available in Australia – yes, I’m not talking about those pesky, stingy jellyfish that regularly wash up on the beach, but about a high-grade, vacuum-tube studio condenser mic that looks like a cross between a wine bottle and an electric toothbrush... except you could probably kill someone with it as it’s 40cm tall and weighs a not-inconsiderable 1.7kgs.
Founded in the US in 1995 and committed at improving the front end of audio recordings, Blue Microphones have hit upon one radical design with the Bottle. When used as per direction, it sounds great and works beautifully. As Blue’s “flagship recording tool and its highest achievement in quality and innovation” according to its makers, the valve-powered mic offers a winning combination of low-noise output and excellent transient response. Blue Mics’ trademark bayonet-mounted, interchangeable Bottle Caps capsules provide different tonal characteristics and pickup patterns. You can also change the capsules while the power is still switched on – something that would normally take, er, a lot of bottle for any other mic on the market. There’s eight of them to choose from, too (the ProAudio review reckons the B4 capsule is the best).
Additionally, the Bottle’s thoroughly-designed Class A amplifier circuit incorporates an EF86 pentode vacuum tube in triode mode, which means two words: warm sound. As a studio microphone, the Bottle is handcrafted to perfection and is pretty much impeccable soundwise, with its compatibility with all sorts of recording software applications being... definitely something to write home about. Oh, and let me say this again: what a killer look – almost literally.
 The first THX (quality assurance system)-certified USB microphone on the basis of its exceptional performance and fidelity, the recently-launched Yeti is another ace multi-pattern recording tool from Blue Microphones. Consisting of three capsules and four different pattern settings, all this mic needs is to be plugged into the computer and hooked up with a half-decent recording application – the recording clarity and brilliant performance are guaranteed. Blue Mics’ one-of-a-kind triple capsule array allows for recording in stereo or a choice of cardioid, omni and bidirectional. In other words, the Yeti offers recording capabilities usually requiring a whole bunch of separate mics.
The Yeti also utilises an analogue-to-digital converter to send the audio directly into the user’s computer, a built-in headphone amplifier for zero-latency monitoring, and simple controls for headphone volume, pattern selection, instant mute, and microphone gain located directly on the microphone.
As arguably world’s number-one USB mic, Yeti’s remarkably low distortion, high sound quality and balanced frequency response all deserve pondering upon, as do the plug-and-play nature of the mic and the absence of installation drivers. Ain’t nothing hairy and scary about this one.
RRP TBA. Check out www.ambertech.com.au and www.bluemic.com for more information.
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