MIC REVIEW: The BLUE "Mouse"

general questions, comments and ideas about recording, audio, music, etc.
Locked
joel hamilton
zen recordist
Posts: 8876
Joined: Mon May 19, 2003 12:10 pm
Location: NYC/Brooklyn
Contact:

MIC REVIEW: The BLUE "Mouse"

Post by joel hamilton » Wed Nov 19, 2003 8:14 pm

I got one of the early "mouse's's's", and I love it.
Mine is serial #0079.

I have the black one, which indicates the transformer inside.

This is a really great all purpose condenser, like the Neumann FET 47.

The mouse is a large diaphragm, FET condenser mic with a crazy shape.

The "ears" on the mouse have a rubber swivel, which enables you to aim the capsule at the source, and provides a reasonable amount of shock isolation. (like mic stand resonance, not from a foot fall, or rumble in the floor).

I have recorded some of the best rock bass I have ever printed with this mic and an avalon 737. I was recording a P-bass through an ampeg B-15 portaflex, and the sound was KILLER! One part YES, one part Cop Shoot Cop.

Totally aggressive, yet super musical. Basically just awesome.

I had put up a FET 47, The mouse,a TLM 170 "gotham", an SM57, and an RE20 in front of this same amplifier, and only the mouse gave me that super tight, consistent low end, but with an upper mid growl and presence that kicks ass!

The FET 47 was way more "wooly", and the TLM (which is usually one of my favorites for growling rock style bass) gave me this weird low mid woofiness that was just murky with a bunch of guitar happening. The FET47 had great low end, but the top wasnt letting the pick shine through the guitar either. The 57 sounded like poop, except for the mids were kind of more what I was looking for. I had considered printing both the 57 and the FET 47... The RE 20 is boring IMO. It always does what it does. Okay great. BORING. It sounded like a dim, sort of okay representation of what the amp was doing. RE20 would have been cool for some fusion jazz stuff I guess....

(al were placed at the distance I usually use each mic.... CLOSE! Like within 4 to 5" if not closer for all mics in question).

The mouse came up like "WOAH?!?" I freaked out. I had put it up on a whim, and there I was freaking out! Totally great sounds all of a sudden, like what the amp sounded like with my head right in front of the speaker, only better. better in the sense that the mic gave me the perfect amount of EVERY frequency. It sat really well with a bunch of barking guitars, and a big 24" slingerland kick!

I barely did anything to this track during the mix. NO eq, and just a little bit of compression in this case, like 2:1, pulling back 5 Db max on the low strings, just to get it to hold steady in the center image with the kick. The DI i smashed a little more....

I have used the mouse on female vocals, and prefer it to almost every mic I have used for that application. Open, airy, not annoying, not essy. I had it up against an 87 and the mouse KILLED the 87. Hands down. The vocal just JUMPED out of the speakers all of a sudden. Same pre (a UA 2-610) as the 87 and everything.
Mouse>UA>neve33609>PT HD. The 87 sat in the box the rest of the session.

On the drums I put the mouse about a foot and a half back from the kick, and used a vintech 1272, through the Neve 33609 DESTROYING this mic to tape.
I was almost able to use this track as THE ENTIRE DRUM MIX!!!
Amazing detail, without amazing amounts of top end. Cool.

On upright bass it rocks, but is a little wacky. The instrument itself has to sound really good, or it gets a little "plywood box" sounding. (obvious reasons here).

On AC guitar I think it is a little bit pick heavy, but I havent really tried to hard to make it work. Who knows, with a different pre, or a different guitar I could see it working. I hate super bright AC guitar though. Lita ford might love this mic for 12 string...

If you record rock, or singer songwriter female vocalist type of stuff, I think you would be happy to have this mic in your collection.

I think if you are bored with 87's, and want a mic that seems to be great on everything you put it in front of...

This is a really cool microphone IMO, and I have a bunch of cool microphones.

http://www.bluemic.com/

toddjal
gettin' sounds
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2003 1:18 pm
Location: calgary alberta canada
Contact:

Re: MIC REVIEW: The BLUE "Mouse"

Post by toddjal » Thu Nov 20, 2003 8:32 am

not that it has much to do with the mic itself but i was talking with the Blue Mic guys at AES NYC and they were one of the only companies whose reps were exceptionally nice and helpful. great people!. this is a company i recommend supporting if anyone is looking for good mics. they also seemed to be very proud of the mouse. i was told it was designed for male vocals. they talked about using on the outside of a kik instead of a 147, but of course i havn't had the chance to do that myself.

User avatar
Slider
george martin
Posts: 1486
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2003 2:00 pm

Re: MIC REVIEW: The BLUE "Mouse"

Post by Slider » Sat Nov 22, 2003 10:58 am

i saw some studio footage of that crappy AFI band that jerry finn and butch vig were producing. and they had this mic on the snare drum! it sounded awesome. and i've never been able to use a LDC mic on really loud close mic'd snare drum. most LDC get tons of nasty bleed and don't have the smack of a 57. i thought it was interesting that it was used as the one close mic on the top of the snare. and although i think this band is a joke.
i thought the snare on the record sounded really good. although i''m sure they have a trigger going with the original. i think the footage is on AFI's website. i think it's AFIREINSIDE.com but i may be wrong.

joel hamilton
zen recordist
Posts: 8876
Joined: Mon May 19, 2003 12:10 pm
Location: NYC/Brooklyn
Contact:

Re: MIC REVIEW: The BLUE "Mouse"

Post by joel hamilton » Sat Nov 22, 2003 11:06 am

I could see using this on snare. Wow. I havent tried that yet, but it sounds interesting...

User avatar
wayne kerr
ears didn't survive the freeze
Posts: 3873
Joined: Thu May 08, 2003 10:11 am

Re: MIC REVIEW: The BLUE "Mouse"

Post by wayne kerr » Sat Nov 22, 2003 1:32 pm

I could see using this on snare. Wow. I havent tried that yet, but it sounds interesting...
It's also a mother-effer as a snare-side SD mic - nice 'n crisp with just a hint of fat... MMMMMM... I'm getting hungry now!

CCPP
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
-Hunter S. Thompson

TapeOpLarry
TapeOp Admin
TapeOp Admin
Posts: 1665
Joined: Thu May 01, 2003 11:50 am
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Re: MIC REVIEW: The BLUE "Mouse"

Post by TapeOpLarry » Mon Nov 24, 2003 12:09 am

I used a Mouse on snare on a Holiday Flyer record and really liked mixing it with a SM57. I thought it was a cheaper mic of theres, like the Baby Bottle, and when I was told it wasn't I felt guilty for putting by a snare! I use the Dragonflys a lot, on toms and vocals msotly. Good stuff. Skipper, Eric and Martin are nice folks, and Eric especially is like most of us, running a smal studio and doing sessions. Good people, good mics, even if I think the Ball is kinda useless...

joel hamilton
zen recordist
Posts: 8876
Joined: Mon May 19, 2003 12:10 pm
Location: NYC/Brooklyn
Contact:

Re: MIC REVIEW: The BLUE "Mouse"

Post by joel hamilton » Mon Nov 24, 2003 12:19 am

Larry,

How can you say it is useless?

I am getting one. If it sucks at least there is a bocce area in the park by the studio. Me and the old italin guys in the hood will be ROCKIN that thing!

You are right. All the guys at blue are really nice.

User avatar
nick_a
buyin' gear
Posts: 508
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2003 2:10 pm
Location: arlington VA
Contact:

Re: MIC REVIEW: The BLUE "Mouse"

Post by nick_a » Sun Jan 04, 2004 11:48 pm

ok i'd like to start out by saying the only b.l.u.e. mouse i've used was modded to sound brighter, but regardless, i LOVE it. especially for dude indie pop singers. i can't get enough. I stacked the mouse up against this giant CAD tube mic (VX1000? i don't remember), a U87, and a rode NTK, and the mouse totally took the cake. It was the only one i could find in the mic cabinet where i didn't have to EQ the hell out of the signal to get the vocals to stand out.
It's also totally badass as a low-hanging drum overhead (i used it through an ADL tube comp and it was so so awesome) and also as an acoustic guitar mic. It's just the sound i've been looking for.

Locked

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Artifacts and 19 guests