OWC is proud to announce our new partnership with Blue Microphones. The folks at Blue created quite a stir at Macworld 2009 winning Best of Show for their Mikey iPod Recorder, while their Eyeball HD Webcam/Mic was the toast of CES. OWC and Blue Microphones are very proud to be working together! Take a look at just some of Blue Microphone’s products that are now featured at www.macsales.com/music.
Snowball – USB Microphone
The Snowball is a direct plug n’ play mic that connects to either a Mac or PC — no additional software is needed. With its dual capsule design and unique three-pattern switch (cardioid, cardioid with -10dB pad and omni), the Snowball can handle everything from soft vocals to the loudest garage band and it’s ideal for podcasting. Whether you’re recording a guitar at your kitchen table or a complete band in the studio, the Snowball can capture it with detail unheard of before in a USB mic.
Eyeball – HD Webcam/Mic
Perfect for instant messaging, video conferencing, social networking and more, the Eyeball features Blue’s famous pro-quality condenser capsule, giving it better sound than any webcam in the market. On top of that, they’ve added Super HD video to complete the picture, giving you an awesome visual experience. And, the Eyeball’s integrated design and compact size make it perfect for on-the-go use when you leave your desk. Works with Skype, iChat, Windows Live Messenger, AOL, Yahoo!, Google Talke, and other IM Services.
Mikey – iPod Recorder
Mikey is an iPod recording device that makes recording lectures, voice notes, live music, and interviews easier than ever before. Mikey features Blue’s superior quality stereo condenser capsules, 3-position user selectable gain settings, and built-in speaker for playback. You can even fine-tune Mikey to record everything from the barest audible sound to extremely loud sources without losing audio fidelity. Additionally, Mikey’s unique user-positionable head swivels 180° to provide maximum flexibility and usability.
Snowflake – USB Travel Mic
Designed with the traveler in mind, the Snowflake’s unique design allows you to place it on a desk or flat surface near your computer, or mount it to the screen of most laptops. It’s perfect for podcasting, voice recognition software, iChat, and VoIP software such as Skype or Vonage. Use it for dictation, field recording, lecture recording, and narration for slideshows and PowerPoint presentations. It’s even great for recording music via GarageBand and other multitrack recording software.
Icicle – XLR to USB Converter
The Icicle is Blue’s new stylish USB converter and mic preamp combo that allows you to connect any XLR microphone directly into your computer via USB! The Icicle features a studio quality microphone preamp, 48V phantom power, fully balanced low noise front end, analog gain control, and driverless operation. The Icicle works with both dynamic and condenser microphones, providing high quality and hassle-free connectivity with Mac or PC. Whether you’re using a microphone for digital recording, podcasting, voice messaging, or voice recognition applications, the Icicle is the quick and easy way to get connected. Setup is a snap!
Bluebird – Condenser Mic
The Bluebird is a large-diaphragm cardioid condenser, utilizing Blue’s renowned microphone technology and Class-A discrete circuit. However, in a departure from its normally application-specific designs, Blue engineered the Bluebird to be as versatile as possible, with applications ranging from vocals to electric and acoustic guitars, close-miking of drums, drum overheads, percussion, piano, horns, strings, and any other application where crystal-clear sound quality and detail is of the utmost concern. In addition to the microphone itself, the Bluebird bundle also includes the Bluebird Accessory Pak, with a specially designed shockmount, the BirdCage, and a metal mesh pop filter, the BirdNest. So no matter what your sound, the complete Bluebird package offers today’s musician a top-notch recording experience at an outstanding price – all in one nest!
Warning — the info about these both in sales pages and in the package insert is outdated.
The company no longer provides the software described — you have to go look for something that will work.
Everything I’ve looked at so far requires iOS 4.3 — which won’t run on my Gen2 iPod.
Blue got their “Blue FiRE” software from a third party developer and “parted ways” (per phone conversation) last year. You can’t get that software anywhere I’ve looked. And from some comments it may be a bad idea anyway, I saw discussion that the last ‘bugfix’ release of it broke it completely.
So — for the Gen2 iPod that won’t go above iOS 4.2.x — so far I’ve found nothing except the “Voice Memo” which — as Blue’s docs say — gives poor results.
(This comment is about the “Mikey” iPod microphone, 2nd version, still being sold many places.)
You are correct, this blog post was written regarding our lineup of Blue Microphones products as of Thursday, February 5th, 2009.
Since that time, the original Mikey listed in this article has sold out. We have also expanded the Blue Microphones line to include many more products, including the Mikey 2nd Generation iPod recording device. However, our sales page does not mention the now defunct Blue FIRE software.
These are actually pretty decent little mics, the bluebird delivers a pretty decent full sound.