Re: [Harp-L] Blue Ice mic

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Roscoe Catania wrote:
<Has anyone tried or heard of this mic? From what I hear,and for the price,
<it is not a bad mic for your average small PC driven "Woodshed" studio.

The Blue Ice mic is a USB mic, which means you won't be able to use it with anything but a PC or MAc via a USB port, i.e. no chance of using it in performance onstage. That's a significant limitation. 

Another significant limitation is that this mic's digital to analog converters operate at 16 bits/44.1 kHz.  That means the noise floor is pretty high for a digital device.  I would avoid ANY device that was not capable of supporting 24-bit recording.  

Finally, you need to think beyond the mic to the studio itself.  The big problems with most home studios are the inherent noise from the studio and its surroundings, and standing waves generated by 90 degree angles everywhere, which do very weird things to the perceived volume of particular frequencies.  These problems become evident when you're recording in front of a mic, as opposed to holding it in your hands; the open mic picks up the sound of the room, and it can take a lot of effort to tune the room for decent sound.

My advice to anyone recording in a home studio--assuming that at some point you want to record something for public consumption--is to either spend the money to treat the studio, which can easily run to hundreds or thousands of dollars, or use a mic that gives you a great sound when you hand-hold it.  Hand-holding the mic removes the sound of the room from the recording. 

The best mic I know of for hand-held recording is the Audix Fireball V.  It's also a very nice mic for live performance.  It runs about $125 new at retail.  You would also need a recording interface for your computer to get the signal from the mic into the computer.  Very nice 2-in 2-out (stereo) USB interfaces are available in the $100-150 price range from vendors that include M-Audio and Tascam.  As an alternative to a dedicated USB audio interface, Digitech RPs function very well as 24-bit USB audio interfaces, and that includes the low-end RPs, like the RP150 and 155, either of which can be bought used in very good condition from vendors like guitarcenter.com for $50 or less on a good day.  If you take that route, you can also take advantage of the built-in FX in the RP when you record.

My own home recording spaces sound like hell. I've used a handheld Fireball on just about every recording I've made for myself and others in the last few years, and the clients always smile when they hear the tracks.

Regards, Richard Hunter

  



 

author, "Jazz Harp" (Oak Publications, NYC)
Latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://hunterharp.com
Vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick
Twitter: lightninrick