Blue Microphones Bottle Cap (B7) Reviews

5.0/5.0 based on 1 customer review

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Customer Reviews

Steven J Goldman
from NY, USA
April 25, 2012Music Background:
Recording & Mastering Engineer

Perfect Vocal & Guitar Mic

I purchased the B7 capsule to compliment the B8 capsule that my Blue Bottle Rocket Stage One microphone came with. It is supposedly a near-sound-alike to a Neumann U47; the mic that recorded everyone from Sinatra to Chris Cornell. Since buying it a year ago, I have never used a single other microphone to record ANY vocal, or acoustic guitar.

Unlike many microphones that need a bit of tweaking to sit properly in a soft or hard rock mix, this capsule can get away with a simple high-pass filter and some light, transparent compression. It offers a great deal of midrange clarity, and a good amount of high end that can only be described as 'airy'. The high-frequency handling is never sharp. You can boost the hell out of nearly anything over 8khz, and never cringe. It always sounds good.

I do find myself sometimes applying even a slight cut between 700hz and 1k, just to fit certain mixes. I mix rock, metal, hip-hop, and competitive collegiate a cappella. I wanted a microphone that could handle both modern and vintage sounds, and this is definitely the one.

You will also be very hard-pressed to find a microphone that makes an acoustic guitar sound much better than this. Aimed at the right spot, you get a sound that again, barely needs any EQ to sit exactly where it should. The way it handles high frequencies is amazing - no grating sounds when fingers slide over the strings or a not is plucked a bit too hard. Everything is warm, articulate, and 'woody', if that makes any sense.

I have also gotten some use from this mic on lower-gain guitar amps, and as an ambient mic on a live drum kit. It's a great all-around mic, but it really shines on voices and acoustic instruments. It makes breathy performances sound epic, and has the awesome ability to tame the 'nasal' quality in singers that have that issue. I'm one of them, and at least half the singers I've worked with have that problem as well.