Little Blondies....wow....

[Ben B]

I have one Little Blondie. Mine sounds good, but has very low output. Consequently, I haven't been able to use it much on quieter sound sources as the preamp gain required adds too much noise.

Is mine defective? Do yours have low output too?

[guitarboy94]

Yep, they're low output mics. Much like a dynamic mic. You need a good preamp to drive these. Need about 50db of clean gain. I get perfect results on acoustic with 40db of gain strumming loudly.

[guitarmax_99]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Yep, they're low output mics. Much like a dynamic mic. You need a good preamp to drive these. Need about 50db of clean gain. I get perfect results on acoustic with 40db of gain strumming loudly.

Are they electret?

[prontold]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Anyone out there using Little Blondies pencil condensers? Just scored a pair of these for a few hundred bucks off ebay. Wow....these are mopping the floor with my Oktava 012's on acoustic guitar. Seriously, this post should be in the high end forum....but because these are silly inexpensive, I posted here. These mics have some serious depth when it comes to recording acoustic.

You can get these new direct from the manufacturer for $120 each.

I think they sound pretty good, but they have a lot of self noise. Have you tried omni caps for your oktavas? Might be that you prefer the sound of the omni pickup pattern.

Congrats on finding another mic you like!

[guitarboy94]

Mine are really quiet. No issues with noise on mine.

[prontold]

Originally Posted by guitarmax_99

Are they electret?

yes

[prontold]

Originally Posted by guitarboy94

Mine are really quiet. No issues with noise on mine.

I guess there may be some variation. It's not a terrible amount of noise, I notice I get more hiss with the LBs than with other low gain mics, and the character of the noise doesn't seem to change when I shift the mic position in the room, suggesting that it is not just ambient pickup from the omni pattern.

Like I said, it's not terrible, but enough to make me feel insecure about using them on quieter sounds.

[guitarboy94]

All I know is that I tend to strum my acoustic guitar pretty hard, and wow, these little guys just record the woody sound of my Martin unlike any mic I've tried in the past. Plus, the depth, detail and clarity I get with these mics is unreal. I think they sound in the ballpark of my Joly modded Oktava 012's. I've downsized my entire mic collection to just these Blondies for my acoustic guitar and a Shure Sm7b for my vocals running into an ART MPA II tube preamp with upgraded NOS tubes. So far, this is my best sounding, and oddly, cheapest setup to date.

[prontold]

Cool! I agree that they are definitely worth having, especially considering the price.

For anybody unfamiliar, this is the manufacturer's website:
Little Blondie Mics

[rocksure]

To keep this in balance I will beg to differ. If you want reasonable mics for cheap then they are ok. But in some recordings I did with a pair of these on various sources I did not find them to have great clarity and detail, but they were rather more smeary sounding. I personally would rather have Oktava MK012, Shure sm81, AKG C451, Crown CM700 or even Rode NT3 than the Blondies. The one advantage they do have is that they are very small, which could be a handy asset in some situations.

[vincentvangogo]

Originally Posted by Ben B

I have one Little Blondie. Mine sounds good, but has very low output. Consequently, I haven't been able to use it much on quieter sound sources as the preamp gain required adds too much noise.

Is mine defective? Do yours have low output too?

Don't mean to state the obvious, but you know they require phantom power?

[swafford]

Love these as room mics for drums. Never struck me as noisy. I'd take them over 012's any day.

[omtayslick]

Originally Posted by prontold

Might be that you prefer the sound of the omni pickup pattern.

Omnis are pretty great on acoustic.

[prontold]

Originally Posted by swafford

Love these as room mics for drums. Never struck me as noisy. I'd take them over 012's any day.

Yea room capture is probably my favorite use for the LBs as well. I find that having a stereo pair of ribbons up and then 1 or 2 LBs to add high end detail is really great for ambient recording.

[Ben B]

Originally Posted by vincentvangogo

Don't mean to state the obvious, but you know they require phantom power?

Yes. Your point?

[vincentvangogo]

Originally Posted by Ben B

Yes. Your point?

Someone on another thread said they were getting no sound from their Blondies and didn't realise they needed phantom power. Sorry for trying to help.

[Karloff70]

Originally Posted by prontold

Yea room capture is probably my favorite use for the LBs as well. I find that having a stereo pair of ribbons up and then 1 or 2 LBs to add high end detail is really great for ambient recording.

Second the room usefulness of them, and also drums. Makes a big, friendly shape........another thing they are rather sweet for is as one of two with a ribbon or dynamic on guitar amps.

[prontold]

Originally Posted by Karloff70

Second the room usefulness of them, and also drums. Makes a big, friendly shape........another thing they are rather sweet for is as one of two with a ribbon or dynamic on guitar amps.

Oooh, I'll have to try that. I noticed that some people liked them for amps, but when I tried them out as the only mic on my 1X12, I thought the sound was a bit too dry and immediate. Could be great with something a bit beefier mixed in, though!

[Karloff70]

Originally Posted by prontold

Oooh, I'll have to try that. I noticed that some people liked them for amps, but when I tried them out as the only mic on my 1X12, I thought the sound was a bit too dry and immediate. Could be great with something a bit beefier mixed in, though!

Totally is. Put a fat ribbon or dynamic with it and it yields a sweet combo.....

[jeremy.c.]

I have never gotten a better sound for acoustic or cello than this coupled with a Blue Woodpecker ribbon.

Aman is on this forum as well and is a really great guy. In the past he has donated a lot of the proceeds from his mic sales to charities, as if you could possibly add any more value to buying these mics, but he managed to pull it off!