Kiwi Mic question

[hazelmossobrien]

Originally Posted by srmd22

The story continues....
I heard back from Mike at Blue Microphones. He listened to my audio files and said the Robbie Pre definitely sounds low, and I should send it in for a service. I considered sending it back to the vendor for an exchange (as it is brand new), but I would actually feel better knowing Blue Microphones gave it a going over (although one would think they would have prior to it's distribution). Also, this way I cut out the risk, however small, that the unit I receive in exchange has the same defect.

Did you buy your Robbie off ebay? A lot of the new Robbies being sold discount on ebay are B-stock, open box models (returns) or floor display models. It wouldn't be surprising if a high number of them were defected, prone to defects, or just plain abused by whomever handled them before you.

Originally Posted by srmd22

By the way, I don't know for sure if the decreased gain in mine is more then what Bowie described for his pre's in the above post-- I wonder if yours were defective too? I say this, because mine is usable, and I could easily see just cranking the thing and using it that way.

BOWIE said his was an older model. I have also seen others with older Robbies complain about gain pots here on Gearslutz. If yours is new it should not seem low gain though. My Robbie was a newer model and I rarely approached half gain with a condenser for even soft vocals. It seriously had a lot of gain, oodles more than your 002 should. Another thought to consider if you bought it from ebay, maybe it is new old stock, and you do after all have the notorious gain problem.

[srmd22]

Originally Posted by hazelmossobrien

...

BOWIE said his was an older model. I have also seen others with older Robbies complain about gain pots here on Gearslutz. If yours is new it should not seem low gain though. My Robbie was a newer model and I rarely approached half gain with a condenser for even soft vocals. It seriously had a lot of gain, oodles more than your 002 should. Another thought to consider if you bought it from ebay, maybe it is new old stock, and you do after all have the notorious gain problem.

I think that's the problem. I got it from a good vendor, but it was on sale as "B stock." (But factory certified-- eh). I sent it into Robbie, after they asked for an audio file comparison, which I did for them. Based on the file, they said definitely needs a service, free of charge.

Also, the ebay guy I got the Kiwi from has been very cool, and agreed to pay for servicing the mic plus new cardioid pattern knob, so I get to keep it for way less then a new one. Too bad it won't fix my voice. (Actually, it does improve the sound of it in the mix significantly).

[srmd22]

Finally got both my mic and pre back. The mic seems fine, all set with a new input pattern control knob.

The Robbie seems exactly the same to me as before the service. Still not as loud as my digirack pre's, and still has most of it's gain past 3/4's. Not useful for vocals at all until 3/4, then no additional gain until like 9/10 on the gain knob. This is after sending in for service. I am not too impressed.

The sound is very good, but the gain is mediocre. The Blue service started out pretty good, but then I did not hear from them for a week, when I checked back in they sent it out to me the next day. Yesterday (a week after they said they sent it) I checked back with them, and they sent me a tracking number, and the units arrived today-- all good. But they never told me what they thought was wrong with the pre (if anything) or what they did to service or fix it. I have an email in to them with these questions.

Overall, I like the mic quite a lot, but the preamp is going to be a bit hard to work with at this gain, and I would not recommend it. I may try to return it, although I don't know if I can now that the service ate up a good bit of the warranty time.

I'll keep y'all posted.

[whoomusic]

Me thinks blue needs to redesign the mounting system for their capsules. I have had every single one of my blue mics capsules dislodge at some point or another. Just because they were bumped or dropped on a carpeted floor none the less. I also received 2 mouse mics in the mail with capsules dislodged (pins not there) but packed in clouds of popcorn and bubble wrap! This is a problem and has been for a long time. Blue does have an excellent service department and will throw in a little gift sometimes to make up for the problems but still I'm not buying another capsule from them again until they do a sturdy proper redesign. Let's face it, the capsule is so delicate and prone to damage rolling around inside a mettle cage with 3 rubber bullets pounding away at it while the delivery people (handle it like eggs)...

[Hammer Mark]

I think you should ask the seller to cover the cost of shipping it to BLUE for inspection and any necessary repairs or send it back for a full refund. I have a Kiwi and a Dragonfly and since I actually read the manual, I kept the transport screws and use them. Also, the missing polar pattern knob disqualifies the mic as "excellent" condition.