Blue Bottle Bother

[Manning]

Hi all

I'm recording my wife's album, and after testing an absurd number of mics** the Blue Bottle is hands down the best for her voice.

Unfortunately the Bottle I'm using has two irritating tendencies - firstly it just randomly drops out at times. There is still a fraction of a signal (ie. I can just hear her). The solution is to tap the mic body and it will come back. I've done the obvious things (removed and reseated the head, and checked all the cables.) Clearly something is loose... any ideas?

The other problem is a random "whistling wind" noise. I've swapped out the pre, cables, and pinned it down to the mic, but I've got no idea of the cause.

As a final note - does anyone have a Bottle they could rent me while I sort this other Bottle out? I'm trying to get the tracking finished before the end of April, so it can be mixed in May and mastered In May or early June.

**In case anyone is interested, the other mics we tested were: Blue Kiwi, Neumann U87ai, BK Tribute 1, BK Tribute 2, BK Arabella, Rode Classic

[rick]

I like the blue bottle when I used it on a record
Ten years ago
Liked it a lot

When you say cuts out
Is it cuts out and when it comes back it fades back in
Or does it come back at full volume .. Full tone ?

.. Either way stop driving yourself and your wife
Nuts and use a different microphone
Your one is broken
Needs to be fixed

I think the capsule is poling .. Which would make the capsule
sound incredable but to sensitive ..Which is new capsule
Time .. But if your lucky its not that ..

[Manning]

Cuts out full, comes back full - no fade either way.

Agreed - the mic definitely needs some loving from someone clueful. If it is worst case and a new capsule is needed then that will be a grand or so, but oh well.

But in this case no other mic comes close - I've never heard someone be so favoured by one mic. She sounds just awful on the Tributes, and they are fantastic mics. The Rode Classic is probably 2nd best, but it's a big gap. I've been told the Sony C800G is similar but I've never played with one.

So anyone got a Bottle they can rent me?

[rick]

If there is no fade its not the capsule

More likely a solder joint
.. Good news

Pop it in the post to rob
And you will probably have it back before anybody rents you
One ( sorry rob .. I know your busy )

[Wiz]

i feel like a little kid piping up at the adults dinner table...

but, if the noise is the same sound(ish) that you would expect if the microphone had wind rushing past it...

isnt that also a symptom of moisture?

[Manning]

isnt that also a symptom of moisture?

I don't know, I am but a humble guitar player. This is why I pose such questions to my betters.

[rick]

If it cuts out completely its a connected problem
If it fades around or has wind noise attached
Well its most probably but not always capsule
Could be another cap somewhere ?

But the capsule if it loses connection ( by either poling against the diafram or shorting out )
The sound is a fade in ( albiet quickly)

Not many things in the mike (20)
So something is unhappy .. Hopefully not a transformer
Winding ..

Send it to a tech

He will tap it till it stops then tap everything till it starts
And work out what's stopping and what's starting

[mylesgm]

Isn't the blue bottle valve? Could be a failing valve I would have thought, especially if there is a wind noise...

[Manning]

Well it turned out that it was the pre, not the mic.

Friday night, was tracking away with a Rode Classic and voila, the identical drop-outs started again.

The hassle with intermittent problems is that when you try swapping things around, you're not guaranteed to find the cause.

Anyway, the whistling problem went away (probably moisture) and there are no drop-outs due to the mic, so I'm back to Bottle love. It is one hell of a mic.

[Manning]

Just an update - the whistling noise on the bottle came back, so I went and got a "damp rid" thing from the supermarket (in the laundry section). It's a little bucket of crystals which you stick in a corner of your room as a dehumidifier.

Works a treat, whistling has stopped and never returned.

[Hookemeister]

It's a little bucket of crystals which you stick in a corner of your room as a dehumidifier

Are the crystals converting to water?

If you've got enough moisture in the room at this time of the year to shut down the capsule, then I'd be more concerned about your health than the mics!

Moisture/dampness is a good indicator of.... mould, and mould spores are the last thing you need on lungs and for that matter on the mic capsule...they're nasty little buggers.

Is this In your studio or your home studio? I'm guessing it's the home studio.

Have a look on the walls for little dark/black marks... an indicator of mould, usually around the floor or the ceiling depending on where the moisture is getting in.

Hopefully it's getting in thru the ceiling as that would be easier to fix.

Hope this helps

[jkhuri44]

+1. black mould is....toxic black mould.

i Bought a hygrometer to check on moisture in the house here after having trouble growing plants in the yard.

[Manning]

It's a little bucket of crystals which you stick in a corner of your room as a dehumidifier

Are the crystals converting to water?

If you've got enough moisture in the room at this time of the year to shut down the capsule, then I'd be more concerned about your health than the mics!

Moisture/dampness is a good indicator of.... mould, and mould spores are the last thing you need on lungs and for that matter on the mic capsule...they're nasty little buggers.

Is this In your studio or your home studio? I'm guessing it's the home studio.

Have a look on the walls for little dark/black marks... an indicator of mould, usually around the floor or the ceiling depending on where the moisture is getting in.

Hopefully it's getting in thru the ceiling as that would be easier to fix.

Hope this helps

This is the home studio. Eva turned off the ventilation (her choice, not mine), so the room only gets fresh air when the door is opened. I think her breath is where all the moisture is coming from, and it's got nowhere to escape from a fairly small space.

The crystals aren't turning to water, but a thin film of glossiness has appeared at the top layer.

Apart from everything else it has, the booth is 100% lined with builder's film, and between every layer of wall (MDF, yellowtongue or gyprock) I have a 2mm thick sheet of waterproof foam. If moisture is getting through that I'd be very surprised.

[Hookemeister]

I think her breath is where all the moisture is coming from

A pop filter should fix that problem

Apart from everything else it has, the booth is 100% lined with builder's film

Does that include the floor???

[Manning]

The floor is quadruple-lined with builder's film - Inside all sections, and then the entire floor-frame was wrapped again before being place on a 2cm rubber base which sit on a concrete slab.

Am using a pop filter. I think her breath actually just increases the humidity inside the space. We use it for around 2 hours a day, six days a week and it took two weeks for the mic to get upset.

[Hookemeister]

Am using a pop filter. I think her breath actually just increases the humidity inside the space. We use it for around 2 hours a day, six days a week and it took two weeks for the mic to get upset.

Everybody's breath increases the humidity but it shouldn't change it that much.

Something's not right... have you got a hygrometer... check out what the humidity is.

I think it's something else. Just as an experiment put another condenser up next to the Blue Bottle for a couple of weeks and see if it shuts down or starts whistling.

I think there's more to this than meets the eye.... or the ear!

[rob]

hmmm ... A while back you said that it wasn't the mic because you had the same problem with a Rode..

you are confusing me... and probably yourself as well.

Never the less, moisture is the enemy of condensor mics, especially mics with dirty / dusty diaphrams

[Manning]

That was a separate problem - the "random cutting out" was the thing that happened with both the Blue and the Rode.

We seem to have solved that by just letting everything sit idle for 30 mins before we record, then it doesn't happen.

[rick]

Oh you solved by
"dunno what I did but it works by applying
Magic .. Time .. Filters "

I like that method

Use it all the time myself

It's from the same school as

" I can't wait any faster "