Blue Mikey

9 reviews for Blue Mikey

1. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Fernand Ray – December 10, 2010

   Given the fact that Blue makes studio mics, I expected better. Of course the iPhone 4 and iTab incompatibility is not Blue’s fault, and the people who harp on the fact Apple did the usual and changed the design, so nothing works as expected, should know better than to complain. It comes with the Apple territory. But. But where is good old industrial espionage when u need it? And beta programs? They just didn’t CARE that the iPhone and iTab are selling more than iPods now? This 2.0 model Mikey just came out and it’s already obsolete? I’m tired of making excuses for companies that miss the boat. If it’s because they need more than 6 month’s lead time to set their Chinese friends up to make the things, not to speak of shipping delays, it’s their fault too. They should make them in the US, where any assembler would knock themselves out to get tooled up in a couple of weeks.I got mine for sixty one bucks and it feels like it’s worth that at most. It looks great, but feels like a Chinese toy. The silver metal trim is like the chrome bumpers on model cars. The connector with the AppleThing is always loose, the mic easily gets disconnected and falls on the floor, and if you have any kind of a condom on the AppleThing, the Mikey sits sort of crooked. Maybe the Apple connector cannot be different. But then the hinge that allows the mic to flop forward or back feels even worse, plastic on plastic, give it a few weeks to not hold at all. Press on the the black screen and it gives in places. The light weight feels too tacky, it has no feel of substance, the AppleThing feels like the crown jewels, and the Mikey feels like a plastic hat. But if it were heavier, it would drop off more easily, so maybe it’s a reasonable choice.The software is so so; in spite of the screen of instructions that greets you on opening, it’s hard to use, you fumble and waste time because the cursor motion is counter-intuitive. And they suggest you get the “Pro” version? So what is this? The For Dummies version? The manual, for sure, is at the For Dummies level. There’s nothing in there that a reasonably technical person might wonder about. Don’t they have anybody in house that would like to share some field recording tips, tell us whether it’s safe to hot-plug/unplug, maybe put up some cool graphs? A person at Blue told me there’s a speaker in the Mikey. No idea if it’s true, or how it’s used.What a sad way to present what is in fact a good stereo microphone! The level switch on the mic is essential as there is no way to set the input gain on the Apple circuitry. The -10 dB line-in and USB passthrough (albeit for power only) are very important if you intend to do serious recordings, as you can connect a little mixer and power adapter. Good idea. The stereo separation is hard to improve, given two capsules in a flat and small enclosure. The frequency response and noise floor so far seem very good. I’ll have more results in a bit. Truth be told, there are such excellent audio programs for the iPhone, like the 24 stereo track DAW from HarmonicDog, that it’s worth sixty bucks to have a good mic for it. And if you don’t let anybody touch it, people will even ooh and ah at its appearance. If it drops out, tell ’em it’s like the clip on a nine millimeter, it’s SUPPOSED to drop out when it needs a rest.My favorite thing about the Mikey on the iPhone (and it sort of tells the whole story), is how it throws up a message box when you plug it in. It says the accessory is not made for iPhone, and do you want to engage Airplane mode to reduce interference, and if you say YES, it does it for you (which is very useful), plus when you unplug it, it turns airplane mode back off without having to navigate into the settings menus, so you can transfer recordings using the WiFi. But what a typically unflattering way to present a very useful feature!Since I refuse to install that intrusive presumptuous monstrosity called iTunes, I think it’s great that a lot of apps, including the BlueWhatever recording app they let you download, let you transfer recordings using HTTP or FTP over WiFi.If you have an AppleThing, other than a new iPhone4 or iTab, you just plan need a Mikey 2. On an iPhone, for the cost of that and one of the many excellent and cheap audio apps, you have a slick solid state 16 bit field recorder. They say: “Works with iPod touch 1G, 2G, 3G; iPod nano 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G; iPod classic; iPod 5G. Can be used with iPhone versions 3GS and earlier.”

2. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   Amazonian Manatee – April 3, 2013

   I bought this so that I could make high quality recordings of “found sounds” for use in music. While the recording quality that Mikey brings to the table is great, the mike has to get pretty close to the sound source for it to work, even at the highest sensitivity setting. Looking at the various reviews, it seems likely that there is either some variation in the sensitivity of the microphones produced, or in the amplification available for the apps used. It would probably be great for recording your band if you play somewhat loudly.Note that the “free” app FiRe 2.0 is no longer available in the iTunes store. The StudioMini app works well with Mikey, but it costs $4.99, so be prepared to shell out more to get an app that works with your pre-iOS 5.0 device. RecorderFree also works, but the sensitivity is so bad that it may as well not have recorded anything. It almost seems like Apple is making a hard push to reduce the number of apps compatible with their older devices, but I couldn’t find any evidence of this other than the lack of apps.

3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Michael J – September 26, 2011

   I owned one of the original Mikeys that I used with my second generation iPod Touch. Fantastic device, like all of Blue’s microphones. Superb fidelity. I used it for a large number of live recordings as well as some multitrack recording at home. When I upgraded my iPod Touch to a newer model, I discovered the original Mikey wasn’t compatible with it, so I passed Mikey 1 on to my nephew and bought this unit. Problem is, this one’s not compatible, either. At least, I get an error message saying it isn’t- yet it still works. Curious. I still have the older iPod, so I can use it with that unit, too.Despite the compatibility issues, there are two significant advantages to the new Mikey. One, it has its own headphone jack, which makes multitracking a whole lot easier. With the original Mikey I had to use a special cable or spacer to extend the Mikey away from the iPod to squeeze a headphone cable in. Two, there’s a micro-USB charging jack built into the Mikey, which means long recording sessions are no longer a problem. Using a USB power adapter powered by AA batteries I have virtually unlimited record time- limited only by the Mikey’s memory.So if you’ve got an older iPhone or iPod Touch, or a Nano, or other compatible iPod, this is a great device, and at the new price it’s a bargain. If you have a new iPod Touch it might work- or it might not. If you have a brand new iPhone or iPad, you’re out of luck- though I hear a new version may be forthcoming.

4. 

   Rated 2 out of 5

   Mariposa Traicionera – February 25, 2012

   When I purchased the Blue Microphone Mikey I did so from my iPhone, I didn’t see the description that it wasn’t compatible with the new 4S iPhone. I bought this product from Yogi Computer Inc. Their representative contacted me and instead of being accommodating, he started harassing me stating “If the feedback is not removed by 3/2 then I have no choice but to report your feedback to Amazon” He sent me several emails and I felt HARASSED by their representative. I couldn’t comment and the customer service before because I had no grounds, however, I think everyone has the right now know about the poor customer service from Yogi Computers Inc. and their tactics to maintain a perfect star rating at the expense of losing a customer. Amazon doesn’t give an option to edit seller feed back which they should change in the future.

5. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   Martin Alexandre – January 10, 2013

   rien a y redirele micro c’est pas trop ca, ca marche pour ma part quand je joue de la guitare que j’enregistre mais ce n’est pas la meilleure methode pour enregistrer, a part si vous souhaitez un enregistreur mobile

6. 

   Rated 1 out of 5

   MUS10 – July 31, 2012

   Utilisation limitée…………Un bel article, hélas d’utilisation très limitée, il faut bien lire la notice avant d’acheter. Je pensais pouvoir l’utiliser avec mon iPhone (pas reconnu) puis je l’ai confié à mes petits enfants pour éventuellement l’utiliser avec un ipod ou ipad. Ce n’était toujours pas le bon modèle……….Alors je ne puis que le revendre…..en espérant que ce commentaire sera utile aux futurs acheteurs

7. 

   Rated 1 out of 5

   Carlos Garza – December 5, 2018

   No pude utilizarlo con un 4s.No es compatible con iPhone 4s. Me parece absurdo.

8. 

   Rated 1 out of 5

   g.gerard – June 17, 2014

   la mise a jour n’est plus disponiblepour un Ipod touch l’application n’est plus disponible donc inutilisable ,dommage que l’info n’est pas été révélée.a ne pas acheter,

9. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Baz – April 24, 2012

   ExcellentProduit efficace…Sa légèreté surprend, mais la qualité est là!A utiliser avec le logiciel de la marque (gratuit sur le store) et compatible avec d’autres.