BLUE Kiwi Large-Diaphragm Multi-Pattern Condenser Microphone

A microphone that emphasizes and flatters top end, low end, and mids? It seems like a physical impossibility, but this is exactly what Blue Microphones has achieved with the Kiwi, their top-of-the-line solid-state studio condenser. Designed as a flexible tool for recording vocals and, well, just about anything else, the Blue Kiwi delivers depth and transparency across the entire audible frequency range. If you need one or two do-everything large-diaphragm multi-pattern condensers, the Kiwi is a fantastic way to bolster your collection. Or if you're simply looking for a vocal mic that brings immediate brightness and clarity to darker, mellower voices, it doesn't get much better than the Kiwi.

Blue's B6 Capsule Goes Dual-Diaphragm

The Kiwi is outfitted with Blue's renowned B6 microphone capsule -- the capsule that comes standard with Blue's flagship Bottle tube condenser microphone. A dual-diaphragm version of the B6 capsule, paired with Blue's transformerless solid-state amplifier circuit, results in an extremely low-noise instrument for the modern digital recording environment. Thanks to its dual-diaphragm design, the Kiwi is a 9-pattern microphone. Use the dial on the back of the mic to click through pickup patterns from omnidirectional, to cardioid, to bidirectional figure-8, with six intermediate patterns of sub-cardioid and super-cardioid in between. The Kiwi's frequency response becomes flatter as you approach omni mode, allowing you to fine-tune its response for any… read more source you happen to be capturing.

Real High-End Clarity for Vocals and Beyond

Entry- and mid-level condensers manufactured in China often seem to exhibit a unnatural bump in the 5-6 kHz high-midrange -- which can come across as brittle and harsh in the digital world. This "hyped" high end is typical of mics that try to copy famous European studio condensers. But the Kiwi's frequency response charts reveal a different story: the clarity this mic delivers is no cheap high-mids bump. The Kiwi has a stratospheric top end and clear midrange that shines on male and female vocals. If you've got a "mumbly" singer that always seems to get buried in a mix, try the Kiwi for instant intelligibility. You can use the Blue Kiwi to add a glossy sheen to piano, saxophone, electric guitar -- any lead instrument that needs a little extra air to cut through a track -- without cranking around on an EQ and adding hiss. Natural, detailed highs put solo instruments and vocals to the front of the mix, where they belong.

Nine Selectable Pickup Patterns: Ultimate Flexibility

An outstanding all-around studio workhorse, the Kiwi was designed to start working as soon as you take it out of the box, with a heavy-duty shock mount included to isolate and securely suspend this formidable mic. With the flexibility of nine selectable pickup patterns, multiple Kiwis can be configured as a Blumlein pair, X-Y stereo pair, middle/side setup, Decca Tree configurations -- you name it. The Kiwi pulls its weight in any application where you want to accentuate and flatter high-end detail, like hand drums, drum kit overheads, acoustic guitars, sung or spoken vocals, and more.

The Next Big Thing?

If you're a classic microphone buff, you know why legendary studio condensers have their reputation: extreme versatility as go-to mics for many sources. It's a tall order, but the Blue Kiwi delivers the goods admirably with its signature bright, smooth top end, along with the low noise and high dynamic range that make it a match for today's digital recording environment. Indispensable to pro studio engineers since its 1999 release, the Blue Kiwi is a truly professional mic -- quite possibly poised to become a modern classic.

Features:

- Built around a dual-diaphragm version of Blue's renowned B6 capsule
- Nine selectable pickup patterns, from omni to cardioid to bidirectional
- Clear, detailed response across the audible frequency range
- Extended high-end response adds flattering air to many sources
- Includes wooden storage box and professional elastic shock mount read less