Blue's Eyeball webcam and Mikey iPod mic are made for digital crooners
By Samuel Axon 
posted Nov 8th 2008 2:02AM
posted Nov 8th 2008 2:02AM
We're digging this classic recording studio look, which is a throwback to Blue's history with stylized Hi-Fi microphones. These guys started to build a bridge between their old stomping grounds and the new-to-them frontier of consumer electronics with the Snowball microphone and that Icicle USB XLR adapter we saw today, and now they've introduced the Eyeball ($99.99), a Super HD webcam that retracts its lens for privacy, and the Mikey iPod mic ($79.99) with a built-in speaker, three gain settings, and a positionable head. Mikey doesn't play nice with the iPod Touch, but it works with all the other models 4G and up, as well as the 2 and 3G Nanos. Features on both are mostly the standard set, but Blue's obviously putting an emphasis on audio quality, and we'll give extra points for style.
"Dear iPod: I paid $100 for a piece of crap microphone which makes me look like an idiot in public. I'm getting a Zune.
-Love, Zinger314."
"Dear Zinger314, somebody who buys this wants a microphone, something that zune can't offer.
Yours, avester."
have you ever considered simply just returning the microphone. how is this even the ipod's fault.... tool
the mic does not look stupid. It looks all professional. Whenever I see anyone with a mic hooked up to there iPod in public, I think, wow, you're actually working now, not like me, who is in public and therefore not working. And if you want a Zune, go ahead, iPod has enough market share for it not to really matter
Those are amazing.
(Hope the audio and video] quality matched the looks!;)
Go Blue!
"Doesn't play nice with the iPod Touch".
Isn't the whole point of iPod mics that some modder makes into a Skype phone? Or for the 1G iPod Touch users, a cooler speaker? That'd look ok, or maby even decent on the iPod touch because of its dimensions and that fact that it is black, but it'd shure look ugly on a pink iPod Nano... Maby the Classic I can understand, but no Touch?!
The touch does not have official support for microphones - something about the way the dock pins are connected in the device is different from the other ipods. I believe there was a group of modders out there who designed a mic that did work and sold a limited number of kits.
"Isn't the whole point of iPod mics that some modder makes into a Skype phone? Or for the 1G iPod Touch users, a cooler speaker?"
Actually, no. That would be the point of headsets or headset-modded throwaway mics. Blue makes professional recording mics and, possibly because they are less-established than AKG and Neumann, adds audiophile retro style to sweeten the package. Their point is to be ostentatious about high-quality audio input, not to use industrial design to make tinny accessories to look important.
These prosumer mics are attempts to give budget and casual users higher quality sound at the input level, which is specifically possible on 5 and 5.5G iPods. I'm hoping other recording-capable DAPs can use them, too -- perhaps it will depend on the included cables and adapters.
The USB mic with webcam is a similar product. It provides an option for improved audio input where lower quality is the norm but not a preference.
For studio work, I prefer the classics (TLM-103, AKG 414, etc.) but would love to try both Blues for casual use.
[= ˙ƃuızɐɯɐ ʎʇʇǝɹd s,ʇɐɥʇ 'ʍoʍ
Lay off the LCL if you start writing like that.
@ avester:
Awesome reply, my friend. =]