Looking for a new live mic? Find out what musicians, sound engineers and audiences are talking about. Like Gary via Musician’s Friend...

“I purchased the 100 and have been using it for about a year for live performance. Our band has a full complement of SM58s, like most folks. The Blue gives my vocals a more rounded bottom end, and at the same time, a more lively overall sound than the Shure SM58s.”

And Dave Percell via Sweetwater whose band bought two enCORE 100s. “After testing I asked the vocalist what they thought. They were speechless. They could not believe how natural it sounded. Very open, precision sound with no EQ. I also run the sound for the band and I have to say that this mic also built like a tank.”

Yeti-owner Les McDonald wanted to get better sounding voiceover recordings at home so he decided to build his own home sound booth. For very little money and using materials he found at local discount stores, Les built a mini sound recording booth that packs up and stores easily and makes his sound production portable.

The Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC) Awards - the pro audio industry's most prestigious awards show for outstanding achievement in product innovation and sound production - were announced during the 2013 NAMM Show in January. Twenty awards were presented to products for Outstanding Technical Achievement including Spark Digital for Microphone Technology/Recording. Projects awarded for Outstanding Creative Achievement included Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light album and tour, and Gotye’s hit single “Somebody That I Used To Know”.

Formerly known as Monsters Calling Home, Run River North –as seen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and at the sold-out Los Angeles Troubadour — includes members Daniel Chae, John Chong, Jennifer Rim, Sally Kang, Joe Chun, and Alex Hwang. They recently visited the House of Rock in LA and tracked two of their latest songs in the Blue Studio. Learn about the story behind their songs and how their EP came to life.

With a #2 Top 40 single, two sold-out UK tours, as well as headlining upcoming festivals, Bastille has well-earned the status as THE band to watch. Dan Smith, the creative force behind Bastille turns to Blue, both in the studio and at home:

“The Blueberry sounds a load more modern than other mics that we've been using and it really helps us sit my voice into tracks with more electronic arrangements...I've also been doing loads of recording at home with the Yeti - it's been brilliant for writing on the road as well.”

Bastille’s debut album ‘Bad Blood’ was initially written and recorded by Dan in his bedroom and produced alongside fifth member Mark Crew.

Recording electric guitar? Whether you want crunch distortion, clean amp sound or to capture ambient room sounds, check out these specific techniques – from mic placement to pattern selection— for getting just the sound you want. For this tip, we’re using the Cactus tube microphone, with its vintage sounds and multiple patterns, for capturing everything from crunchy, distorted amp sounds to warm jazzy tones.