I recently reviewed the Blue Encore 100 dynamic vocal mic, and it was certainly a sweet sounding piece of work. It would be fitting that Blue also offers a microphone in the same that that happens to have an i at the end of its name, standing for "instrument." The Blue Encore 100i is an instrument microphone that is designed to target the same segment that the SM57 targets. First off, it looks really glitzy like every other Blue mic, and this means that anyone with any sort of grungy image would probably be a little unwilling to use this mic. But I digress, it is a very solid feeling microphone, and it is clear that Blue puts a lot of work into the design of their microphones. This Encore 100i has a fairly typical frequency response that starts at 50 Hz and extends all the way up into 16,000 Hz, a marked improvement over many other microphones in this price range. Like many mics this price, it is a dynamic microphone set in a fairly typical cardioid pattern, although Blue claims that this microphone is a little bit tighter that others that are advertised as cardioid.

OVERALL OPINION

Compared to the SM57, the Blue Encore 100i is a much less aggressive sounding microphone, and to many people, this will come across as dead sounding. The truth is, this like its cousin the 100 is a very sweet but accurate sounding microphone, which means that it is likely better suited to softer sources than the ubiquitous SM57. At any rate, this microphone is certainly a viable choice for anyone! The Blue Encore 100i is a great, attractive microphone that, at its price point, most definitely offers something different and a different flavor from the more forward, can't be tamed SM57. So go try it!