Blue Microphones Robbie

The Robbie by Blue Microphones is a class-A single channel Tube Microphone and also has a amplifier for instruments. The price of the Robbie can get pretty steep depending on where you purchase it from. Brand new it will cost you right around 1,000 USD but you may be able to find one cheaper on EBay or Craig list. The Robbie has a very quiet tube preamp as well as a very unique design and look to it, despite the fact that it looks different you can still rack it, which is a huge plus. On the back panel of the Robbie is where your connections are as well as the power button to turn it off and on. It has a mic in and line out channel and AC 10V adapter. The Robbie is great because of its powerful preamp and how warm it can make your vocals sound and feel. With a frequency response of 10hz-100kHz and 34dB of headroom, there is no doubt that the Robbie packs a powerful punch.


UTILIZATION

The set up of the Robbie is very easy, there really isn’t anything too it. It does have a manual but I have never looked at it and you probably wont have to either if you have used other interfaces then you will understand the Robbie as well as be able to use it right out of the box and not have to read the manual.


SOUND QUALITY

Sound quality on the Robbie is amazing, the preamp does all the work for your vocals. I have recorded some really warm and natural sounding lyrics using the Blue Microphone Robbie.


OVERALL OPINION

I am very happy that I had the chance to get to use the Robbie by Blue Microphones on several occasions. The price is high, but it is well worth it when you hear the quality you will get. It will also last you a long time because it seems to be really well built on top of how cool it looks. I highly recommend buying the Robbie for the preamp alone, all the other stuff is just an added bonus!

Blue Robbie is a single channel tube based mic pre amplifier.  Inside of this futuristic looking piece of gear contains a tube, and on the outside it has XLR ins and outs as well has buttons for phantom power, mic/line select, a -20 db pad, and one for phase.  While it definitely has a unique look, the parameters are very familiar.  Blue Robbie isn't in rack mountable form...


UTILIZATION

As long as you have previous experience with mic pres and know the basic parameters, I don't think that you will have any problems figuring out how to use Blue Robbie.  Everything is easy to understand and there is nothing out of the ordinary going on here.  I haven't seen a manual for this, but will say that unless you have no experience with mic pres you probably don't need to have it.


SOUND QUALITY

The overall sound quality of Blue Robbie is very impressive.  I have used this pre to track lead vocals for a few different types of songs and have found that it does its job quite well.  It has a very full sound and while you would expect it to be warmer rather than clean since it is tube based, I would say it is actually clean sounding more than anything else.  I'd definitely recommend experimenting with this as well as I think that it would work well in an endless amount of situations.


OVERALL OPINION

While I've only used Blue Robbie a handful of times to record lead vocals, in my time using this pre I've found it to be a great sounding piece of gear.  It isn't hard to use at all and I think that pretty much all users out there will be able to understand how to use everything quickly.  I would recommend the pre to both home and professional studio owners for a variety of reasons, but the main reason being that it is a compact tube pre that has a killer sound.  The price is a perk, but may still be out of reach for smaller home studio owners or those on a smaller budget.  I would say that it would definitely be a good investment for any studio as it offers up an easy to use mic pre with a big sound.

This is an analog tube microphone preamp by Blue Microphones. The Robbie is a very stylish looking and great sounding mic pre. The controls on the pre are very steamlined and simple, so there isn't a big learning curve or anything, except with learning the coloration that it provides to your sounds. There is a simple power switch, a switch for phantom power, a phase reversal switch, and a pad for loud source material. There is of course also a large knob for your gain control. As for connections, you have an XLR input and a line level XLR output.

UTILIZATION

There is pretty much no set up involved for this piece of gear. You really only need to plug it into a power source, plug in your mic and switch on the phantom power and pad if needed, and you are good to go. There aren't any tone controls on it except for the gain control, so once you are turned on that's all you'll need to worry about it. The manual explains all of the functions perfectly well, though it doesn't need to go into too much depth.

SOUND QUALITY

The sound quality on the Robbie is wonderful. It's a very colorful mic pre. It has a very warm sound, almost as if it provides a smoothness and sort of a halo around your sound sources. You have to hear it for yourself to know what I mean, but it's definitely a positive effect. Lead vocals obviously benefit very much from this treatment, but I have also had great success using this with acoustic guitars that are meant to be more of a pad in a rhythm section. The Robbie really helps to soften the metallic brightness and smooth the peaks a little bit. It's definitely got a great tube sound.

OVERALL OPINION

I have been using this for a few years. I love the unique sound coloration you get from the Robbie. It really can take a rather dull signal and suddenly make it come to life - something not every preamp can do. I have tried a lot of preamps and this one is one of my favorites. The value is okay - Blue tends to be a bit pricey and I feel like you are partially paying for just looks. Having said that it is still a really good sounding pre. I recommend it highly. I would get it again.