If Blue Microphones' recording devices didn't work a tick we'd still love the distinctive, old-timey look of these analog input devices for the digital age. In fact, Blue's mics work a treat -- and if we're starting to sound like Larry King, it's only for obvious reasons. The company earned its stripes in the professional recording realm with specialized products -- for example, the Dragonfly is built specifically for female vocalists and drum overheads, while the Baby Bottle is designed to capture midrange male rock vocals and instruments like the saxophone.
Blue's Icicle, which is an XLR-to-USB converter that supports XLR mics like the one pictured here, is part of a new line of consumer products. These also include three pro-quality USB microphones (Snowball, Snowflake and Eyeball) and an iPod recorder (Mikey). The Icicle, released in December and priced at $59.99, features a studio-quality microphone preamp, 48V phantom power, a fully-balanced low noise front end, analog gain control, a 44.1 kHz, 16-bit CD quality converter and plugs into Macs and PCs.
