Microphone into Bluebox

[parttimealpaca]

Hi all,

has anyone worked with mics into the bluebox yet? I usually work with live vocals a lot and try to avoid taking a dedicated submixer for the microphones to a live set. So I was thinking something like the iRig Pre to boost the mic signal. But I'm not sure if the Bluebox inputs work with the TRRS jacks that are mostly for phones/tablets.

Any experiences here?

Thank you!

[RollrightKnights]

I'm not sure but I'm following!

[sydilaxe]

A small dedicated preamp with an appropriate output cable is the best bet. If you want clean, something like the FMR Really Nice Preamp would work. Also, a lot of audio interfaces have pres and can route inputs to outputs. The cheapest option would be something like an ART tube pre; however, those are not the cleanest and if you have a mic that requires a lot of gain, it is less than ideal.

[shane0]

I already owned a marantz field recorder so I tried it, it works with built in mics or as a preamp

I connect the line out to the bluebox with an rca/3.5 cable, have to hit the record button once which turns on monitoring and then I can adjust the input levels

[dnlcnn]

Sennheisers wireless system EW 100 G3 works perfectly: set (XLR or lavalier-)transmitter to 0dB output and receiver to 0 or +12 dB and you get a clean, noisefree signal. Avoid Sennheisers XSW digital system - it has not enough power for a good level/sound and it has no options to configure the levels!

Another option is a XLR preamp like Maycom MicTube or similar. Also noisefree and clean signal, even with dynamic microphones.

[Lucas]

I have used TC Helicon vocal processors, feeding the headphone output into the Bluebox with great results. I have also used an Audient Evo USB interface in standalone mode as a 2 channel preamp, feeding the headphone out into the Bluebox.

Here's a video of a live performance using the Bluebox for stems, live mix and recording for post-mix. The preamps for the 2 vocalists was the aforementioned Evo. https://youtu.be/zhuiUU0-Vng

[parttimealpaca]

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions! By now I've integrated the Roland VT-4 into my live setup. This works very well for me, since it can run on batteries and also adds a nice variety of effects to my vocals. I also run the output 2 of my bluebox into the blackbox input so I can loop/sample my vocals on the fly.

[Woiperdinger]

Has anyone tried using a USB mic like the Audio-Technica AT2020USB-X or Apogee MiC Plus with the Bluebox?
Using the USB device port from the Bluebox for power and monitoring/recording via the headphone output on the mic into track 1/2 for example?

I am searching for a traveling set-up that can be 100% battery powered with minimal dongles.
For recording the Deluge (line), the Organelle (line) and an acoustic instruments+vocals (mic).

Other suggestions welcome within the criteria: Battery powered, minimal dongles, fewest possible A/D-D/A rounds.
Thanks!

[Steve]

The Device port is intended for a low-power MIDI controller.

[aicknuell]

Has anyone tried the headphone output from a USB microphone with the Bluebox?

For example, something like this:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_t.bone_sc_430_usb_desktop_set.htm

It has a headphone output (with a volume knob). Could that work with the Bluebox? Or is that a bad idea?

[jayneural]

I tried on a Blue Yeti which has a monitor jack output. The problem is the audio is routed to the monitor out only when the microphone is connected to a host over USB, connecting to just a power source over USB will not activate the monitor out.

Right now I'm using a Roland E-4. But I'd love to connect-it just with a USB cable and have both audio and MIDI sync, especially if I want to use the BBs notes as source for the vocoder.

[Damien]

Could you please explain this?
Feeding the headphone output into the BlueBox?

I have used TC Helicon vocal processors, feeding the headphone output into the Bluebox with great results.

TC Helicon Vocal Processor Headphones Output
> into BlueBox Input Channel X?

I have also used an Audient Evo USB interface in standalone mode as a 2 channel preamp, feeding the headphone out into the Bluebox.

Same or similar terminology?

Here's a video of a live performance using the Bluebox for stems, live mix and recording for post-mix. The preamps for the 2 vocalists was the aforementioned Evo. https://youtu.be/zhuiUU0-Vng

Great sound … but doesn’t actually show or explain the structured inputs/outputs with the devices you’ve mentioned

[Lucas]

Since Bluebox has unbalanced stereo inputs, the easiest route to get all of the devices I mentioned into the Bluebox is to use a headphone output from said device. This way I don't need to worry about converting balanced signals into stereo unbalanced, it also allows for keeping the cable small and lightweight. You could use a "Y" cable like this one we sell on our site (TS 1/4" to Stereo 1/8"). https://1010music.com/product/35mm-m2m-635mm-breakout

In the performance video above, I set up 2 mono channels on the Bluebox using stereo input 1, feeding the headphone output of the EVO and panning the 2 preamps hard left/right on the EVO itself. This gave me two mono vocal input channels to work with, using input 1-left for lead vocals and 1-right for backing vocals.

[mcpu40]

...my Zoom H2N works well directly with a 3.5mm cable -

[Buckflow]

I just started recording acoustic instruments with a Zoom H2n and am getting some great results especially after applying EQ, FX, compression etc. As long as you have a powered source for your mic, either through a preamp, another mixer, etc. you can record any audio signal in that you want.