The Bottle Caps are Blue’s innovative system of nine interchangeable capsules, each offering the recordist a different tonal characteristic and pickup pattern. From airy highs to larger-than-life lows, the Bottle Caps capture anything from vocals to bass, wind instruments to horns — and everything in between with a level of detail and clarity found in only the most expensive and rare vintage classics. The Bottle Caps work with Blue’s Bottle, Bottle Rocket Stage Two, and Bottle Rocket Stage One mics, or any microphone with a foundation for interchangable capsules. Each capsule in the series is numbered from B0 to B8, and each has their own unique sound. You can explore any of them by clicking on the numbered capsule links above.

The Bottle Caps are our innovative system of eight interchangeable capsules, each offering the recordist a different tonal characteristic and pickup pattern. From airy highs to larger-than-life lows, the Bottle Caps capture anything from vocal to bass, wind instruments to horns — and everything in between with a level of detail and clarity found in only the most expensive and rare vintage classics. Below is a summary of each capsule with suggested recording applications. 

B0

The B0 is a bright single back plate Capsule similar in tone to the B6, with an added sparkle of air in the extreme high end. To obtain the ultimate Big Vocal Sound, work the B0 close with a Pop Filter.

• Superior bright, silky, and intimate presence
• Suggested Applications: Background and lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, percussion; any source where extended top end is featured.

B1

The B1 has been designed to capture instruments with a detailed high end, and features a dip in response around 400 Hz to enhance the clarity of a program source.

• Sonic accuracy with extended high frequency response
• Suggested Applications: Nylon or steel-string acoustic guitar, accordion, drum overheads, metal percussion, hi-hat, small pitched percussion such as toy piano or marimba, room or ambient miking, foley and sound effect recording, strings and orchestral recording.

B2

The response of the B2 has been tailored to resemble the big, warm Sound and open pickup pattern of a vintage Ribbon Microphone. When worked close this Capsule is reminiscent of the "Bing Crosby Sound," with soft highs and an enhanced proximity effect.

• Big, warm sound of vintage ribbon mic
• Suggested Applications: Emulation of vintage saxophone, brass, guitar, or vocal sounds, jazz ensembles and horn sections, muted trumpet, flugelhorn and other low brass instruments, clarinet, overly bright or “edgy” instruments, room miking, acoustic bass, cello and other bowed string instruments, electric bass, clean or distorted electric guitar, pedal steel and slide guitar, whistling, organ.

B3

This is the most accurate, and, in a purely technical sense, "best" Capsule of the Bottle capsules. The B3 has a soft midrange boost to detail the center frequencies in a program source.

• Very transparent, neutral sound
• Suggested Applications: Female vocals, distant miking of orchestral groups and instruments, banjo, mandolin, resonator guitar, jazz guitar, distorted electric guitar, electric bass, a natural or “folky” tone on nylon and steel-string acoustic guitar, oboe, bassoon and other double reeds, organ.

B4

The B4 represents our finest craftsmanship, evoking an ethereal quality sought after by producers and engineers alike. The Perspex sphere which houses our Small Diaphragm Capsule, hand-built by BLUE engineers, is a unique design made popular in the 1950's on the RCA Red Seal series recordings. For room sounds and ambient drum recording, nothing parallels the Sound of this Capsule.

• Sweet highs, robust lows, unique design and sound perfect for ambient recording
• Suggested Applications: Orchestral sounds, classical instrumentation, background vocals, organ, accordion, distant miking of any source, particularly bowed strings, and drums.

B5

Frequency Response peaks at 3-5kHz and 12-15kHz give this Capsule a distinctively bright and incisive Timbre. The B5 is particularly useful for close-miking acoustic guitar, yielding an characteristic classic rock/pop Sound with a proximity-induced "thump" at 125 Hz.

• Very unique compressed quality, extremely accentuated low and high frequency response
• Suggested Applications: Acoustic guitar, percussion, any highly transient sources, any acoustic sources that need very close miking or extra presence boosting to cut through a dense mix.

B7

This single backplate Capsule is Blue's version of the unmistakably warm Sound ascribed to the great 1950's tube microphones. A boost in the upper midrange response brings out just the right amount of intimate detail for vocal tracks that demand extra presence.

• Classic vintage detailed mids with airy presence
• Suggested Applications: Lead vocals, background vocals, saxophone, flugelhorn, clean or distorted electric guitar, pedal steel and slide guitar, organ, conventional jazz recording.