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Author: Andy Merrett
Rating: 5
Review: Having RESEARCHED at Blue's own web site (rather than relying on Amazon's product descriptions, which can sometimes be wrong) I was confident of a good mic and I wasn't wrong. Was also extremely happy to get it for nearly half the price (it went up by a tenner the day after I bought it!). You could find a number of 'issues' with it if you don't know what you're doing, but for those who understand the limitations -- not of the Snowball but of home audio recording in general -- and how to work round them to the advantage, the Snowball fits in just great. You may need to push the gain up a little in your software, as the mic doesn't have a preamp, but then again I could hear the tapping of my thumb and forefinger in front of and behind the mic - in other words it has no problem in picking up both direct and ambient noise. All three setting 'positions' have their uses depending on what you want to record, and in fact you might find you get a better vocal or acoustic instrument recording if you use the omni and get in closer -- the trick is to EXPERIMENT and don't take your first take as a definition of what the Snowball can help you achieve. I'm sorry if this sounds like a lecture, but I am sick of reading the reviews from people who complain about the mic because -- probably -- the rest of their setup is appalling. Research and read some articles on audio recording (particularly in the home) and you'll find that the biggest factor on getting decent recordings is the ROOM itself. Try these: [...] Seriously, you can't plug a mic -- any mic -- in to your PC or Mac and expect it to sound fantastic without you doing any work. It's not a magic cure all for bad acoustics or bad vocals. That said, I believe the Snowball is one of the best microphones in its class (if you don't need 24 bit / 192kHz recording, in which case look at the Yeti instead). Perfectly usable with the likes of GarageBand, for podcasting, and so on. I personally wouldn't use it with Skype or other IM because my headset is adequate for spoken vocals in that context, but I have no doubt it would work great. I highly recommend this microphone. If audio levels are really likely to be an issue (bearing in mind that most amateur home recordists capture vocals at too high a level) perhaps you'd be better off with a Shure mic (or one of Blue's XLR mics) and a XLR-USB preamp like the Icicle. (and no I don't work for Blue).
