NMI Founder, Douglas E. Welch, is running a New Media Gift Guide on his Careers in New Media blog. Here is #10 in the guide, with links to all the past items.
#10 Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone
I was reading the Podcasters mailing list this week and saw mention the the Blue Snowball mic I mentioned earlier is being discontinued. This new USB microphone, the Yeti, is taking its place in the product line and has some good reviews. One major enhancement is the inclusion of an headphone jack to allow real-time monitoring when you are recording. This is a limitation of USB mics in that trying to monitor them through the computer induces a delay in the audio and makes it nearly impossible to listen to yourself while you record.
Certainly worth checking it out and I plan on doing that as soon as I can.
All Gift Guide Recommendations:
- # 9 Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone
- # 8 Apple Final Cut Express Video Editing Software
- # 7 GoPro HD HERO Camera – Wearable 1080p HD Video and Still Photo Camera
- # 6 Samson C01U Condenser Microphone
- # 5 Podcasting for Dummies
- # 4 Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone
- # 3 Joby GP1 Gorillapod Flexible Tripod
- # 2 Flip UltraHD Video Camera
- # 1 Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder
New Media Interchange 
[…] New Media Gift Guide #10: Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone […]
I purchased this mic from Amazon recently and am absolutely impressed with the sound quality. The package came in way faster than expected under the free shipping arrangement plus Amazon had a great price on it. 🙂
The mic at first looks big and kinda heavy – once you get over that – you connect it to your favorite laptop or desktop and start your trials.
I tried several different combos – from close to the mic to singing from a distance of about 2-3 feet – using the 4 polar patterns – and in each case could hear the difference in the sound output in crispness and depth. For the first time ever, I liked my own voice from a mic!
Ease-of-use : The desktop stand provided with the mic is ideal only for podcasts or speech based recordings. For singing vocals, I’d recommend getting a mic stand along with shock mount. The mic itself has very easy controls and the convenience of a headphone jack from the mic itself is a big advantage (plus the huge advantage of 0 latency of output to the headphones). The mute button is just a click away. Once you set the gain level and polar pattern in the back side of the mic, you are set. I prefer using either the cardioid mode or the stereo mode for singing vocals.
Sound quality : At 48khz sampling rate 16 bit mode, this is fairly high quality – studio recording mics typically range in the 96 Khz sampling at 32 bit mode but in the end what matters is the audio playback equipment’s ablities – most receivers run at 48Khz. The frequency response range is impressive – 20 hz to 20 khz – most cardioid mics in this price range have a smaller range between 50hz and 15Khz – makes a big difference in the crispness, depth and quality of sound capture. The sensitivity of the mic is another measure of its quality – 4.5mV/Pa at 1 Khz is another indication of high sensitivity at 1 Pa (pascal) – it has a high ratio of sound waves at the diaphragm converting to electrical signals. The Max Sound Pressure Level (SPL) at 120db refers to the pressure the mic can take at less than 1 inch from the mic to the performer’s mic before it distorts and at a THD (total harmonic distortion) ratio of 0.5% at 1 Khz this mic is a great bargain. Most other mics in this range have standard 74 to 94 db max SPL. Many manufacturers use different measures to depict sensitivity and this is often very confusing.
Ease of thread mount to a stand – I had trouble finding a mic stand that can handle the wider thread mount (typically found in European mics) – most thread mounts are smaller so I needed to get an adapter from Guitar Center.
Hope you find this review helpful – […]
[…] New Media Gift Guide #10: Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone […]