Blue Snowball USB Microphone for PC, Mac, Gaming, Recording, Streaming, Podcasting, Condenser Mic with Cardioid and Omnidirectional Pickup Patterns, Stylish Retro Design – Black

First off, let me say that I have used many high-end microphones in a studio environment. This mic arrived quickly, was packaged beautifully and was as simple as removing from the box, attaching tripod base and plugging in USB cable. Windows 7 recognized the microphone instantly and installed appropriate drivers. Please keep in mind that there are two versions of these mics. The Snowball (this one) and the Snowball Ice. They both look exactly the same, but they differ greatly. The Snowball Ice is less expensive because it has less features. I am not saying it is a lesser mic, just appropriate for different uses. The Snowball ICE is a condenser mic, so it records 360 degrees around the mic (omni-directional). This is a good feature if you are trying to record an entire band or conduct an interview. The Snowball differs in that it has a 3 position switch above the USB port on the back. Position 1 puts the mic in Dynamic mode. In this mode, the microphone only records from the front, ignoring sound from the back of the mic. Position 2 put the mic in Dynamic mode with a -10 dB cut. This is good for recording sources with High SPL (sound pressure levels), such as guitar amps, rock bands, etc. Position 3 puts the mic in Condenser mode and it records in a full 360 degrees around the mic. I purchased this microphone for my wife to use when she is playing Online games and would like to use voice chat. I have chatted with her using the C3 chat program with the mic in position 1 (Dynamic mode). Rearward sound rejection is excellent. With her previous mic, I could constantly hear the sound from her game being picked up from the speakers. The Snowball rejects this noise and all I hear is her voice, loud and clear over the chat. Mic is currently positioned about 2 feet away and to the right. I am looking forward to recording some vocals, guitar amps and acoustic instruments with this mic in my studio as well. I will revise this review when I have done so. In conclusion, if you are looking for a quality mic at a more than fair price, the Snowball is an excellent choice! The ability to switch between modes makes this mic very versatile. I was also impressed by the size of the Snowball. When looking at it online, I was thinking baseball size. When the package arrived, I quickly realized it is more appropriately a softball size. Amazon Prime also made this a no-brainer. Price difference between the two version is approximately twenty dollars at the time of this review.

I needed a quick and portable microphone for a series of over-the-internet lectures that I was delivering. After some research, I went ahead and bought the Snowball, thinking that is was the best easy, plug-and-play option. I'm very happy with my purchase. I am using the Snowball on my iMac and MacBook. There is no setup or driver installs. It just works. I plugged the USB cord into the computer, the red light on the mic turned on, the mac even changed the input setting automatically to the snowball mic, and I was immediately getting very clear audio. Immediately the people on the other end of the lecture commented on how much better the audio was once I started using the Snowball compared to either a headset or the built-in mic on the computer. There are only three different "settings" which are selected via a switch on the back of the spherical microphone housing. Position 1. Activates cardioid capsule: Speech, vocals, podcasting. Position 2. Activates cardioid capsule with -10dB PAD: Live music, loud sound sources Position 3. Activates omni capsule: COnferences, interviews, environmental recordings So now I have a plug-and-play mic for my computer that works to record voiceovers, lectures, and podcasts (cardioid), but I can also take it to meetings and use it as the omnidirectional microphone for conference calls and meeting recordings. It should be noted that this mic is USB powered and must be connected to a computer, thus is only suitable for recording directly to a computer via USB. The form factor is attractive and easily portable. I also purchased the pop filter and shockmount. The popfilter helps eliminate the pop from air movement when speaking into a microphone especially with sounds like p, b, t, and th. The shockmount allows the mic to "float" in the air suspended by elastic bands, thus shielding the mic from bumps and rumbles from the table. Since my mic is on the same table as my keyboard, computer, and meeting participants, this was a necessity to get a relative noise-free recording. Setup for the popfilter and the shockmount couldn't have been easier. No instructions were needed as it was intuitive and simple.

Please read the full review. First of all, you need to know that in this review i wont be going over specs and technical stuff. The shipping was really quick and the package arrived on a perfect condition.I posted pictures from the start of opening the box to the end(they are in disorder, amazon uploaded them like that). The mic comes well protected in a box,inside another box as it's showed on a pic. The casing is beautiful enough to put on a shelve and admire. What you get is a simple and little user guide, the snowball itself, a tripod, and a large and very well made usb. The construction materials, from the snowball and the tripod, are really good, or at least mostly (later i will explain). Everything is great looking. It's really important the fact that you don't really need to be kind of "eating" the mic when talking to get a good sound and voice as most of the people say,unless you speak kind of whispering, but if you talk normally, not loud, but not too low, you'll be perfectly fine, im usually between 3 inches, and other times like a foot away from the mic, and it does it's job great. Of course, if you want to get the best possible sound quality, you'll want to talk into the mic pretty close to it, not more than 4 inches away, but that will also get you the Ps and Ds sound much more louder so a pop filter would be perfect for that situation. In my case, as i'm usually between 7 inches, and a foot away, by talking on a normal way, it gets my voice really well, and when i have to speak lower, i just use window's sound device's properties to make the snowball pick extra sound ( being at 70% when speaking normally, and 100% when i need to speak lower because of any situation) or, you can just do it the old school way and be close to the mic, and as im not too close to the mic and i dont speak TOO directly into it, it gets good sound, no noise, and no p's and d's. By the moment everything is perfect, until now. The tripod comes with a little but helpful extension for the mic to be 2 inches higher (which may seem like nothing but it helps a ton), and in my case, that extension was EXTREMELY difficult to strech or extend, i did even watch unboxings where everybody got it right easily, but mine was too though and hard to extend, obviously without using too much strenght to avoid breaking it. After getting some help to carefully get it right without breaking it, i putted it on the mic, and when trying to secure it i saw that it wasn't holding the mic right, it was like italy's pizza tower, so i open it by taking out the extension from the tripod, and i see some cheap, awful piece of plastic completely broken and loose. After removing that little piece of plastic and replacing it with a watch mesh and some tape, i was able to get the extension right.( i did not posted any pictures of it because it was hard to find the right spot for the extension to hold the mic right, so i don't want to touch that too much rn) Now everything works fine, but when i want to move the snowball's angle, the extension gives up and i have to get it right and secure it all again by finding the right spot which bothers me a lot. I wanted to give this mic so badly 5 stars but that really little piece of crappy plastic bothered me so much that i can't. I'm sure this was just a problem that just my product came with. To be fair, even though that insignificant but kinda bothering problem that i had, this is still the BEST price-quality microphone on the market for under $100, and i would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a great quality and sound recording mic without needing to spend more than $100, even if you're on a budget of $120, i would recommend getting this mic and some good quality pop filter($20) and mic boom arm($30) as i did(which i'm not including on the photos because im not currently using them). I'm really happy with it, it's worth every single dollar, don't doubt on buying it, it's one of the best purchases you can do.

I bought this mainly for a St. Louis Blues hockey podcast, along with a pop filter. I've used it for a half dozen shows so far, and it's an excellent microphone! I couldn't be happier with it. We bought two other Blue Snowballs for the other guys on the podcast, and our Lets Go Blues Radio show sounds great... umm...shameless plug: [...] Pros: - The stand is metal, high build quality - Rubber feet so it doesn't slip - 3 audio settings, two for speaking directly into the front (one of which reduces the DB a bit if you feel it is picking up too much and is too loud), and 1 setting to pick up sound from everyone in the room, 360 degrees (the sound quality is much better if you speak directly into the front about six inches or so away using settings 1 or 2) - Audio quality is outstanding for this price range mic. Perfect for high quality podcasting. You can spend a LOT more $$ on a more expensive mic setup, but the audio quality isn't going to be that much better to warrant the massive price jump. - USB cord is long and of high quality - Easy plug and play. You plug it into a PC or Mac, and it's good to go right away. - Has a retro-like logo and an overall cool design. I chose the black snowball...it looks slick. Cons: - The USB cord doesn't fit as snug as it probably should. Seems loose in the port on the mic, it can slip out with a slight tug. We have this issue on all three of our snowball mics, so it's not just my mic. - It would be nice if the mic had an On/Off switch and then the red light on top would only be on when the mic was on. But not a huge deal as you can simply unplug the USB. I just leave mine plugged in all of the time. - This is just purely cosmetic, but for the black snowball mic, the usb cord should be black, not clear/silver. It would just look a little better design wise. Not really a con though...just a nitpick on my part. CAUTION FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO USE MULTIPLE USB MICS ON THE SAME COMPUTER... If you plan on hooking multiple USB mics (like the Blue Snowball) to the same computer, it is a real pain to get it to work properly...even in Garage Band where the OS settings seem to allow for multiple USB mics. You will get feedback, echos, horrible delays, crackling audio, horrible sound, mics picking up other voices and on a delay, etc. It was a mess. Multiple USB mics are not meant to be used on the same computer. I'm surprised nobody has created a mixer for USB mics so you could use two or three USB mics on the same computer. We had some audio issues during our first couple shows because we tried to record in the same room on the same computer and it just wasn't working. We did tons of research and apparently this is an issue with USB mics in general, and nobody has a good solution, other than a Virtual Audio Cable (which doesn't work that well either). We solved the issue by everyone being on their own computer with their own Snowball mics in their own homes and then recording the show over a Google Hangout. We download the saved mp4 from Youtube when done. Then we import it into Audition or Audacity for post production editing, and then upload the podcast to our podcast server. It works great, the audio is great quality, and we sound like we are in the same room talking. And with Google Hangout, you can see everyone as well...as long as they have a webcam, and all laptops nowadays do, so it isn't an issue for us. Plus it's more convenient for everyone...no driving and easier to schedule.

A lot of people when looking to up their mic quality often decided between the Snowball and the Yeti. I have used both, here are my thoughts. After extensive use of the Snowball, I'm very satisfied with the audio recording product it puts out. I record and edit my voice daily, and the Blue Snowball captures my voice properly. There isn't too much reverb, it picks up on my timber very well, and its pretty portable. The only negative to the Snowball is its isn't too durable. This is not a mic you want to drop, if you drop this mic its "connector" in the back easily comes loose, and that can make it hard to record. The mic will still plug in, but everyone once and it while it will lose connection. Overall the Snowball is a GREAT mic if your using it in a stable office setting and not dropping it everywhere. To keep things short, the Yeti is a solid mic, just not for me. It has a ton of great reviews, but it honestly just picks up too much noise for me. It's make my voice sound too skinny and doesn't pick up the timber as well. Outside of the audio quality it does have some pros, you can mute it, you can plug your headphones into it, you can adjust gain, but overall I just find the Blue Snowball the better, cheaper, and more compact option. Overall, if you're on a budget, or just starting in a field were you will be recording your voice, don't hesitate to get the Snowball, its a great mic!

I am in love. I am one of those people who research things to death before I buy them. I am on a fixed income, and a tight budget but I needed a good mic for the business I am trying to get up and running and this thing has good reviews, not just hear but through numerous friends. I checked out a bunch of videos using it for sound checks and the like and finally pulled the trigger after a month or two of hemming and hawing. First of all it feels very solid. It has a nice weight to it, and the stand while looking a little... odd is actually very sturdy. It raises a few inches which I was not expecting but is a very nice bonus. The switch in the back to adjust the settings is very easy to both find and use. It isn't stiff and it doesn't stick but it seems unlike to shift on its own either. The distance between you and the mic to get the right level of clarity is actually very comfortable. It's not one of the types where you have to be 3 inches away from it, but if you want rich sound you shouldn't be half way across the room either. About 12-24 inches depending on setting seems best so far. And about the settings, they are all different but sometimes subtly. I personally prefer the first and third. The first is nice and clear but feels a little cold. It's isolating because it doesn't pick up any ambient sound that isn't either really close or super loud. The third you should be in a quiet space if you mind other sounds because it picks up am amazing amount of room sound, but it sounds much warmer and more expansive. No matter which on you choose you are bound to love this thing. (I tried out a snowball ice before and I definitely recommend this one over it if you can afford it.)

This microphone was recommended to me by another Let's Player who has been using his for about a year now. It comes with a very sturdy stand and sets up literally in seconds out of the box. A lot of things advertise as being "plug and play" and this has literally been the first one for me that held up to that promise. Install was fast and I was using it right away. It has a number of different features, including a "conference" setting where it picks up omni-directional sound. I haven't used this functionality yet, just the #1 setting, which is focused forward. It picks up some background noise, but in my case, I'm in a small room that isn't made for recording, so for my purposes, it's easy enough to edit out. Compared to other cheaper microphones that I was using, this snowball is magical! I'm using it mainly for commentary, doing "Let's Play" videos featuring video games, but I also plan to use it for basic voice-over work as well for personal use. It records for both of these situations very well. If you're an amateur like me and you don't have enough for a professional mic, this is the closest you will get for a very competitive price! Don't settle for those little $5 mics, because they break so easily and often they don't even run on your computer. That happened to me with my last one, which is what drove me to invest a little in this Blue Snowball. I'm very glad I did, and I think you will be too!

First off, I am not a tech guy at all. I don't know much about PCs, programs or hardware or any other stuff like that. So, have that in mind when you read my small review. I have an old Gateway that runs Windows 7 (the 64 version). The Snowball looks cool. It comes with a nice, solid tripod that you screw the sphere onto. That sphere is the microphone. It has 3 recording modes. One is for speaking into like when doing commentary or a podcast. One mode is for when you place the mic in the middle of the table and have people around it talking and it's supposed to pick up the various speakers. I forgot what the third mode does. The snowball comes with a usb plug that connects the mic to your PC. The usb provides power for the device. Overall, a cool, sleek package. I like how it looks. I plugged my snowball into my PC and after a few minutes it found the drivers and my PC recognized the darn think. All I had to do was plug it in. So, it's easy to use. Great for non-tech people like me. The bad? The sound level is really low on this mic. Not near-mute low. But, yeah, it's low. I went into my control panel, then hardware and sound. Clicked sound, clicked recording tab. I saw the Blue in there and clicked it, then hit properties at the bottom. I then went to Levels and raised up the Level, but the Apply box is greyed out which means I can't actually Apply the changes. So, I am stuck at this same level. And like I said up top, I am not a techy guy and don't know of another work around. So does the mic record good? Yeah, it sounds great, it's just low. Only solution I found so far is to get really close to it. Like a few inches away. Not kidding or exaggerating. It sounds good that way. But who wants to have to do that? So, until I find a solution it just gets 3 stars. In fact, even if I find a solution, I still will probably give the mic 3 stars because I had to go snooping and jumping hoops to make it work at normal levels. In short: It's a great looking mic that records nice clear audio. It's just does so at low-levels and unless you are a techy guy, good luck find a solution. Hope this helps.

Sehr gutes Mikrofon mit einer ordentlichen Soundqualität. Ich benutze das Mikrofon schon seit über 1 1/2 Jahren und es funktioniert noch wie am ersten Tag, zeigt keinerlei Abnutzungsspuren. Es ist kompakt und nimmt nicht allzu viel Platz ein, was mir sehr daran gefällt. Zudem sieht es sehr stylisch aus und ist höhenverstellbar. Verbunden mit einem Popfilter ist die Soundquali für den Preis des Mikrofons sehr gut. Tonaufnahmen sind klar verständlich, S-Laute hören sich an wie im echten Leben und der Bass ist ausgeglichen. Die drei Einstellungen des Mikrofons sind sehr praktisch, v.a. wenn man Geräusche im Raum aufnehmen möchte. Dafür hat es einen Schalter an der Rückseite, welcher sich einfach und schnell bedienen lässt. Ich kann dieses Mikrofon besonders Anfängern empfehlen, welche nicht sofort Mikrofone im höheren dreistelligen Bereich anschaffen möchten. Für Gesangsaufnahmen gibt es sicher Bessere, dieses hier eignet sich aber besonders für YouTuber, Podcaster oder Menschen, die oft und gerne skypen.

De verdad me encantó tiene un diseño de cápsula única de condensador doble para capturar voces, música, podcasts, juegos y más opciones de cardioide, omni y cardioide con pastilla con atenuador, es decir puede captar tu voz de frente, de lado y en 360 grados, en la parte de atrás como se v en la foto tiene 3 opciones para elegir una de ellas en cuestión para la recepción de tu voz. Incluye pie de micro de metal totalmente ajustable y cable USB. Plug-and-play con Mac y PC. A mi me lo recomendaron para hacer mis videos en you tube y reportajes en vivo via Facebook live, de verdad no me arrepiento tiene una calidad de entrada y salida excepcional, si estas iniciando en el mundo de you tube o transmisiones en Facebook esta e tu mejor opción te prometo que no te arrepentirás, ademas tiene un diseño super profesional. Estas son las especificaciones del producto: Tipo de transductor: Condensador, gradiente de presión con salida digital USB Patrones polares: Cardioide u Omnidireccional Respuesta en frecuencia: Posición 1-3: 40 –18 kHz Tasa muestra/word: 44.1 kHz/16 bit Peso: 460g Dimensiones: 325mm (circunferencia) Funciona tanto para Windows como para Mac! simplemente el mejor micrófono.

Es un buen micrófono con buen sonido y facilidad de conexión

Tested the snowball on Zoom and the microphone could pick up my guitar clearly, I am very pleased with the purchase

This is a great product.I buy this from amazon. It came within three days.I suggest everyone who is in search of a microphones buy this.it have three audio setting. Cardioid,Cardioid with -10db and omnidirectional.I buy the gloss black snowball looks great it looks cute too .People can buy snowball.It is better than Snowball ICE.At last don't forget to buy a pop filter .no need to buy a expensive pop filter as it is just a piece of plastic and a circular cloth .Don't spent more than Rs 600 in a pop filter .Even a cheap pop works great with every microphones.SO guys I strongly suggest u to buy this .You can even use virtual cable and voice meter to this mic which is free to download and it will improve the audio quality to bad ass man! BLUE mic are best.Even many youtubers use this soo this is a great product .international product *_* ;) .