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Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Amazing Fidelity!

Written by AK from Cape Carteret

Aug 15, 2009

I am a saxophone player, and I was searching for something that I could record with and listen back to my sound in order to critique myself. When I got it, it was definitely unique looking; when I plugged it in, the setup took less than 30 seconds, and the sound quality was simply amazing. My sister came into the room after I had recorded, and I played back the recording across a PA system, and she turned around thinking that I was playing. That's how great the quality is. I use the snowball to record with quicktime as well as garage band, both of which are very easy to use with this mic. The second position (-10db) is great for wind instruments such as trumpet and saxophone. Great buy!

43 of 46 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Excellent Mic

Written by GS from Kuna

Aug 2, 2009

I went searching for a mic that would add some depth to my voice when recording into a MacBook Pro. I am not a pro podcaster or musician, but I wanted a mic that was quality for a reasonable price - the Blue Snowball fit the bill.

The Blue Snowball took out the tinny sound that I experienced using the built in mic on the MacBook Pro and allowed me to create rich audio. Again, I am not a pro musician, but it was a giant leap forward from the built in mic.

Thanks BLue for this great product.

37 of 42 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Sounds Good

Written by SQ from Winnipeg

Jul 21, 2009

I bought this to record my voice and it records great. I have to sit fairly close and I find it a bit hard to sit rigidly so as to maintain a constant distance from the thing, but it sounds pretty good compared to built-in microphones. If you need something better than what Apple builds into your Mac, it's worth it.

14 of 18 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!

Written by MA from GULFPORT

Jul 3, 2009

You almost always get what you pay for. The only thing I was leery about was what the box said it could do for "ONLY" $100.00 - I don't mind paying for quality - it's just the way it is. I will tell you that IT IS WORTH ALL 100 OF THOSE DOLLARS! I use it for voice and PodCasting and could NOT BE HAPPIER. I did buy Blue's Pop Filter as well as The Ringer and it sounds amazing! You can't go wrong with Blue no matter what. They are one of the best at mic technology and even though this is the cheapest mic they sell (not counting the Mikey) they did not scrimp on quality. Makes sense, they have an amazing reputation to uphold. If you need or simply want a great mic on a budget or just being frugal - do not wait one more day; Go buy one, you will thank me later! Enjoy... And no, I am not in any way a rep of Blue - just a very pleased consumer.

29 of 29 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Best Podcast Mic on a Budget

Written by JT from Aurora

Jun 18, 2009

Really excellent ease of use, sound quality, and form factor. I do a two man podcast with it and have had both of us on the same mic and no one can tell. Range and compression are just awesome. I couldn't possibly recommend another mic.

11 of 12 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Fabulous!!

Written by JS from San Francisco

Jun 1, 2009

Excellent quality, easy to use, portable around the world (since it is powered from the USB), great value...what more could I ask for from this fabulous mic. It has enabled me to produce tutorial videos for my new website PaintboxJ.com with professional quality sound. Top marks and highly recommended!

17 of 19 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

The Best

Written by BD from San Clemente

May 31, 2009

This microphone is truly stunning when it comes to sound. It has three different microphone options to chose from... which is great. The only problem is the included stand which is kind of flimsy.

15 of 17 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

This microphone is sweet

Written by GJ from Newhall

Apr 4, 2009

For general use. I mean, if you really want to record something professionally, go to a recording studio. I felt that this microphone did it's job well, and was perfectly adequate for home use.

31 of 39 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Love the Blue Snowball :)

Written by GE from Harleysville

Mar 10, 2009

So, I'm feeling a bit foolish for all the money I spent over the years on expensive microphones and preamps...The Blue Snowball is really that great :) I'm sure there are subtle differences in sonic quality between the Blue Snowball and my other microphones and preamps (AKG 414 CTLII with D.W. Fearn VT-1 for vocals and stereo pair of Neumann KM184's with True Systems P2 Analog for acoustic guitar), however I must admit that to my untrained ears the Blue Snowball sounds pretty good for $100 (and much less fuss to setup and work with). I have to admit that I'm not a professional recording engineer (just a home studio singer/guitar player/song writer), but I think that most people in the home studio category would enjoy the simplicity and economy of the Blue Snowball.

45 of 50 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Did not meet my hopes.

Written by TB from Mission

Mar 10, 2009

I bought this with the intent of doing VO work, I had been using an analog XLR condenser mic hooked up to a transformer to a digital recorder/converter and did not like the bulk of the setup or the light hiss I would get if the setup was not totally isolated from the table by a rubber mat. So a year ago I read the reviews on here that were glowing about the mic and thought it would be the perfect setup for what i wanted. As soon I got it I new something was wrong. It had such a low gain it was barely useable 2 inches from my face. If you used a pop filter it would put you out of useable range. My Macbook has a more powerful mic than this. I looked around and found that there was a firmware update and I used it. Walla, Gain fixed, however then it had a bad mid-high distortion w/overloaded lows. No way near good enough to use for paid work. So I have given it to my dad as a mic to use on skype. Long story short Its 10% better than a logicrap Mic at 300% the cost. If you want a good usb mic go get a AudioTec or a real blue mic and find a good XLR converter.

45 of 60 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Distorts at all levels.

Written by RH from Taylor

Feb 15, 2009

I heard a lot of people saying this mic would not get loud enough. All I can say is that no matter what level this mic is at, it distorts horribly. I hate this mic and wish I would have never have bought it.

23 of 49 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Snowball!

Written by MK from Dallas

Feb 8, 2009

Plugged it in right out of the box, absolutely no problems or concerns. I am EXTREMELY impressed with performance of this product.

MAC OS X 10.5.6

24 of 26 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Wonderful product!

Written by JF from Cumming

Jan 29, 2009

Wow! When my built-in mic broke, I needed a replacement quickly. There were some other cheap microphones that had bad reviews, but this one goes above and beyond! It has three recording levels. The first level is for a soft singer, the second level is for a little louder singer, and the third level is for recording anything around the room - like an instrument. This thing is 100% worth it!

IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS VISTA, IT WILL NOT WORK ON YOUR COMPUTER.

37 of 38 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Great mic with some limitations

Written by EO from Portola Valley

Jan 27, 2009

The sound quality and build quality are fine for a mic in this price range. It is not as rugged as the old standby Shure SM57 (which is analog and needs a mic pre and DA box of some sort).

If you get a new one, it should have the 1.1 firmware installed. If not, search the web for "blue snowball firmware update" and you should find the high gain firmware. You need to get it.

Downgrade: it is for voice and acoustic instruments. If you put it in front of a guitar amp, it will distort at the mic, probably the diaphragm, even in the -10dB pad position.

14 of 20 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Opposite problem

Written by ES from FARMINGTON HILLS

Jan 26, 2009

I seem to be having the opposite problem that everyone else is. It seems as though the mic is too sensitive. When trying to record loud vocals, guitar amps, full bands, etc. It always distorts no matter what program, or what output setting. Plus i have the input volume set to ZERO! Granted, it sounds great, at lower volumes.

9 of 14 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

great mic

Written by TP from Farmingville

Jan 23, 2009

I've used this mic for over a year now. Works awesome in garage band, I use it for vocals and my acoustic guitar sometimes. Never had any issues.

13 of 15 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Doesn't Work Well

Written by KM from Los Altos

Jan 20, 2009

I read a considerable number of the Snowball reviews, and find there are widely diverging opinions about this mic. People seem either to love it or hate it. I am among those that am very disappointed with this product. I purchased it to record voice, and placed the mic on the desktop approx. 1-2' from my voice. The recording is so soft, it cannot be heard without maxing out the speaker gain settings. Some reviewers have stated this problem can be fixed by downloading a firmware update from Blue Microphones website. I would be happy if a solution existed. However, I cannot find any firmware downloads anywhere on their website. If you buy the product, be sure to give it a trial run during the return period to insure it works for you.

11 of 15 people found this useful

Blue Microphones Snowball Microphone

Does *NOT* Play Nicely with Leopard

Written by SS from Anaheim

Jan 6, 2009

I bought my Blue Snowball several months ago and have pretty much regretted it since.

The input volume/sensitivity is just too low and there is apparently no fix for it.

This means that when I record a podcast, I have to bring my audio into something like Soundbooth to fix the levels.

And no, it is not because of the switch on the back... my choices are to either the setting which minimizes background sound and get a super quiet piece of audio that needs refining, or record with no noise prevention and get very dirty audio (I don't have the luxury of a quiet recording studio).

This seems like an easy fix that neither Apple or apparently Blue will address. If *anyone* has a suggestion, let me know... otherwise, I highly suggest getting a different mic.

6 of 14 people found this useful