Reviews for Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone

After purchase I was surprised to notice the size of this microphone. Once I setup and configured the quality engaged me as if I was a child memorized by large volume of christmas present fantasia. If someone was to ask if I would recommend this product I would not hesitate. If your thinking about purchasing this fine piece of equipment then please go get it now!

Ok, let's be honest, unless you're sitting in a professionally mic'ed studio you'd be hard pressed to get a better quality than this. Blue is known for their top quality microphones. Not to throw names around, but if you look, you'll see many professionals using them. I trusted the Blue name and was not disappointed... it can pick up a room conversation with 1 mic like it's two and the people are shotgunning them.

Yeti promises a lot with this new mic, and delivers more than that. The sound quality this mic produces is everything I hoped it would. Worth every cent. Very well done! Thank you for your excellence!

The Blue Yeti USB recording microphone is, in my opinion far superior to conventional condenser microphones for computer recording. The versatility is great and the sound quality, which is what it's all about in the end, is nothing short of phenomenal. Plugged in to the iMac and it worked right out of the box. No driver install. Every mode produces great results and I especially like the true stereo mode. Captures both instrument and vocals with amazing results. I use Apple Logic 9 and find the vocal tracks utilizing the Blue Yeti are extremely easy to EQ. One thing I found a bonus is that, unlike conventional condenser recording microphones, is that you get crystal clear sound of whatever you're recording, but most of the extraneous noise like breathing is somehow filtered out. Most musicians and vocalists tend to breathe quite heavily as soon as they put on a pair of headphones, causing all sorts of problems for the recording engineer. Not so with the THX certified Blue Yeti! The mute button is a really nice feature too. The first thing I noticed though is how heavy the microphone is. It is a super heavy, all metal mic as is the included stand that it comes with. This is a great recording USB microphone, and with the THX Certification, versatility, and great sound you'll get from this mic, it's actually an incredible value.

Four pickup patterns, bus-powered USB connection, built-in computer out 2 channel output w/ volume control, gain control... all of that plus great sound quality for $150. Not to mention the sheer convenience of how it works with a computer to become an instant and complete mobile recording setup. I highly recommend it!

This mic is absolutely wonderful. The recording quality had my wife doing a double-take when I played a short clip back for her - she legitimately thought it was me talking and could not tell that it was a recording. Even I - a self-appointed audiophile, is thoroughly happy with my purchase. The multiple pickups are wonderful and make a tremendous difference based on what you are trying to record.

Awesomest of all is the beautiful headphone amp built into this. Now owning the mic, I would likely have purchased it for the headphone amp alone. It adds a tremendous level of audio quality to audio playback and provides latency-free monitoring of what the mic picks up. My only gripe with this is that you can't disable the monitoring. Turning the gain all the way down would achieve this effect, but I'd prefer to just be able to turn off the mic while still hearing sound from the computer.

I purchased this microphone for VOIP application and couldnt get good sound quality out of it. No matter what setting I had it on sounded like I was talking in a tin can...

Blue is famous for their striking microphone designs, and their streamlined Yeti is a worthy addition to their product lineup.

The first thing you'll notice is what a beautiful, well-designed object this is. The Yeti has a solid built-in desk stand that provides a bit of built-in cable management for headphone and USB cords. It's not the ideal choice for on-the-go recording -- this sucker is really big and heavy -- but the swivel-stand arrangement allows you to rotate the body of the mic upside down into the base if you do need portability.

On the front: a mic mute button and headphone volume dial. On the rear, mic level control and a pickup pattern selector. (The dials are just a tad jiggly and plasticky for such an otherwise elegant design.) On the bottom are the zero-latency headphone jack and mini-USB connector. The swiveling body makes accessing the USB and headphone ports a snap. Another thoughtful addition is a 5/8 inch threaded hole that allows you to remove the base and mount the Yeti on a standard microphone floor stand.

The Yeti houses multiple mic elements to offer stereo, omni, cardioid, and figure-eight pickup patterns. The selections give the mic a versatile bag of sound tricks, whether you're recording a solo podcast, taping an interview or group meeting, or laying down some vocals in GarageBand. The headphone amp doesn't exactly go to 11, but the mic delivers a pretty respectable output level. We're talking 16-bit USB audio, so the Yeti doesn't have quite the full warmth and sonic detail of a "real" large-diaphragm condenser like Blue's pro studio models, but the sound is surprisingly good for a USB mic, and noticeably cleaner than noisy competitors like the Samson G-Track.

To avoid P-pops and breath sounds when working up-close, you might want to invest in a pop screen of some kind, though it seems a shame to put a big foam hat on top of such a beautiful head.

No drivers needed -- just plug in the included USB cable and select "Yeti Stereo Microphone” for both input and output in the Sound control panel of your Mac's System Preferences. Configuring Yeti in GarageBand's Audio preferences is a snap, too.

Did we mention how cool The Yeti looks sitting on your desk? The retro-modern aluminum styling matches the finish of Apple's current product lineup quite well.

The Yeti's sound quality and multiple pickup patterns raise the bar for USB mics, and leave even Blue's much-beloved Snowball playing catchup. For the price, a product that looks and sounds this good is going to be pretty hard to beat. Highly recommended.