Blue Snowball USB Mic / Microphone - Review / Product Test

[snickaLFC]

Nice review.

[romeo322ad]

SnowBall - really a great mic i have one too..! the sound quality is AAAAMazing..!

[HDInfamousGaming]

good review though. just bear that in mind for next time

[HDInfamousGaming]

you cant possible tell how good this mic is when you play the mic's recording through the awful mic you are recording through.....

[firecopy]

You should have turned off the video audio...

[BlockStar10]

Smart and sexy.

[skillssaysitall]

I love this mic but it does call for some adjustment. For the pop filter I just attach it to the base of the stand and bend it around the side or over the top of the mic and it works pretty well. You do have to get extremely close to pick up sound so if I'm gonna use it for a long period of time I use a boom mic stand...$20. Just sit back and adjust it directly in front of your mouth to avoid getting hunch back. Not very portable this way but it works!

[BloodyRory]

If you get the pop filter it will make it much better.

[racylaserjet]

@sheemusic the snowball is a condenser mic.

[moreheadd93]

WILL THE MIC CONNECT TO MOST MIC STANDS?

[racylaserjet]

@moreheadd93 yes, screws right into any regular mic stand

[CRye137]

I just bought a used one on Ebay for $60. It must be one of the newer ones because I have to stand at least 1.5 feet away. I even had to take the gain down.

[CRye137]

I just bought a used one on Ebay for $60. It must be one of the newer ones because I have to stand at least 1.5 feet away. I even had to take the gain down.

[kiddiva12]

Do you know if you can mount this on a normal mic stand ? i want to buy it but i don't think that it is work 100 dollars if i can only use one stand

[Nuzesko]

@kiddiva12 yeah u can

[ClownFuneral]

thanks for this video. If in Audacity the input volume is already at full, how else can I increase the input gain? I'm trying to record vocals but it's very limiting having to stand so close to the mic to get a decent volume.

[SamPageMusic]

I recorded all the vocals, guitars, and bass on my six-song EP with a Blue Snowball USB microphone. Follow the links to my website and have a listen.

[ZPGaming]

Best review I've seen. :)

[AnimeLifeFTW]

Thank you for the review, I've seen both this one and your other one about the Samson Q1U. I just wanted to ask which one, out of the Snowball, Samson Q1U and Samson C01U you felt gave the least amount of static? Thank you in advance

[berighteous]

I have a pop filter on my snowball. if you don't put a huge cube flag on it the Nady mpf-6 pop filter works fine on the tiny stand. The stand rises up a couple inches too.

[berighteous]

I have a pop filter on my snowball. if you don't put a huge cube flag on it the Nady mpf-6 pop filter works fine on the tiny stand.

[AlHendersonMusicTV]

This has to be one of the most intelligent women i have ever seen on youtube! work it baby!

[knomakz232]

can this mic rap? cos im planning to buy one.

[realdmocracydelusion]

There is a firm wear update that sorts the SPL problem!.

Trust me, you can get this mic to be as sensitive as any condenser with the update!.

[realdmocracydelusion]

@realdmocracydelusion Let me just clarify before I have other engineers biting my head off lol!.

When I say sensitive, I am talking about overall SPL, not across the frequency spectrum, obviously a Neumann u87/similar mic is going to destroy this for sound quality, but they are what, 20 times or more the price lol.

All I am saying is, the low SPL is due to a crappy first edition firmware issue!.

[realdmocracydelusion]

@realdmocracydelusion OK, scratch that lol. I have just looked around at reviews and apparently there is a number of them that have left hr factory with issues and Blue are refusing to deal with this!.

Apparent;y they where made in china but production moved to Latvia...or is it the other way round...aether way, this looks like teething problems in the manufacturing process!. It really shouldn't do this!.

[benjy0115]

nice, im thinking of buying it for callofduty commentaries because i have a decent sized channel now and im think of upgrading.

[SHEEmusic]

@benjy0115 - Good luck, its a great mic. I got a new one a couple months back, the Snowball (from this review) was older and didn't work on Vista or 7, it also had some gain issues and you had to be very close to the mic. I was one of the early adopters, purchased it soon after it came out and had a very low manufacturing / serial number. Blue since corrected those issues but visually the old vs new ones look identical so don't buy used (you may not be able to tell the difference).

[NekochanNyanNyan]

I actually got a popfilter on mine :P It was rather difficult, it was one of the bigger circular ones and it kind of moves a bit--but its good.

Also the different sound will change from 1, 2, 3 on the back. 1 is loudest, 2 is quieter, and 3 gives you a sound all around the snowball.

I actually have the issue with the snowball being too loud because i use it for singing-- but if you have a mixing a program like Mixcraft like i do then you cna lower how loud and how quiet it can be!

[kingpolaris]

i was thinking abt getting this but nvm i dont waan be up in my mic

[annalisejonas27]

do u think if i was to use it for vocal recordings to buy a pop windshield?

[BlazingIced]

"You can hold the globe in your mouth"

[PBJTA]

Where's the other stand from?

[itsmysandwich]

You're reviewing a mic yet your audio is shit. Why would anyone take your advice, dumbass?

[zmingy]

@itsmysandwich dumbass, shes not edtitng or even using the blue snowball mic. thats the mic built in her laptop. smartass

[guitarlady46]

Awesome review...extremely helpful. Thank you.

[shemdoupe1]

hi, im looking to buy a mic for more of an instramental use. not so much vocal. any tips? hows the snowball for that?

[DanFrenchakaFresh]

can u help?! i was just going to best buy to buy this snowball mic but now tha distance problem is makin me think twice,, should i get a condenser instead since its better for rapping? or speaking farther out? i guess wats tha best mic in tha hundred dollar price range for my type of music(i have one new song up thats my style, my PTD cypher) hope u can help

[BornOfSong]

@DanFrenchakaFresh

I do not own the mic so keep that in mind. From what I have seen, it varies in how far some people have to be. One guy on an Amazon video review seemed to be quiet unless he was very close. Where as another person on youtube was sitting in chair, leaned back, and still was heard clearly.

I think SHEEmusic may be right when she says newer ones were made better. If you do buy one, buy it from Amazon so you can send it back if it does not work. That's my advice. Good luck.

[DanFrenchakaFresh]

@BornOfSong thx alot il try amazon and since i am loud i shouldnt have a problem wit it..

[tacumasong]

Thank you very much. I enjoyed your blog. I am on my way to Dakar Senegal for a concert with the Last Poets, but I will try to do some drive by recording with some African drummers, musicians. I will bring back the files and work on some musical concepts.  I will be taking my snowball with me. If I run into into problems, I will contact you if that is fine. Peace, Jamaaladeen Tacuma

[swaggaBfresh]

what is a good microphone i should use for recording vocals ???

[olemay90]

I want to record my voice for a song.

I need a professional mic usb, so what brand you suggestion ?

help me..

please !!!!!

[JA2NJ]

you're so damn cute

[MrMasterpod]

it has tree options on the back first its for close using second its for front using and the third and final its for 360 degrees usage like for a band in a small area

read the manual or search in computertv :D

[Maalinaa93]

lowiu

[TheTowts]

Which Store Can I Get Snowball?

[pimpshiza]

Good review... but um ... work on your ums.

[pdlavack]

Thanks for the info!

[MCshadom]

i got one :)

[file91e]

Quick question, where did you get the box on the microphone stand?

[vixter1010]

Helped A LOT! Thanks. I need to record Hypnosis CD's so this isn't going to work for me.

[byronfriday]

Thank you for the through review.

[SUNNYTUFF7]

Peace Queen!!!!! Beautiful review...... Very impressed. Keep shinin'!!!! Sunny

[TYPSIbandPage]

your camera is so clear......i can see skin pores...no im joking....

but is this mic good for crisp singing like for a band....i sing over the songs....is it legit....better than my headset mic?????

[captincoffee]

Nice review, but what camera or webcam are you using?

[SHEEmusic]

@captincoffee - appreciate the comment, for this vid...I used a Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000.

[TheYoungMoneyShow]

Finally found a review that kept it 100 % real lol.

[Ashinobio]

Official review. Awesome job.

[JillnRe]

do you have to have it right up to your face or can you put it like a foot or two away from you and still talk

[brt5470]

I'm really interested in the snowball, but I'm getting inconsistent information on the volume. Some reviews show it as a very quiet mic, just like this one, where as others show it as being a very clear and solid sounding mic.

[SHEEmusic]

@brt5470 - its a great mic. In terms of you getting conflicting info re: sound/gain etc. it balls down to when it was manufactured...the serial number. Blue Co. has made modifications to accomodate over time but hasn't make any visual changes to let buyers know which is which (ala color change). So my advice is this...get the mic BRAND NEW.

[SHEEmusic]

@brt5470 Don't get it off Craigslist or eBay since you have no way of if its an older model with potential level issues, isn't compatible with Vista and Windows 7 etc > they all look exactly the same.

[MalicePunk]

yours must be defective mine picks up from almost 10 feet away, sorry to resurrect a super old video

[Owminator]

Good review. I use the Blue Eyeball, and im VERY happy with it.

[wofeizibobuke]

Could you please post the name of the stand that you showed us? Looks great. Thanks in advance...

[SHEEmusic]

Sure thing, thanks for asking...its a Proline Desktop Boom Stand.  Best of luck!

[cirasounds]

I am a voice over artist and take a Snowball the road using my laptop and Audition 3.0 software. I use a Sterling pop filter that attaches very easily to the Snowball's mic stand with no problem whatsoever. The Snowball has a remarkable sound that rivals my expensive studio mics. Very impressive!

[SEANBTV]

actually all you need to do is plug it in... the snowball is a condensor mic.... all you need to do is plug it in.... you might have issues with your ibm think pad... cause the snowball should sound better than it does in this video

[gargantuandick]

The snowball, as well as most other usb mics ARE CONDENSER MICS. The volume issue would possibly have to do with the lack of gain and low bitrate.

[interstones]

i sing a lot of power ballads and such and i love to belt!!!! and i was wondering because i would like to get this mic.. but would it create some form of distortion with my vocals?

[alicevrichards]

Thank you Shee for the video! It was so helpful! You answered alot of questions going through my mind.....God bless...alice

[CantusDiva]

Really helpful! Thanks!

[ghosty136]

would this mic be good for recording music like for my band?

[IMONAPAERCHASE773]

what would be a good program to record with the snowball.. i tried audacity and i didnt sound the way i want it to

[MrOdai123]

I've heard that Audacity and Snowball don't play well together. Maybe that's where the volume problem comes from?

[SThr1zz1e]

How do you use the snow ball with Audacity? I've been trying to figure out for a while

[simonreo]

Go to Edit>preferences>Audio I/O on audacity.

In the "Recording" box go to "Device" and select your microphone if its plugged in.

Go back to the main Audacity window and press the red button. To stop recording, press the orange button.

Hope that helps :D

[jseffendi]

@simonreo This isn't working for me. Under the drop menu it doesn't show up. It just says no devices found. Is mine defected?

[Alzeey]

Hey thanks for the review. Just had a question, I heard you can make a pop screen with a hanger and some nylon, is this true? And should i not get this if i have vista?

[muckypops]

Nice vid, but you said it wasn't a condenser mic.  It is a condenser mic. It's plenty loud on everything but Vista machines. They simply refuse to support it on Vista very well for some reason. I mean, it is usable on Vista, but it is noticeably quieter.

[SHEEmusic]

The Snowball is a condenser - you are absolutely correct in pointing that out. It is noticeably quieter on Vista and Blue hasn't provided much support but I'd like to point out that this demonstration was done on XP and still required an input gain boost to get the sound to an audible level. I had this mic for quite some time and this is an issue specific to older models/serial numbers (to which Blue supplied a firmware update).

[muckypops]

I was not aware of the XP problem. sure wish they would support this on Windows better. I love the sound of it :)

[hyperactivecalvino]

Yes. vista is really really bad for many things. (just for you to know i'm not a user that just says that vista "sucks") but I used it for over 6 or 8 months. vista does fail. now im back on my vista machine.

[jimmyjrock1]

hey thanks for the vid, i have a nt1-a and presonus audiobox usb i cant get them to work at all through windows pc and i use fruityloops, i wanna record vocals so i guess my question is should i use the nt1-a and a usb recording interface or should i get a snowball cuz it looks so easy to setup compared to a condenser mic..

[SHEEmusic]

Do you have ASIO4ALL on FL Studio? Your DAW should recognize the audiobox. You can bypass the need for an interface by using a USB mic. If you are podcasting, this mic (Snowball) is fine but if you are recording songs and are accustomed to the quality sound of an NT1-A, I'd suggest getting a USB "condenser" such as the one made by Samson, SE Electronics or Audio Technica.

[jimmyjrock1]

yup i have asio4all and it seems to recognize the audiobox but not produce any sound when i record, im not sure what settings u need for asio4all tho and i read sumwhere u need another sound card which i have but dont know if its configured properly, do u have msn? lol

[FeelingTart]

thnx 4 the 411

[sheronaJ]

i've been meaning 2 try audacity. i'm on pc so its harder 2 find as good software

[drliquid8]

gr8 info a usual Thanks Shee

[stillnotthere]

learn something new everyday. i love your music vids. i'm not a musician but your info vlogs are good too

[juspendin]

i never really like the usb mics cause they seemed so thin - hollow sound. i might have 2 reconsider.

[cindysutter123]

yea Shee they seem to have advanced much more than i knew buukoo thanxxxxxx and starsssssss

[fizzleshlict]

u rock sheerbadness. r u going to create specific playlists 4 ur music and Vlogs? i'm subbd anyway but i thought i might tap the music playlists

[vderia]

i didnt know the usb microphones had gotten so good. thnx very much 4 the info

[alexbordwin]

lol 'ole fashion bootleg way'

[popularnotes]

So would this microphone b good 4 doing youtube videos and msypace videos and stuff?

[alexbordwin]

popularnotes - absofreakinlutely./ i have this mic and it rocks. hey Shee i'll use someof those tips, good info 2 have

[LauraLeedsU]

so i've heard mixed reviews on the USB mics but I've been able to find them at such good prices. I'll Check out the Snowball.

I really like the omni directional functional.