Blue Snowball USB Mic / Microphone - Review / Product Test

This is video blog where I review and test the Blue Snowball USB mic. I offer a few suggestions, tips and tricks on how to obtain the best audio quality possible using this microphone. Casual discussion, comparative test is conducted, using Audacity, to give a side-by-side review of the quality of the Blue Snowball mic (with and without pop filter) versus the laptop built in mic. Samson Q1U / C01U is briefly referenced in this video, note: I also did a review on that mic in another blog.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Blue
• Snowball
• USB
• mic
• microphone
• microphones
• review
• test
• demonstration
• how
• to
• howto
• tips
• and
• tricks
• podcast
• vlog
• vlogging
• recording
• music
• vocals
• condenser
• quality
• voice
• unidirectional
• omnidirectional
• Samson
• C01U
• Q1U

[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).

[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.

[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 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.

[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.

[racylaserjet]

@moreheadd93 yes, screws right into any regular mic stand