Customer Reviews

Blue Microphones USB Microphone SNOWBALL-BA (Brushed Aluminum)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

excellent quality, timely delivery. nice, heavy stand with slip proof feet.
I would recommend this mic to anyone who wants to start a podcast.

I needed a mic to record on presentation software and to use in weinars. All my other attemps resulted in back ground or white noise.

This produces a professional result.

I love things that I just plug in and they know what to do.

Although the quality of the sound is good when the mic works, I have had nothing but troubles with the Mic's USB Compatibility with the Windows OS / USB bus. Using the mic each boot up almost ALWAYS involves getting an ERROR CODE 10 from Windows which is only solved by unplug the mic and re-plugging it until the mic engages with the OS. In case you all are wondering, I have 3 PCs and have tried this mic with Windows XP, and Windows 7 32 and 64 bit on each of these PCs. So the problem travels with th mic. Also, in frustration I have checked the Blue Mic forums and this is a common problem complained about by many Blue Mic Owners. Also, Blue's after sales service/support is near non-existent. This Mic likely requires a special USB driver for Windows but they have not developed it. The only solution I got from Blue via emails to them is that they say I have a defective Blue mic and to pack it up and ship it to them (at my cost) for a replacement under warranty. Hmmm let me see, the mic cost $70 and I will have to pay around $35 to ship it to them to fix and be without a mic for likely weeks. NOT A VIABLE OPTION.

Recommendation for anyone wanting a Blue mic - IF you really want to have a Blue Mic, I would buy it from a local retailer and not online. In this way, if the mic gives you this problem, you can bring it back to the retailer ASAP and get your money back. I am very disappointed from this mic considering it is supposed to be a Top Notched brand of mic (I expected quality and excellent customer service).

Having worked with stage quality microphones before, I must say-this mic is amazing. Once you get past the weird shape of the thing, this mic has far exceeded my expectations. Sound quality using this mic is nearly perfect. It doesn't pick up much background noise, doesn't feedback when used in conjunction with my set of Bose desktop speakers, and has amazing vocal quality. The tabletop stand that ships with the unit is rather limited if you aren't sitting close to the mic, but the unit uses a standard sized threaded fitting, so I attached it to a standard boom stand. That completely addressed any microphone placement concerns I may have had. It's not cheap (about 2/3 of the price of a Shure SM58 microphone), but if you want a really good mic- buy the Snowball!

After researching numerous USB mic options for my new iMac (OS X Lion) and GarageBand '11, I decided to try the Snowball by Blue Microphones -- and couldn't be happier. Despite comments from some reviewers that their PC/Mac couldn't recognize the Snowball, or that sound levels weren't loud enough, I had no such problems. In fact, it works even better than I had expected for recording vocals.

Both my Mac and GarageBand recognized the Snowball quickly, and I was up and running with nothing further to do but tweak the audio level to taste (I actually found the mic extremely sensitive and the sound came through loud and clear).

One useful feature that doesn't seem to appear in any reviews or product descriptions is that the Snowball also comes equipped with a swivel mount built in at its base, which allows the mic to be pivoted or tilted while on the included desktop mini-stand, or when used with a mic stand. Since I use a boom with my mic stand, this was particularly helpful to optimally position the Snowball.

Although I've been using this mic for only a few days so far, I'd enthusiastically recommend it to anyone wanting to record clear, quality vocals for home recording.

The product was great! Met all expectations and looks awesome as well. the shipping was fantastic and the package was all in tact an all new. (Thats what I was most scared of) Overall Great :)