Products You May Like
There are a ton of Blue Microphones on sale at Amazon UK at the moment, as part of their ‘gaming week’ promotion. As well as the Yeti and Snowball USB microphones that are most likely to be familiar to you, there’s also a rare 42% discount on the Blue Blackout Spark XLR mic – nice.
However, the microphones I’d like to focus on today are those popular options, specifically the Blue Snowball Ice and the Blue Yeti X. These represent the top and the bottom of the Blue spectrum when it comes to gaming-friendly USB mics.
If you’ve been thinking about starting to stream or record your thoughts about video games – or any other topic, for that matter! – then these may be a good choice.
At the lower end, the Snowball Ice is a good USB mic for the money, offering one pickup pattern compared to the three on the more expensive Snowball – fine for streaming, less good for recording instruments or events. The short stand is annoying and its stability isn’t great, but you can mount it onto an arm without too many problems. This is a good choice if you want something that captures a good amount of vocal detail and ultimately gets the job done without spending a lot. It’s normally £55, but has dropped 40% to £33.
The Yeti X, on the other hand, is a more premium USB option with a four-capsule array, four pickup patterns (cardioid, omnidirectional, bidirectional and stereo), an LED that serves as a live level meter, live audio monitoring via a 3.5mm jack, a more sophisticated stand and software with various vocal effects. These features are great for more serious recording, as you have more ways to ensure that the sound being captured is top-quality – and the multiple pickup patterns provide a ton of flexibility. There’s also RGB lighting for gamers, because at this point I believe Blue had been acquired by Logitech. It normally costs £160 and has been discounted to £133 in this sale.
I’ve used this mic for a couple of years now – and I belive Rich at Digital Foundry does also – and it’s always performed well in my testing. However, as a condenser mic, it doesn’t screen out background noise as well as a dynamic mic – although you do get more vocal detail as a result. So this is best used in quieter environments, mounted close to your face to prevent it from picking up other audio sources.
There are quite a few reductions available, so do take a look at the sale and some reviews to make your own mind up!
Thanks for joining me once again; I’ll see you tomorrow for another two deals to close out the week!