Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone

I bought this for a variety of reasons, though mostly to improve the quality of the numerous Skype conference calls I have with my clients. As a product designer; however, I chose it because it looks great and functions extremely well! It looks fantastic sitting next to my giant Apple monitor and Macbook pro! Just pull it out of the box, plug it in, and you're good to go. Seriously, Mac users, it's that easy! For single user "phone calls" I recommend setting it on the cardioid pattern, turning the gain way down, and bringing the mic closer to you in order to reduce background noise. For group conference calls where people are sitting around a table, place it in the middle of the table and use the omnidirectional pattern. Built like a tank - only the knobs are plastic! Get one.

After looking to set up somewhat of a home recording studio, I found out about Blue microphones.
In particular, the latest release from Blue was the Yeti.
I watched and listened to a number of reviews, and agreed that the Yeti was a must buy.
Since finally receiving it at my home in Australia, I have to say that I could not be more than happy with the purchase.
The same can't however be said for the trouble I had to go to to get it here.

Amazon were prepared to take my money on numerous items I have bought over time, and deliver to my home in Australia.
But not so with the Blue Yeti.
So I had to have it delivered to an address in the states, and then have it forwarded at a cost greater than the Yeti itself!
Not happy Amazon!

But I am happy to recommend the Yeti!

Amazon asked me to do this review, so you get what you asked for!

I bought this to record a podcast with a friend and I love it. It's super easy to use for those of us who are not audio recording masters, it's incredibly sexy in its aesthetics, and it provides fantastic audio quality. I even used it to record a podcast in my car while driving and it worked out pretty well.

The only thing I would warn about this is to think about it before taking it with you on a trip. If you do, know that if you put it in checked luggage that it will be opened and searched, because I was searched each time when I had it in my carry-on bag. Apparently it looks like an evil device when seen through the x-ray. :)

This is an impressive mic. I'm running 64-bit Ubuntu 10.04, recording with Audacity, and the results have been spectacular. Very rich, professional sound. Highly recommended.

One note: you'll probably want to raise the default input volume for this device in Ubuntu. Open "Sound Preferences", click on the "Input" tab, and then select "Yeti Stereo Microphone". By default the volume will be on "Unamplified", which is very quiet. Drag the slider so it's on "100%" instead.

it EXCEEDS it.

An old friend tells me I was born 30 years too late (and I'm 57 as I write this). He says I should have been born in the era of radio theatre.

I personally think my friend is dead wrong. I was born at the right time. But I do agree than I'm a very "audio" kind of guy.

I've produced and sold countless spoken-word audiotapes and CDs, and I enjoy doing voiceovers for my own projects, and for clients on occasion.

So it was just my birthday, and a friend of mine had been raving about his Blue Yeti. He had just recorded a 20-CD audio program he's selling online. He's fairly selective so I did a little research.

Everything he was saying was corroborated by many, many others.

And even though I already own over a dozen mic's -- including two of the industry-standard Electro-Voice RE-20s -- I thought, "Wow. This would make a nice birthday present!"

Was I ever right about that!

All my other mics either require considerable setup, including a mixer... or, they offer diminished quality. I have a few other USB mics, but they don't sound professional. They sound tinny.

I had the Blue Yeti up and running in 4 minutes... without more than a glance at instructions. It has, essentially, a mixer/pre-amp built in, and it works seamlessly with SoundForge (now sold in a 'lite' version as Sony Audio Studio software). My friend uses Audacity, which is free, and I would bet the Yeti works even better (and easier) with a Mac.

The quality was superb. Easy. Quick. High Quality. Cheap.

Used to be you couldn't get all four at once.

Well, in most contexts, you probably still can't.

But here, you can.

I'm jazzed. Highest recommendation!

I have always wanted a decent microphone, and this microphone does the job. This is the first microphone I would considered professional. I brought this microphone because I have read review that says this microphone holds up to the top end microphone but at fraction of the price.

I am also an avid fan of speech recognition software, however I have tried many different variety of microphone and none of them does the job well even when tweaking with the sensitivity options, the accuracy of other microphone I used were around 40-60% of the time when dictating. But, once I have setup this microphone correctly, and within minutes I can dictate a whole new york times article with 85-90% accuracy with exceptions of names onto Microsoft word. This indicates how well built the microphone is.

Beside the most obvious that it is a USB microphone, it does require the usb wire connected for it to turn on, even though it has a phone jack output, the only thing I would say they have left out was a on and off button.

The microphone can also be used as a sound driver. with the sound options on windows, you can direct all audio feed through the output of the phonejack of the microphone, and easily adjust the listening volume on the microphone.

Before I ever tried this microphone, I had always wondered how voice recording and singer get those nice deep rich sound. I realized that when speaking into the microphone within 2 inches or closer. I finally realize how my voice really sounds like, because whenever I speak into the any other microphone including the telephone, my pitch was off and I would sound like a different person. But this microphone, I sound almost as natural. It just makes me that much happier I brought this product.

I do like the retro-modern look to it, with all the quick access adjustment knobs. But those who wish for a portable microphone, this is not one of them as it is huge around 7 inches erected and weighs about 3 lb.

The microphone was fairly easy to set up since it is USB... one end of the cable to the mic and the other into a USB port on your computer.You can plug a headphone directly into the mic, if you want. The controls are straightforward with settings for gain, headphone volume, and four positions for recording preferences, in simple lingo... all around the mic, interview position, single person, stereo. In order to know which will be suitable for your recordings, you will have to try the various positions and select the one that favours your needs. I had the mic working for about 20 minutes when it "blew", so my review is short. When it "blew", Windows XP still recognized it, the headphones worked, but there was no sound displayed or recorded in any of the 6 recording software packages I have. When it worked, it was very clear and precise, and with a little mic positional changes, actually was very good even against "popping" and "hiss". The gain however, even at it's lowest position still left some undesirable sound recording at the low end (a high frequency buzz)... there was no silence. One of my software packages I have can alter the threshold for the recording, so it was possible to remove this noise. My other software, which is also high-end (Soundbooth) could not.

Amazon, instantly, sent me a new mic after purchasing the new mic, with my duty to return the bad one... I received the new one in only a few days. Unfortunately, the shipping allowance did not cover the cost of my returning the bad mic... Amazon has a good deal with USPS... I do not, so the return cost me an additional $5.

I now have the new mic and have used if for about an hour.... still hasn't "blown", yet. I'll update my review as I use it more often. I'm still very leary about this product after having the other one blow in a very short time.

This is a great quality retro looking item. You will sound professional without outside distortion. It was worth every dollar!

Just from the technical specifications, THX certification and product description, I had anticipated a great purchase. The Blue Microphone Yeti USB Microphone did not disappoint! I'm using this primarily for professional pod casting and other applications using voice recognition software. It is truly plug-and-play. The microphone is on the large size and certainly heavy. It also looks really cool. If I had any comments for improvements, it would be for Blue Microphone to include software tools such as pod casting, mp3 publishing, etc. These software tools though are freely available on the Internet so this is not a real complaint.

I've had this mic for some time and it works great. The only issue with me on my Vista 64bit OS is that it isn't compatible with certain features that I've used before. For example, I use the mic to do a live show over [...]. What I normally would do is record the show with Sound Forge to create mp3 podcasts. However to use the mic, the settings have to be changed to use the Yeti device as the default recorder. So when you use it you can't record youtube or other streaming video audio at the same time. You can change those settings to record streaming audio, but then the mic won't work with stereo mix recording. So what I have to do is play the livestream show back and record that with soundforge to get all the audio, giving me twice the work. Every computer is different so it may just be my particular setup, but there are some issues that you might bump into.

While I'm not a professional recording engineer, my music background includes a lot of recording production experience. My intention with this purchase was to replace a more complicated podcasting setup (2 mics, separate USB interface, lots of cables) with something much more streamlined and hopefully that would sound better. The Yeti delivered: record your voice, or several people around the mic, and then a single USB cable (included, nice and long too) right into the laptop computer with something like Audacity or Garageband or Logic Pro. The audio quality rivals (but doesn't exceed) more traditional pro setups. If you are a professional recording engineer, you might want to grab one for your bag when you don't have room or the time to setup anything fancy. Excellent quality price ratio (QPR) and highly recommended.

One quick note, this microphone is big. So if you are looking for something that will fit into a laptop bag, this isn't it.

I needed a recording solution for solo classical guitar. This is the solution. It is easy to use and inexpensive. The recording quality is as good as or better than what I already had, which was about $600 worth of equipment: An AKG C1000S microphone, a Presonus Bluetube preamp, an M-Audio 1010LT sound card. This thing does the work of all those items and all you have to do is plug it in to USB port. I use Linux and it worked without a hitch using Audacity and mencoder software. It works beautifully with Skype as well. It is large and has an old-fashioned look to it, but for the money, I can't believe you can do much better than this.

If you want the perfect review check out Antonio's from [...]. He demonstrates it in video. Perfect product. Knobs are a little loose, but not as bad as I read. Excellent craftsmanship. Looks perfect next to my iMac.

The main reason I purchased this microphone is because some people were having trouble hearing me when I called their cell phones from Skype on my computer. I rely heavily on VoIP, and I figured it was time to invest in a microphone that made communications as easy as possible.

I did a LOT of research into USB mics, and found that people were saying some very nice things about the Yeti Blue. I decided to give it a try, and it has not disappointed me at all. The range is fantastic and the clarity is superb. I'm not convinced the pickup patterns are as distinct as they would be on separate mics, but as far as all-in-one mics go, this thing is a real beauty - money well spent!

It was much more than I expected for the price. It is perfect if you are looking for a home studio microphone for every kind of projects, including vlogging to music recording. The quality is outstanding: Crisp, clear, and loud. Design and features are perfect for any occasion and any situation. Sturdy design and perfect size. User friendly and easy to use. No software to install. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this product.

I decided to purchase this microphone after seeing all of the positive reviews of it. And given the low price now being offered, I couldn't pass it up. I also own the Blue Snowball as well as a Technics AT2020 USB. All three microphones are excellent, but I chose this to be my dominant microphone for my weekly podcast. The sound quality is amazing. But the feature that really sold me was the zero-latency monitoring. To my knowledge this is only one of two models out there on the market today with this feature (the other being the Rode Podcaster). This allows me to monitor myself in headphones in real time instead of getting that distracting, split second delay associated with USB mics. You can also set this mic as an output from your sound source so that all other audio can be monitored while you speak. Yes, the volume controls are plastic and cheap, but overall this is an excellent addition to any studio.

this was a very good item has great recording sound qualitites excellent... If you wanna hear what it sounds like heres a download link of a song i made using the micrphone DOWNLOAD LINK---> [...]

I don't know much about mic's and recording but I will say that this thing sounds a lot better than my webcam mic and my Creative vado HD mic and my plantronics headset mic. I am pretty amazed by the clarity I get when recording the guitar. I love techy stuff and so I decided to jump into audio recording headfirst with this fairly expensive mic. I will warn you this thing is quite the beast. Good build but pretty heavy and not too portable. It doesn't work with my Left 4 Dead 2 game. Didn't need it to but it would have been nice. I have used it to record me playing the guitar and singing(separately, I overlap the audio tracks afterwards) and it sounded amazing compared to my other recording devices. WAY above webcam status. Lots of controls on the mic itself which is really nice, Gain, Volume, directional type settings. I would recommend this if you have the cash and really want something nice to start out with. I won't need to upgrade any time soon. Also its plug and play, I have Win7 64bit and it worked flawlessly after just plugging it in.

I own a small project studio, and I'm constantly on the lookout for new products that can make things easier, while retaining great quality. The Blue Yeti is all of the above. Great sound, great features, and easy to use. The zero-latency monitoring is perfect, and the overall sound quality is immaculate considering this is a sub $200 mic. The ability to record in so many different patterns including stereo is very kool. It works perfectly with my macbook. I didn't need to install anything; just plug it in an go. My only knock on the mic is that there is no shock-mount. Overall, though, I highly recommend this microphone to any serious project studio looking for a cheap mic that can produce high fidelity vocal tracks. I would also recommend buying a good portable sound booth for isolation to go with it.

I was looking for an affordable mic enabling me to make announcements from a home computer that would approximate, if not be indistinguishable from, the audio quality of the heavy-duty Shure microphones used at WGTD FM HD. All the mics that I had previously tried at this price point and lower, including Blue's "Snow" line, sounded overly treblish, with pronounced sibilance (listen to the comparison-contrast provided by the first reviewer in his video demonstration). By contrast, the Yeti is rich and resonant, and its sensitivity permits using it without benefit of a pop filter. Short of spending 4-5 times more, I'm convinced this is the best option in my particular case.

At the same time, as a musician without a home studio I seriously doubt I'll make much use of the mic for performance or recording. As far as performance goes, the very size and conspicuousness of the unit could compromise presentation, upstaging the performer (at least a vocalist with a normal-sized head). And for traveling purposes, I've found the Sansom Go mic to be the best fit with a laptop computer (even though Blue's literature shows the Yeti alongside a laptop).

Blue appears to be trying to have it all ways with this product. Its size and weight are likely to attract buyers as well as provoke reservations--perhaps leading some purchasers to complement what strikes me as a home studio mic with one or more of Blue's lighter, more compact microphones. Its onboard amplifier and circuitry are convenient and permit unprecedented versatility. But as other reviewers have mentioned, the volume, gain, and pattern knobs are rather loose, allowing for lateral and vertical as well as the expected rotating movement. The knobs turn effortlessly but not with the ball-bearing smoothness one might associate with ultra expensive professional equipment. There's the slightest hint of resistance at one point in the gain control's circular movement, but it's not at the 12 o'clock position, so it's difficult to say whether or not the knob is intended to have a mid-point for quick and easy assessment of positioning.

In sum, the Yeti should please anyone who wants to broadcast or record a fuller and richer sound than that previously attainable with comparably-priced mics, and it should prove a useful (not to mention handsome) addition to any home studio. It's still a bit early to make any pronouncements about the worthiness of this imposing metal humanoid as a road warrior. It's main competitor on Amazon--the Audio Technica AT2020 is pint-sized compared to the Yeti--and I'll confess I'm still not sure whether I might the best choice. I wish there were some direct reviewer comparisons to indicate whether the AT's relative compactness and light weight come at a compromise--however slight--to audio quality.

[I experienced initial hesitancy on Yeti's part to make an appearance in the Input and Output panels (in System Preferences) of my iMac. Then I read the instructions, which discourage plugging the mic into a hub. Plugged directly into a powered USB port (were there only a couple more available on my computer), Yeti sprang into action with an agility and eagerness belying his cumbersome appearance.]

The best microphone i have tested, the recording of this microphone is incredible, you can get really rich sound FM type of quality of it and its affordable. Ideal for podcasting, voice overs, voice communications (skype, ventrilo, etc).

Pros:
Heavy, i like its solid feel.
Versatile, it has 4 different capture modes (cardioid, stereo, omnidirectional and bi)
Mute, first i seen on mics of this range
Built in headphone amp, this also a feature that is starting to come on others, but its a nice feature to have.
Gain, good to setup on the fly without opening the setup inside the computer.
Quality, its probably the best sounding microphone i have used, really rich and deep voice.
Works out of the box, no drivers or anything else needed, its recognize in both vista and 7, just plug n play.
Stand, i personally like it, its kinda like old school type of look, but its big.

Cons:
Is big, although i like it, might be an issue for some, this makes it not portable.
Flimsy volume knob, probably the only thing that seems not so high quality.
Background noise, i live in a very noisy environment and this mic is extremely sensible and pics up most of the noise (very clear if i might add), but still something that condenser microphone will do, not just the yeti.

Overall i still rate it 5/5 cause the sound quality blew me away, i have not tested much more expensive usb mics like Rode Podecaster or MXL 009, but at his price point its really tough to beat, specially sound wise.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RN5J8ZTQHF9Q Hello, guys!

I needed a high quality desktop mic to use for voice chat and recording tutorial screencasts for my website. I was using a usb headset mic and found it a pain taking it on and off.

This mic turned out to be the perfect solution. The audio capture is awesome and set up was very easy. I also like the quality of the construction. This bad boy is substantial and will help me fight off any intruders.

Of course my smart alec business partner asked if I bought the mic to "compensate" for something. He is just jealous because I have the one mic to rule them all.

I would buy this mic again.

I wanted a mic to do voice-over work on some of the videos I record with my HD camcorder. I have a home recording studio, but I keep that system separate from my video editing system. So with than in mind I did some research, and came up with this item as sounding right up my alley for my needs. Right on the money. It's a little thin sounding, but for the most part it sits in the mix perfectly, and for voice-over work it resonates perfectly so far with the material I've been recording. I would highly recommend this little beauty, especially at the price point it's at. Setup is incredibly simple. It's plug and play, and good to go right after the system recognizes it. Simply choose it as the source for recording from Windows mixer. I'd highly recommend plugging in some headphones, which the mic has a jack for right underneath it. This allows you to avoid dreaded feedback. I've messed around with the various recording patterns, and have found them all to sound pretty good. For voice over though I stick with the front/back pattern. It seems to deliver the fullest range of sound for this type of work.

Highly recommend!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R371M7404QNPKH This is a video I created as soon as this little well not so little puppy landed on my door step.

Blue's Yeti is sooo worth getting if you want to jump up to a higher quality microphone. Come on, it's under $150!

Without Yeti, you'd have to get some kind of high-quality sound interface for your computer (USB or whatever other method you could find... $100) and then you'd have to find a high-quality microphone and cable (at least another $100). Yeti takes care of all that because he already has the USB interface (even includes a USB cable) and it seems to me that the 4-setting pickup pattern can't be found on that many mics.

Highlights:

-He's BIG! I'm talking massive. Yeti stands as tall as your laptop and is as big around as your arm.

-Yeti has no trouble when I've used it with a long (15 foot I think) USB cable.

-The mini-plug headphone adapter on Yeti is better than your sound card (you can play music that you already have on your computer, listen to it through Yeti, and it sounds better).

-When used with Skype Video Chat, there's no lag between audio and video (I thought there would be, but it works!)

That's all I have for now!
Peace and happy recording!

I recently purchased this mic and I am amazed at the quality sound! This is my first USB powered mic and my first Blue mic. As most reviews state this is a big unit,well built,and quite strikeing in appearance! I am very pleased with the ease of set-up and use. If you are looking for a great mic that does it all on USB power you cant go wrong with this Yeti Blue Mic!!!

Most people research purchases like these quite a bit so they're probably familiar with the Blue product line. Blue gives their mics a nostalgic look. The result is the Yeti look like one of those old classic radio mics of yesteryear. It also means the mic is absolutely as huge as it is nice looking.

The mic also is solidly built and heavy except for the knobs which are a little loose and plastic. Though I don't find the knobs as cheap and objectionable as other reviews I've read. I have modest needs and have no interest in mounting the mike with anything but the supplied mount. However, the nostalgic look means the provided base is screwed in on the sides. The mount is on the bottom so using this option will leave 2 unattractive holes showing.

I paid a premium for this mic mainly for the gain and selectable modes (e.g., stereo, directional, etc.) because of an experience I had with a cheap mic this replaces that was too soft. However, I don't see the gain as being all that important though I've found the volume of the mic to be fine.

I don't have a lot of experience with mics in this price range so I can't say if the Yeti sounds significantly better or worse. I can say the Yeti sounds better than a cheap Logitech mic it replaces. Gone is a minor background hum and soft volume. Still, it surprised me that the Yeti - about 4 times the cost - doesn't blow my socks off in comparison taking tonal differences into effect. That's not me saying the Yeti doesn't sound fine. I'm just wondering if I could have bought a quality mic in the $90-100 range versus the roughly $120 I paid for the Yeti.

I'd like to add I bought this mic through Streamline Audio Video. They listed the mic as in stock but after placing the order the estimated ship date was like a week off. After 2 complaints to Amazon it shipped.

The latest addition to my desktop is the most flexible recording device I've yet found: The Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone. Long known for their line of high-end condenser microphones, Blue is increasingly known for their computer-ready USB microphones, like the Snowflake and the Snowball, and the Yeti is their latest and certainly greatest computer-ready microphone yet.


Advertised as the first fully THX-compliant (a standard devised by Lucasfilms) microphone, the Yeti is a large (12" tall on its removable stand), hefty, multi-pattern microphone suitable for recording, podcasting, or any other computer-related audio activity. It features four switchable patterns- omni, carodid, figure eight, and stereo- a built in headphone amplifier, gain control, headpohone volume, and a mute button. For even more flexibility you can remove it from its desk stand and mount it on a standard 5/8"microphone stand or boom.


And it sounds great, too- even better than their well-regarded Snowball series. I've been using it for recording music practice, building tracks with Audacity on my Windows and linux boxes, and with Apple's GarageBand, and making calls with Skype. The ability to record in full stereo or mono is a real plus. Up to now I've been using a variety of microphones together with various microphone preamps and an A/D converters- a mass of cables and power supplies that bad enough on the desk, but a real hassle when trying to use with a laptop away from home. The Yeti has it all in one package. It may not sound quite as good as a multi-thousand dollar condenser microphone and vacuum tube preamp, but for the money it simply can't be beat.

This is my 2nd Blue product. My first was a snowflake for Skype use. I had a couple of minor issues with the snowflake but Blue stepped up and took care of it right away - the replacement has been flawless and made me quite loyal to Blue Mics.

I have been drooling for the yeti since early November when I saw a quick review on geekbrief. I purchased from Amazon a few weeks ago and it has been in use for about a week.

Its a solid piece of equipment and as others have said...its HUGE. I am currently using it at work as my Skype mic and it is behaving as expected. I am running windows 7 ultimate and it installed effortlessly.

Once installed, I began testing the four different modes and gain settings with a free but feature-rich piece of recording software. I spent a few hours at various distances from the mic; various gain settings in each of the four modes. I can say the yeti works as described. There are subtle differences/nuances to each of the modes and gain settings. I plugged in my headphones to REALLY be able to hears the pluses and minuses of each mode setting.

I should also say I am not a musician but purchased it for my extremely heavy Skype use (business and personal) and I am planning to make a foray into podcasting at some point in 2010.

Perhaps I bought into all the hype? I am not sure and perhaps I had extremely high expectations. The mic is very very good - but i was expecting it to be incredible.

My snowflake sounds really good and I was expecting the yeti to just blow it out of the water - don't get me wrong, the yeti is a better mic - no doubt about it - just not to the degree I was expecting. I have relegated the snowflake as my Skype mic at home and the yeti stays at the office.

I am looking forward to using it more and will update my experiences as necessary.

You just cant go wrong with Blue!

So purchasing this mic after reading some fairly extensive owner reviews, I still could not imagine how large this it really is. It's big, people. It is a very similar size and weight to the mics I've used in recording studios. It is heavy and solid and I feel like I really got my money's worth. The base is very sturdy. As another reviewer wrote, the only downside is the plastic used for the attenuators. Strange that they didn't just go with metal all around.

I did as the packaging recommended and played around with the pick-up patterns while recording to really grasp the differences in each. Valuable tool. Each pattern works as promised.

I find the quality to be warm and mellow and exactly what I need for a vocal track, a voice-over or an audio blog. I haven't recorded any instruments with it but I can imagine that I'd get a clean sound but may need some decent eq to achieve something really bright.

I am happy with this purchase and would buy another if needed. It was plug and play and was so easy to set up that I believe my mother could even have done it if she really had to - - and that says a lot.

I haven't had the mic for more than a week but will post if I find that it doesn't have longevity. Happy music-making.

I initially ordered the Samson G-Track. When that unit was defective I found out about the new Blue Yeti and ordered it as a replacement. Whereas the G-Track had a lot of background hiss (when I could get it to work) the Yeti has virtually none. It performs very well and is heavy and well-built. The sound is great for a USB mic.

Downsides: this may be the fault of Apple software, not the mic, but one annoying thing I found is that I had to unplug and replug in the microphone into the USB jack to get GarageBand to detect it. If it was plugged in to the USB jack before GarageBand was started GarageBand wouldn't detect it. So not sure what's going on there.

The no-latency headphone output is a big plus on this mic and was one deciding factor to go with this mic when used for vocal recordings. The built-in jack also allows you to reroute the monitor channel to the headphone jack, so you can choose no-latency, or have after-effects routed to the headphone jack. That is cool.

Overall, HIGHLY recommended!!