Review Of Blue Yeti and Blue Yeti Pro - The Ultimate Pro USB Microphones At a Great Price - Look here For A Voice Sample

Contextual Situation

Up until now, my trusty Shure SM58-LC Cardioid Vocal Microphone without Cable, a dynamic cardioid microphone has worked well for my Home Recording needs. My need was for finer sound capture like a professional singer/voice over artiste, through a wider frequency range microphone.  I also needed the digital sound  to come directly from the microphone and not be converted from analog on the computer.

I had choices : a professional microphone or an external audio interface that would send in digital signals directly with a high quality output. However, good quality audio interfaces can cost quite a bit and my budget was limited.

Enter Blue Yeti and Blue Yeti Pro

Blue Microphones Inc have come up with two high quality multipattern Condenser microphones called Blue Yeti USB and Blue Yeti Pro Multipattern Condenser Microphone that make you love your voice, and your musical instrument sound unlike many other conventional microphones out there in this price range.

At the time of writing this article, I had purchased the THX Certified Yeti USB microphone from Amazon for about $25 less than most other outlets that sell it around $149.99 - I got it for $124.41 a little while ago BUT current prices are even lower around $100. You can get the Blue Yeti USB Microphone from here.

I am absolutely thrilled with the quality of the Blue Yeti USB Microphone compared to all the previous ones I have had. My review of the Blue Yeti microphone below is based on my experience with it in addition to how the Blue Yeti USB compares with the newest entrant, the Blue Yeti Pro Multipattern Condenser Microphone.

I have been using the Blue Yeti Microphone since early 2010 and I have to say this is probably the best microphone I have ever had. Read on below for why.
Christened "Yeti" in keeping with Blue Microphones' love for odd sounding yet catchy names - this microphone stands for its name - it is indeed hard to find a microphone that has the same quality and options at this price point as Yeti for your home recording needs.

You will be impressed with the Three 14mm Condenser Capsules' wide band frequency response range between of 20 Hertz to 22 KiloHertz thus picking up the lowest bass sounds, excellent mid-range capture and the highest trebles in your raw recordings.  The sampling rate of the Blue Yeti USB microphone is 48 Kilohertz with 16 bit word depth. And its high threshold for Max Sound Pressure Level (Max SPL) at 120 decibels to take in serious loudness of the sound source, be it your own voice or amped Guitars.  Few microphones available in the market in this price range provide you with these unique combinations of technical qualifications to be best-in-class.  But there is even more to consider.

Buy Blue Yeti USB Microphone

Picture Credit: Blue Microphones

Buy Blue Yeti Pro Multipattern Condenser Microphone

Picture Credit: Blue Microphones Inc.

Blue Yeti USB and Yeti Pro Microphone Features

The Blue Yeti USB and the Blue Yeti Pro Multipattern Condenser Microphone features three condenser capsules allowing for Stereo recordings in addition to a choice of recording patterns such as Cardioid, Bidirectional, and Omnidirectional.

The triple capsule array is an array of three condensers in one microphone assembly that is employed in combination with one of 4 recording patterns provided conveniently through a knob selector switch.

Typically each one of these patterns alone require you to buy individual microphones each at around a minimum of $75 (base quality) - so the Yeti USB is a great combo microphone that will be handy in many situations with the sound quality assurance of a THX certification.

The THX certification for Blue Yeti USB mic represents an endorsement for the low distortion, high fidelity and balanced frequency response of this product. The Blue Yeti Pro Multipattern Condenser Microphone is not yet THX certified although given that it is built on top of the Yeti USB and has even stronger features, I doubt the lack of the certification as yet, matters.

Zero Latency

The microphone also gets rid of one of the biggest annoyances of any USB and XLR microphones and that is the latency between when the sound is produced and when it is rendered on your headset. Blue Yeti USB Microphone and Blue Yeti Pro Condenser Microphone provide zero-latency output to the headphone! 

Direct Digital Sound Input

Both the Blue Yeti USB and Blue Yeti Pro microphones use the power source coming out of USB channel and sends digital sound directly to your computer freeing the analog to digital conversion job from the computer which already is doing a lot while processing your music through your favorite sound recording software.

Additionally, the Blue Yeti Pro Multipattern Condenser Microphone offers an advanced analog to digital converter that provides sampling at a whopping 192 Kilohertz with 24 bit word depth while providing both the options of USB connectivity direct to your computer and XLR connectivity to standard sound recording equipment like analog mixers or audio interfaces. That is four times the clarity of sound coming from CDs.  

The Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone captures sounds at a sample rate of 48 kilohertz using a word bit depth rate of 16 bits which is sufficient for standard quality sound recording.

Standard Mic Stand Compatible

You can use both the microphones with a mic stand through a standard thread mount - the desk stand provided with the microphone is removable.

Mute Button
The microphones have a mute button for instantaneous cut out of sound.

Mic Gain Control Knob

They also have a knob for controlling the mic's sensitivity to sound source called "mic gain control" that allows you to control how sensitive the mic will be in relation to the source's decibel level. This allows for distortion control by reducing the gain - always start with the middle point and then go lower or higher based on what you need.

Four Microphones in One

There are four recording pattern choices that you can choose from for both the Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone and Blue Yeti Pro Multipattern Condenser microphones :

The Stereo mode allows for recording right and left channels and integrates two of the three condensers from the triple array to produce a stereophonic signal. This is very handy when you would want to record either centered sounds or sounds from left or right channels. For instance, some instruments could be playing to the left side of your mic and some to the right while vocals could be right in front of the mic allowing for the recording to produce a more surrounded feel to the performance.

The Cardioid mode helps you record in a unidirectional pattern such that only the frontal sound source close to the mic is sensed by one of the condensers in the triple array. The cardioid mode cancels sounds that emanate from the left, right, and rear side of the microphone. Also, typically the closer the sound source the higher the proximity effect producing a bass boost. This is ideal for recording podcasts, or vocals in a home music recording session.

The Omnidirectional mode is the exact opposite and employes all three of the triple capsule array recording sounds all around the mic - ideal for situations such as recording an orchestra or picking up sounds from a drama on a stage or any other live recording setup.

The Bidirectional mode uses the front and the back of the microphone as sound sources. This is most typical of studio microphones aka figure-8 microphones or ribbon microphones. The Yeti uses similar top and bottom portions of the microphone unit for this purpose when set to Bidirectional mode. This is ideal for duet song recording or for recording interviews. In my view, this mode captures close enough sounds near the microphone superbly and the sound quality is awesome. The Cardioid mode, in my view, is well suited for rooms where there is other background sound that needs to be eliminated.

The microphone works plug and play with Windows and Mac :-)

The Yeti USB and Yeti Pro microphones are the ideal high quality investment at a low price for your home recording needs and will help fulfill that dream of producing your own single or album records that you could potentially go on to even sell on iTunes of Amazon.com - this is a great opportunity for you to  finally achieve. 

Blue Yeti and Blue Yeti Pro Shockmount
Blue Microphones Inc. has come up with a dedicated Shockmount for Blue Yeti line called the Blue Radius. This shockmount is brand new addition since March 2011 and a perfect fit that allows you to get a professional studio level experience. Be sure to buy the Blue Radius along with your Yeti purchase.

Blue Radius Shockmount For Blue Yeti USB and Pro

Note that the Blue Ringer Shockmount is designed for their spherical line of mics such as the Blue Snowball and not for the Yeti.


Are you facing the Microphones correctly?

BTW, I have seen posts where the mic's top portion is facing the person's mouth instead of being upright as in pro recording microphones. This microphone is intended to be used facing up and not towards your sound source. The Cardioid mode particularly is located on one of the sides of the mic ( you can test this out with a headset and speaking around the mic's top sides). Knowing where the condensers are located will help you get the best out of this mic.

In summary, this is a very hi-tech high quality USB microphone to purchase for your sound recording needs and produces awesome quality recordings at a very good price point.

So Why Should You Buy Yeti ?

Blue Yeti USB and Blue Yeti Pro Microphone stand out for many reasons.
Besides the 4 polar patterns affording you multi pattern recording capabilties in a single microphone, Yeti has the most important of all requirements for a pro quality condenser microphone - 

My Home Setup : Blue Yeti USB, Pop Filter, Radius Shockmount

• The Blue Pop Filter does fit the Blue Yeti stand unlike earlier reports - See photo alongsidefrom Blue Microphones themselves.
• Zero Self-noise - the mic has almost no sound of its own coming in the way of recordings. 
• Strong mid-range capture - The single most important aspect you want in a good mic for vocal and instrumental frequencies is a good mid range support. Many expensive microphones do not have it.  With the Yeti, you can be certain to be able to record bass, sharp and fully rounded mid range voices - making it perfect for vocals (both speech as in podcasts and singing), and for instrumental recordings. 
• High Quality Shockmount Blue Radius makes it great overall Studio quality investment
• $85 - $100 price range for Yeti USB - its a real steal at this price given all the features and its versatility and quality.  
• $200 - $235 price range for Blue Yeti Pro offers you incomparable sampling rate of 192 Khz and 24 bit word depth with flexibility of USB and XLR based sound capture - that's 4 times the clarity found on CDs - No other mic in the world offers you that at that price point so it is a great professional sound investment. 

Resources 

• Here's my blog entry on a recommended microphone stand for Blue Yeti USB microphone.
• Blue Yeti USB Voice Sample : If you are looking for a voice sample using the superb Yeti USB microphone, here's a Tamil Film song I recorded in my voice playing supporting keyboards : (Cardioid Mode with Mic Gain set close to 60% i.e. left of middle, with Yeti on a mic stand, about 8 inches away from my mouth and mic facing up )

• For comparison with the lower priced Blue Snowball USB Microphone, check out my review here.