Bigfoot may get the majority of the media’s attention, especially after his stint on The Six Million Dollar Man. But the real star in the half-man/half-bear/monkey/gorilla arena is the Yeti. While Bigfoot is out stomping his footprint into mud, the Blue Microphone Yeti is doing a bang-up job recording your podcasts, band practices, and events. Pretty good for a mythical creature--er, an affordably priced USB mic.
Blue is known for its line of microphones for nerds, but the Yeti mic takes the company’s dedication to computer-connected mics to the next level. It includes on-mic controls for selectable audio-recording patterns (stereo, cardioid, omnidirectional, and bidirectional), the ability to adjust the gain, a volume control for connected headphones, and a light-up mute button for when you’re sneezing--or saying things your mom wouldn’t approve of.
The mic itself is a solid piece of hardware. Its heft keeps it planted on your desk without worry of knocking it over during spirited recording sessions. If Edward R. Murrow needed a USB mic, this is what he would have on his desk. For you singers out there, the base can be removed and the Yeti can be attached to a standard microphone stand.
But let’s not forget that all the whiz-bang features in the world don’t matter if the mic can’t deliver the audio goods. And the Yeti does just that. Our audio recordings sounded crisp and clean. The stereo recording setting was especially impressive. Audio panned smoothly as the sound source moved around the room. When recording in cardioid mode (intended to cut down on background “air” in your recordings) we had to lean in close to the mic. It’s okay for singing, but it can get tiresome for longer sessions like podcasting. Overall the audio recording was stellar--and we didn’t even need to download drivers. We just plugged it into GarageBand and were ready to go.
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If you need to capture quality live recordings on your Mac, the Yeti will definitely deliver--and you get to look like an old-timey newscaster.
Yeti
COMPANY: Blue Microphones
CONTACT: www.bluemic.com
PRICE: $149.95
REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS 10.4.11 or later, USB 1.1 or later.
Hard controls on mic. Excellent audio recording quality.
Controls on back of mic are awkward. Cardoid mode can sound thin.
