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A reliable microphone is a crucial part of a home studio, so invest your money in a product that will bring you favorable returns. The challenge is finding the right product that meets your needs and provides a positive return on investment. Several companies produce superior quality microchips, each of which has its advantages. Is the blue brand of microphones worth buying? How do you choose the ones that are right for you?
To begin with, reviews like this are helpful. You can also look at the company that makes the products since every company carries a particular reputation based on its products.
Features
Polar Patterns
Polar patterns can be changed on the Yeti, making it one of its distinguishing features. With Blue’s proprietary tri-capsule microphone array, you can choose between four polar patterns to customize how the Yeti picks up sound.
Cardioid, Omnidirectional, Bidirectional, and Stereo are the four types:
Cardioid Mode
Most people will use cardioid mode. You could use it for podcasting, gaming, streaming, webinars, or calls – and it focuses the pickup pattern to the front of the microphone.
Omnidirectional Mode
The omnidirectional mode picks up sound equally from all directions. In situations where sound quality is still acceptable, but you need to record multiple people, this method will appear more distant.
Bidirectional
In interviews, bidirectional microphones are ideal, but using one microphone may not be the right choice. This 2+ person interview kit is a convenient option if you’re regularly conducting in-person interviews.
Stereo
The stereo mode can be helpful when you need a clear separation between left and proper channels and when recording instruments, although cardioid is usually the best option.
Other Features (Is the blue brand of microphones worth buying?)
Headphone jack and volume control
- Make sure the USB mic you choose has a headphone jack.
- As a result, you can monitor your recording or streaming without any delays.
- There is a volume knob on the front of the Blue Yeti, which is a thoughtful touch.
Gain control
- A microphone’s gain determines its sensitivity. The device’s back has a dial that controls this.
- Most USB microphones must adjust gain levels with software, which can be challenging during recording.
- It’s helpful to turn the gain down when people start getting loud quickly so the mic doesn’t overload. Later, you can’t fix it with software.
- Other USB mics lack the mute button, which is another helpful feature.
- You can also see the position at a glance via the red LED, which flashes when it’s muted.
USB Plug-n-play
The Blue brand does not require any software or drivers. Start recording as soon as you plug the included cable into a USB port and select it in your audio settings. Blue recently released software lets you update and adjusted settings (see Blue Sherpa below), but it is optional.
Stand
The Blue brand comes with a stylish and sturdy stand. Rather than getting a stand, I would recommend getting a boom arm or mic stand instead since you should only be speaking from a few inches away.
Size & weight
Yeti microphones are heavy, so it’s wise to keep that in mind. Due to this, any stand won’t work. When you add a shock mount, it’s no joke!
Blue Sherpa Software
This free desktop software lets you update any of their USB mics, control settings such as gain and pickup patterns, and more. In addition to updating firmware, controlling gain, monitoring volume, headphone volume, and muting, I was able to do the following:
Final Thoughts
Is the blue brand of microphones worth buying? In my experience, even though the Blue brand is popular with beginners (it was the first external microphone I bought), it performs much better in the hands of someone with more audio recording experience. It’s common for people to speak into the wrong part of the microphone, so Blue offers this graphic to explain how to use it correctly.
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