Technical Specification

Buy it for life, zero regrets

Comment

matt

January 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

I bought this in June of 2015, and still use it every day. For simplicity sake, I'm going to break down this review into 4 parts. The look, the setup, the physical quality, and the audio quality.

The look:
I bought the white version of this, only because at the time it was the cheapest option available. 65$, the same price it is now. The ball itself is a thick plastic with a rough finish. The finish means that it basically doesn't reflect any light as a mirror would, so its not very shiny. The grill covering the internals is made of metal and is probably the exact same as you would find on any other studio/stage microphone. The base is also made out of some kind of metal, possibly hollow but it has some weight to it, so I doubt it. There is a sticker banded around the vertical axis of the ball that says 'THE SNOWBALL' repeatedly. If you wanted to, you could probably peel it off. The base also has the blue 'Blue' logo. There is a indicator light above the grill that turns red when it is plugged in. There is another Blue logo cover that goes over the grill, which you could remove if you really wanted to. The back has sections of it taken out for surround pickup, as well as the switch for different microphone setups. The cable is a near transparent plastic cable, which is neat since it lets you see the internal wires.

The setup:
The setup should only take you about 3 minutes after you open the box. You screw the microphone onto the stand (or attach it to another mount if you have one), plug one end of the cable into the microphone, and the other end into your PC. The light will turn on, meaning it is working. There is no manual downloads for it, which is great if you are the kind of person who switches between multiple computers.

Physical quality:
From the bottom up, the legs have small rubber balls at the end. If you pull at them very hard they will come off, but unless it was intentional it should never come off. The rubber on them is very good at keeping the microphone in place, and the width of the stand when you fully open it means that it should be difficult to tip it over accidentally. The rest of the stand is made out of metal with a reflective finish. The microphone is made out of a rough, white painted plastic. I found it impossible to scratch the paint off with anything less than a knife edge, so I would assume its dyed, not painted. The grill is made out of metal, and bends slightly if you put a lot of pressure on it. The cable is a very strong plastic coating, that has taken no damage from being coiled repeatedly and bent over the years.

Audio Quality:
Lets face it, its a 65$ microphone. Is it a lot better than your phone or your computer/webcams internal microphone? Absolutely. Is it better than a studio quality microphone that can go for a thousand dollars? No. If you're looking for a step up from your computers internal microphone, or the one built into your headphones/earbuds, then this is absolutely worth it. If you want to record music for YouTube, then maybe look into something with more range. I have talked into this thing For almost 3 years, and I have never once had someone complain about the quality. I have recorded YouTube videos, audio for class projects, Skype calls, Discord, in game voice chat and everything in between with not a single issue.

--
TL:DR
The Blue Snowball is a perfect microphone for its price. If you are looking for something for daily use, this is it. It will last you forever and is on my list of top Buy It For Life technology out there.

5 people found this helpful

The quality of sound is great.

Comment

Alex

November 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

The quality of sound is great. As a teacher, I have been working on "flipping" my classroom by making instructional videos. Some of my students had complained that the quality of sound on my videos was low because I was just using the built-in mic on my laptop. I debated on whether getting a USB headset or the Blue Snowball. The microphone worked just as described, no drivers to install or special software. We decided to test it right out of the box and I am glad I made this choice.

14 people found this helpful

great for recording, not my favorite for singing

Comment

elliot :-)

July 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

I am still working on figuring this microphone out, but for the most part it is a pretty good quality microphone. The fact it connects to my computer and laptop (by the way if you are a chromebook user, it will work!) is a plus! One of the bigger flaws however is the design. The largeness of the head of the microphone causes a bit of a balance issue when this mic is on anything other than a flat, smooth surface (such as a desk) and it has a tendency to fall over easily if it isn't. I ordered this mic with the microphone pop filter and shock mount, which may be contributing to the balance problem as well.

I purchased with mic to sing, and I prefer singing while playing piano at the same time. However, I will need to record my vocals and piano separate most of the time because the mic can't really pick up both that well. It is also really awkward to sing into because I am playing piano as well. It would have been better if I purchased a microphone stand, or a microphone specific for vocals, because then it could sort of float above my piano rather than rest on it.

If you're looking for a microphone for recording audio (such as gaming, DIY videos, tutorials, voice-overs, ASMR, etc) this is an excellent mic, especially for the price!

2 people found this helpful

But for a birthday gift. They loved the microphone or podcast idea. They are super excited.

Comment

Customer images

See all customer images

Most recent customer reviews

Amanda

Great Gift idea!!

Published 18 days ago

Love AmazonPrime

Love Snowball! My new go to mic!

My new go-to mic

Published 21 days ago

Random User

Bad customer service

Blue's customer support is a joke. I had a hard-drive failure and was forced to reinstall windows and, ever since then I've had a problem with my snowball not being detected on...Read more

great product and great price

Keith Borom

Five Stars

Easy to use, records well with laptop

Diana

Four Stars

Gift for my husband, he loves it

D. Rivers

Five Stars

This is an AWESOME microphone! A colleague of mine had one that ...

Alison S. Spurlock

This is an AWESOME microphone! A colleague of mine had one that he bought 5 or so years ago and he said he paid $250. He is an instructional designer.Read more

Really good!! Great performance and product quality.

Mohan

Really Good.

It uses a normal printer cord and it worked perfect

zachary

The cord it came with was faulty. It uses a normal printer cord and it worked perfect