Finally, a USB mic that’s not only easy to use, but sounds as good on your desktop as it does in a professional recording studio. Meet the Snowball,™ the world’s first professional USB mic.
Whether you’re recording a guitar at your kitchen table or a complete band in the studio, the Snowball can capture it with detail unheard of before in a USB mic.
The Snowball is a direct plug n’ play mic that connects to either a Mac or PC – no additional software is needed. With its dual capsule design and unique three-pattern switch (cardioid, cardioid with -10dB pad and omni), the Snowball can handle everything from soft vocals to the loudest garage band — and it’s ideal for podcasting. Check it out and you’ll see why it’s the coolest mic in town.
Podcasting Perfected and More Wow. What is that thing? Simply put, the Snowball is Blue Microphones’ revolutionary new USB microphone—the first studioquality USB mic on this (or any other) planet. It’s never been easier to get live audio into your Macintosh or Windows desktop or laptop. Just plug it in, adjust your input level and you’re up and running!
Ok. But what’s so great about it? Aside from its simple direct interface, the Snowball is simply the best-sounding USB mic on the market, and with two pickup patterns and a separate setting for really loud sounds, it’s versatile enough to cover a wide range of recording and real-time applications, from high quality podcasting and telephony to vocal and instrument recording in both home and professional studios. Whether you’re recording a podcast, a guitar at your kitchen table or the whole band in the studio, the Snowball can capture it with detail unheard of in a USB mic.
iPod, therefore iPodcast. Of course you want to do your own podcast! Enter the Snowball–the perfect solution for professional-sounding results in an affordable, easy-to-use package. Ideal for any application where you need to get high-quality audio into your computer, the Snowball unites the heritage of vintage classic microphones costing thousands of dollars with cutting edge technology and an ease of use never imagined! Engineered to be heads and ears above built-ins and computer store mics, the Snowball can handle everything from vocals to sound effects and, of course, just about any musical instrument!
Yep, it’s included. The Snowball includes a shielded USB cable and a spiffy desktop mic stand. You also get an easy-to-understand manual with loads of recording tips, so you can literally set-up your Snowball and be recording in just a matter of minutes. Plus, a variety of software recording applications are compatible with the Snowball,* including Apple’s new GarageBand 3. Give it a listen — you won’t believe your ears.
The world’s first professional studio-quality USB mic, from Blue.
Features & Functionality
- What exactly is this Snowball all about? The Snowball is a revolutionary microphone. Leave it to Blue to reinvent the wheel again with this microphone. With USB connectivity, it has never been easier to get live audio into your Macintosh or Windows desktop or laptop. Just plug it in, adjust your input level and you’re up and running.
- Is The Snowball a dynamic microphone like the Blue Ball, or a condenser like the Blue 8Ball or Kiwi? The Snowball is a condenser, which, according to the audio wonks we know, has a smooth open sound with a nice, natural high-end.
- I’ve heard that condenser microphones require something called phantom power. Do I need to concern myself with this? Does The Snowball need batteries? No. The Snowball derives its operating voltage from something called bus voltage, which is always present on your USB port. As long as the red LED is glowing, you know you’ve got power. The Snowball does not require batteries.
- Do I need any special software to use The Snowball? Do I need any drivers? Technically, no. Depending on your application, your OS may have sufficient features to utilize the capabilities of The Snowball. But, to get the most out of your Snowball, you’ll want to have some kind of software that allows for digital signal processing and non-linear editing that will accept audio from the USB port. Some examples of these programs are listed below. As long as you are using Windows XP or Apple OSX, you will not need any drivers.
- Can I use The Snowball with a traditional analog audio mixer? No. The Snowball features digital output only. It must be connected to a USB port in order to function.
- What sample rate and word length does The Snowball use? The Snowball’s digital output is set to 44.1 kHz / 16-bit, just like an audio CD. But this is something that only audio geeks really need to worry about.
- How can I select a different sample rate? Because The Snowball is designed for the greatest ease of operation and setup, sample rate / word length are not user-definable.
- Can I use more than one snowball at a time? Some audio editing software allows for multiple USB connections. Check with your software vendor – they should have technical support staff who can answer all of your questions about their product.
- What does cardioid and omnidirectional mean? Why should I care? These are the two polar patterns The Snowball is capable of producing. If you think of polar patterns as the shape of the area that a microphone hears, omnidirectional hears everything at equal volume from all angles (in a 360o sphere surrounding the mic), while cardioid only hears what’s right in front of it at full volume and other sounds at increasingly diminished volume as the sound source moves further away from the center of the mic (audio techs call this off-axis). You should care because one of the most useful features of a microphone is the ability to control its pickup. We like polar patterns so much, that some of our professional studio microphones have as many as nine different patterns! With The Snowball, we’ve given you the two most likely to be useful to you.
- What is The Snowball used for? Is it a vocal mic, an instrument mic or both? The Snowball was designed to provide a wide range of applications where a high-quality transducer (a fancy way to say microphone) is needed, but so is ease of use and setup. Though most professional engineers prefer certain microphones for certain applications, we designed The Snowball for use with a wide variety of sources. Here are some suggested applications we came up with when we were locked in Blue’s patented anechoic think tank: instrument and voice for music production / pre-production / demos, DV-looping / dialog, podcasting, sound effects, audio sampling, interactive programming, video sweetening / post, internet telephony, internet conferencing, recording lectures, poetry slams, spoken word performances and speeches by your favorite politician – generally anywhere where you need an easy-to-use microphone and you have access to a computer with a USB por
Great Mic For Voiceovers
I bought this microphone primarily for chatting during online games, because I have a really soft speaking voice and the cheaper microphones were not picking my voice up very well. It is undoubtedly overkill for my needs, but it looks & works great and I got it for a good price. (I knew I wanted this, but the list price was too steep and I had to wait a long time for the price to drop to a point that was acceptable to me).Even having watched a video review of it that showed the size, it is really much bigger than I expected. Heavy too. It feels solid and well-constructed and has a professional feel to it.
The microphone is plug and play, and installed in Windows 7 without problems. There is a very “Apple-like” manual that comes with it, i.e. the manual is simple, well designed and to the point. In keeping with that design-philosophy, the settings on the microphone are very simple too (“1-unidirectional”, “2-unidirectional for loud sources” or “3-omnidirectional”).
It came with a really nice quality stand, and I have positioned it about 2 feet away from my head, pointing at my forehead. I do not talk directly into it (it is to the side of my monitor), and it still picks up my voice really well (using setting “1″ – unidirectional).
My 6 year old loves it too, I think because it *looks* like a microphone, and because he loves the sound of his own voice
For More 5 Star Reviews and The Lowest Price Visit: Blue Microphones Snowball USB Mic Bundle
