reviewed by Robert Pritchett

The Snowball Mic, retro-looking though it be, is a condenser mic originally made in Latvia, but my box says this Snowball was made in China. It uses power from an “unpowered” USB port, so batteries are not needed. When it is plugged in, the red LED located above the metal-mesh screen and “Blue” logo is on.

If you look at the chart here, you will see that the output for this mic is optimized for use at 44.1 kHz.

So what’s with the Cardiod option? Does that mean the mic has a heart? No, it means it hears right in front of it instead of picking up sound from everywhere else. There are two cardiod “settings” (1 and 2 on the slide switch). The first is intended for “robust vocal” sound with the second using a filter of -10dB to handle loud noises and offering an “open, airy” sound. Think of these as “voice” positions.

The omnidirectional option (“setting” 3) could be considered the “instrumental” position, since it does the 360-degree grab-surround-sound thing by combining both the “capsules” (two internal mics) into one function.

Because this is a USB mic, there is a latency period that needs to be taken into account when recording. Me, I didn’t notice.

The mic looks and weighs (maybe a bit more) about the size of a softball (not a baseball). The interior construction is excellent. There is a big flat metal plate (brass?) attached to a wire that sits behind the two mics that gives the Snowball that heavy solid feel. It does have an electric wire soldered to it. The grids, front and back, are metal, while the case is ABS plastic. In other words, the Snowball is well-constructed and was built to last. The swivel base rotates forward and back about 45 degrees and has a screw-base that is standards-compliant for mic stands.

The solid, well-built chromed tripod (not iPod) stand looks like something that George Jetson (The Jetsons) would enjoy with its Blue-logo rounded “please caress me” palm-sized base. The 3 legs fold up and the stem can telescope up another 2 inches. It weighs about as much as the mic.

From the Snowball website:

Software Setups

How to get audio from my Snowball with…

Garage Band

1.     Go to Preferences > Audio and select the Blue mic as the input device (it will only show up when The Snowball is plugged in).

2.     Create a vocal track and select the Blue mic as the input device for that track.

3.     You may need to adjust the Snowball’s input level in the control panel if you experience any distortion (crackling).


Logic 7

1.     Open the Audio and MIDI setup program in your Apps > Utilities folder.

2.     Create an Aggregate Audio Source (Audio menu - open Aggregate device editor).

3.     Add the devices you want to use to the aggregate device (Built in audio and Blue mic).

4.     Change the audio device in Logic's audio preferences from Default to Aggregate.


Sonar

1.     Select “USB Audio Device” (1, in, 0 out) from an audio track.

2.     From within that subcategory, there are 3 selections: Left USB Audio Device, Right USB Audio Device, and Stereo USB Audio Device.

3.     Select Left or Right for mono audio tracks.

4.     Press "R" to arm the track for recording.

5.     Roll disk.


Hardware Platforms


Macintosh Setup Procedure

1.     Open Apple menu > SYSTEM PREFERENCES. 


2.     Double-click SOUND preference file.

3.     Click INPUT tab.

4.     Double-click BLUE USB BALL MIC under CHOOSE A DEVICE FOR SOUND INPUT dialog box.

5.     Set input volume to the appropriate level. 
6. Exit SYSTEM PREFERENCES.

Windows Setup Procedure

1.     Under START MENU open SOUNDS AND AUDIO DEVICES control panel.

2.     Select AUDIO tab; insure BLUE BALL USB MIC is selected as DEFAULT DEVICE.

3.     Click on VOLUME; select appropriate volume level.

4.     Exit control panel.

To test this device, I had to load iLife, update Garageband and run it through its paces. I discovered that for voice, setting 1 is optimal. Settings 2 and 3 make the volume less and voice softer. I also was able to prove to myself that this is not a mic for use with iListen, because of the volume control issue. I have a soft-spoken voice, so I had to crank up the volume in Preferences and on the desktop. With iListen, I could never get it to show “green” as iListen monitored the mic for compatibility.

This is most definitely a studio mic and no doubt works best as a unit designed for podcasting, radio or a sound studio. It is being advertised as a “perfect for Podcasting” mic as a professional mic. And we tried it on the Mac ReviewCast over Skype. Not as clear as using the old AVID headset. It tended to sound a bit muffled. So the “Ideal for Podcasting” moniker really means if you are in a studio environment, sitting around a table or have the Snowball between 1 and 5 inches from your mouth, it would work fine.

For the studio environment the “Ringer” accessory might be better than the heavy-duty foldable tripod”. It costs round $50.

“All of our shockmounts and pop filters are composed of solid brass and individually hand-built and soldered. Crafted with the same attention to detail that goes into all of our mics, these accessories will last a lifetime.

Designed for our complete line of spherical microphones, The Ringer is a vintage-style suspension mount designed to isolate the microphone body from low-frequency energy when mounted on a mic stand. The Ringer also accommodates virtually any microphone with a standard thread mount.”

“Low frequency” would be things like rumbling, or bumping the desk and other “background” noise that may creep into the recording.

To get this device, you have to go to retailers who specialize in audio equipment. The website provides a link to local dealers, worldwide and des nt offer online shopping from the bluemic.com website at this time.

You really ought to go check out the Blue University posted above. Learn about the science of sound.

The Snowball would be a perfect mic for “talking heads” environments. And it works great with Garageband.