Yeti is the premium USB mic professionals trust worldwide, producing clear, powerful, broadcast-quality sound and enhanced Blue VO!CE vocal effects for gaming, streaming, podcasting, YouTube videos and more. Thanks to Yeti’s proprietary three-capsule technology and four pickup patterns, you can produce professional recordings and streams with legendary ease. Yeti also features studio controls for headphone volume, pattern selection, instant mute, and microphone gain that put you in chargeof the recording process. Set up in seconds with the included desktop stand or connect directly to a mic stand or boom arm.
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The Blue Yeti professional USB microphone is by far one of the best microphones I've ever used that don't exceed $300 in price.
As a little bit of a background, I use this microphone solely for livestreaming (think podcast w/ video), and having a microphone that is both rich in sound quality and easy to use is essential. When people join my stream, one of the things they're primarily looking for is great sound quality, and the Blue Yeti hits up and above the expectations people come with. Although I haven't used it for recording any singing, I have also heard that it's great to use in that area as well.
The price on this product is also great. If your Best Buy offers a price match, I would highly recommend you price match it on Amazon ($50 discount). With this discount, I gladly paid the extra cost for a warranty which I haven't needed as of yet.
I've heard reviews stating that the microphone picks up unwanted sound, and coming from someone who lives in a quiet house, I can say that it does pick up the sound from my chair rolling on the hard ground, along with sounds from my (mechanical) keyboard and mouse. However, if you really want to eliminate that extra sound, a filter is definitely needed. A friend of mine just puts a wool sock over his microphone as a cheap alternative.
The only aspects of this microphone that I don't like are the size, and the knobs to tighten the mic. Both are VERY small details, and it definitely doesn't affect the way I use this microphone. The size was a LOT bigger than I expected; it's almost 12 inches upright, and blocks a portion of my monitor when in use. This is easily overcome by sitting in a better more upright posture, and tilting the microphone back a little bit, facing upwards towards my mouth. The second thing I've noticed about the microphone, is the little knobs on the side to tighten the mic from falling and tilting come loose pretty easily. I often have to re-tighten them when I adjust my microphone.
All in all, there is no better alternative for this great microphone when in use with podcasts. The sound is rich and fulfilling, picking up the bass tones and higher tones with ease. It'll pick up your whispers and your yelling, all keeping it roughly the same volume. I get comments all the time on my livestreams about my microphone, and I've already recommended it to a few friends.
What's great about it: Astounding sound quality, unbeatable price.
What's not so great: Size was larger than expected, knobs on the side come loose easily.