Blue Microphones SnowBall USB Microphone Bundle

Blue Microphones is one of the most forward-thinking companies in pro audio.  Their products not only all look cool, but are extremely well made and simple to use.  The Blue Microphones SnowBall USB Microphone Bundle is no exception. When used with GarageBand, Logic, or almost any other DAW, it is a total breeze to use.  This mic is also the perfect choice for podcasting!

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Blue Microphones SnowBall USB Microphone Bundle

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.

The world’s first professional studio-quality USB mic, from Blue.

Features & Functionality

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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 port. Happy recording!
11. Do I need to keep The Snowball in the freezer when I’m not using it?
    No. This is one snowball that will not melt!

Please note: as there are so many different software packages that are compatible with The Snowball, we are compiling a list of software we’ve tested and assured compatibility. We will publish that list shortly along with detailed instructions explaining how to use The Snowball with each package because, as you can imagine, they are all different! In the mean time, we suggest consulting your software’s manual, user forums and technical help lines. Here are a few to get you started:

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.
• Adobe Premier Elements 4 (Windows Vista/XP)
  1. First, make certain that your Snowball has the latest firmware update. With this latest update installed, you’ll be good to go. If you should experience any problems getting the program to recognize the mic, Adobe recommends the following:If the device does not allow you to record, then your microphone is not being detected as a valid input device in Premiere Elements. You can use an open source program called ASIO4ALL, which is a device driver that essentially wraps existing WDM devices, like USB microphones, as ASIO-compatible sound devices. Use the following steps to utilize this tool:
  2. Quit Premiere Elements.
  3. Visit the following web page and download the latest available version of ASIO4ALL: http://www.asio4all.com/
  4. Install the software, and restart the system if asked to do so by the installer.
  5. Make certain that your microphone is plugged in.
  6. Launch Premiere Elements.
  7. Go to the ‘Edit->Preferences..>Audio Hardware’ menu option.
  8. For the Default Device, choose the ASIO4ALL option.
  9. Click the ASIO Settings button, then select your microphone from the list of devices, click Exit, and then click OK on the Preferences dialog. Close and then restart Premiere Elements.

Hardware Platforms

• 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.
• Macintosh Setup Procedure
  1. 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.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Perfect
The Blue Snowball was extremely easy to set up…just plug it in the usb port and that’s it. I use it in a group setting for webex. Picks up everyone’s voice clearly.

3 Stars Mixed Reactions
First, this thing is big. Think softball big. I wanted something I could take on the road with me. This aint it.

However, I’ll grant you that from my little bit of experience with it, the audio seems to be pretty good (tested on Sound Forge 9).

The problem this mic shares with about 95% of USB mics is that you are dependent on the monitoring audio of your computer/software. When I record, the headphones are on. The lag on my laptop made monitoring impossible. Some software doesn’t even support monitoring during recording.

This mic is going back — or going on eBay.

I’ve ordered a Samson G-Track, which supports real time monitoring.

I did order a Blue Snowflake…Yeah..I know…Same monitoring problem. But the same problem in a cardioid that’s golf ball size instead of softball size is easier to swallow.

4 Stars Good quality mic
I use this mic primarily for recording classes I teach. My students and I sit around a conference table and I set the SnowBall in the middle; it does a very good job picking up all of the voices. I have several students (teens) who mumble or are very soft spoken and the mic pics them up just fine.

I have also used this to record a lecture. I placed it below the podium, out of view of the speaker and the audience, and it captured the speaker’s voice very well.

I attach the mic to my MacBook and use GarageBand software for the recordings. I can record about 1.5 hours without needing to have the computer plugged in. The whole interface is very easy to use.

My wife thinks it looks big and ugly; others have found it cool looking. It is on the larger side, but because it works so well I don’t really care about the looks. It fits in my messenger bag with the stand, shielded USB cable, and laptop, so the size isn’t an issue for me.

5 Stars Blue “Snowball” Mic….
The Blue Snowball Microphone is great for an inexpensive mic…..but still sounds very high quality! It is a USB mic…so you just plug it in to your computer and it’s ready to go. (Of course you need to let your computer know it is the Blue mic you are using.) It is really a wonderful mic….the sound is clear….no static or crackling sounds. Too many great things to mention….

4 Stars exceptional
the sound sounds great and crisp. No noise is heard even if my ceiling fan is going. only problem I have had is that recording guitars sounds rather dull. This may or may not be because of my $250 guitar… Either way, not as good as a $1000 neumann but close enough for anyone who isn’t in a professional recording studio.

Worked instantly with my Mac.

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