Blue Snowball USB Microphone
Product Features
Condenser mic with USB connectivity
Unique 3-pattern switch (cardioid, cardioid with -10dB pad, and omni)
Dual-capsule design
Macintosh: Mac OS X; USB 1.0 or 2.0; 64MB RAM (minimum)
Windows: XP Home Edition or XP Professional;
USB 1.0 or 2.0; 64MB RAM (minimum)
Product Description
Product Description 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. 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.
Product Details
Product Dimensions: 1.2 pounds Shipping Weight: 1.20 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
ASIN: B000BLRVOQ
Item model number: SNOWBALL
Average Customer Review: based on 3 reviews. (Write a review.)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,319 in Musical Instruments (See Top Sellers in Musical Instruments)
USB Conference Microphone — Echo Cancelling, Noise Cancelling Boardroom-quality VoIP Conferencing — www.intermedia-cs.co.uk Great mic for recording and podcasting, April 26, 2006 I've been using this mic for a few months now and I'm amazed by it's versatility, I've used it to record my band and podcasts as well...everything sounds so clear through this mic...In addition, it's so easy to use and doesn't require an audio interface, which are expensive, because it plugs directly to your computer via USB.
Comes with nothing, February 2, 2006 Reviewer: God Bless America (Pensacola, FL) - See all my reviews The mic performs OK, but be prepared-- the thing comes with just what you see- bare microphone only. No way to support it unless you buy a stand. No usb cord with it (can you say 89 cents?). The manual is filled with clever quotes and puns, but light on useful technical info. This is a great microphone with a lot of options., November 20, 2005 When I started podcasting I began looking for a quality microphone that would provide me with quality sound while being inexpensive. This microphone has been GREAT for my podcasting efforts. There are three options: single vocal, live music, and a 360 degree vocal mic which allows me to share my microphone with other guests in the room without loosing sound quality. In fact, I once did a podcast outside by the freeway and the outside noise was minimal. This is a great buy.
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,™ theworld’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. For an in-depth look at the Snowball, from its functionality and features to its compatibilty with different platforms and connectivity with various software applications, click here for the latest FAQ’s. We will be actively updating this area as we answer new user questions and address new software apps, so be sure to check back often!
Please note: Blue Microphones cannot provide software technical support. If you need help setting up your software to work with the Snowball, please contact your software vendor’s technical support line. Tell them you have a USB input device and you need to learn how to route the USB port to an audio track in their recording environment.
Features & Functionality
1. What exactly is this Snowball all about? The Snowball is a revolutionary microphone. Leave it to Blue to reinvent the wheel… err, microphone once again! 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. Sorry, geeks.
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 won’t 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 Go to Preferences->Audio and select the Blue mic as the input device (it will only show up when The Snowball is plugged in). Create a vocal track and select the Blue mic as the input device for that track. You may need to adjust the Snowball’s input level in the control panel if you experience any distortion (crackling). Logic 7 Open the Audio and MIDI setup program in your Apps->Utilities folder. Create an Aggregate Audio Source (Audio menu - open Aggregate device editor). Add the devices you want to use to the aggregate device (Built in audio and Blue mic). Change the audio device in Logic's audio preferences from Default to Aggregate. Sonar Select “USB Audio Device” ( 1, in, 0 out) from an audio track. From within that subcategory, there are 3 selections: Left USB Audio Device, Right USB Audio Device, and Stereo USB Audio Device. Select Left or Right for mono audio tracks. Press "R" to arm the track for recording. Roll disk.
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. 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.
