Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

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ygagnon
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Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by ygagnon » Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:15 am

So .. I have a Blue Yeti mic, and just recently bought and tested a Blue snowball mic using Auria.

I bought the Blue snowball because ...

A) I don't need to power it with a USB hub
B) it was only $49 on Amazon

Although I like the fact that the Snowball doesn't require power, there are a couple of things that I don't like about it.

A) I seem to always record an initial "crackle" type sound with it that's noticeable enough that I have to edit it out.
B) The entire thing smells like a disgusting giant Band Aid. What's up with that ??

Does anyone here know why I might be getting that initial crackle sound, and what I can do to eliminate it? Is that a latency issue that I can adjust, .. or is it something having to do with the auto down- sampling to 16-bit?

Regarding the Blue Yeti .. understanding that it requires a powered USB hub, .. how does it actually compare sound-wise with the Blue Snowball mic? It there a significant difference, or should I not even bother? I ask because I'm trying to decide if I should return my smelly Blue Snowball mic and instead buy a powered USB hub to use with my Yeti.

Lastly -- how does the Apogee Mic compare to the Snowball and Yeti mics?? And is there any added advantage to having one of those MFI cables/connections over having to use the CCK ? And that being said, if there is an advantage .. can I just buy an MFI USB cable that I can hook up to directly to either my Blue snowball or Yeti mics and eliminate the need to use the CCK? I ask because I have my IPad in a leather case/folio type thing, and feel that the CCK is kind of awkward and unstable to use with it sometimes (I sometimes lose the USB connection).

Thanks!
- Yvan,

dominicperry
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Re: Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by dominicperry » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:47 pm

I can't help much but...

I bought a Blue Snowball a while back. It was, IMHO, rubbish. I later bought a Blue Spark Digital. While the mic capsule is good, the electronics are not great. I also had one of the other cheap Blue mics (Snowflake). It was truly terrible. And I have a Tiki, and that's hopeless too.

I don't know what the expensive Blue mics are like - lots of people swear by them, but the cheap ones seem to be style over substance.

I haven't heard an Apogee Mic, but the little condenser on the Apogee One is actually quite good. So I would expect the Apogee Mic to be reasonable.

None of these mics you are considering have zero latency monitoring, which is an essential for me, but clearly you may have different needs.

So, in conclusion, I don't think the cheap blue mics are good value. I would stick to Audio Technica at the cheap end, personally.

Dominic

ygagnon
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Re: Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by ygagnon » Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:10 am

Yeah .. I agree with you about the Snowball. It's junk, and I hate junk. (It also smells. Did I mention that already?) Regardless, I just put in a return request through Amazon.

What I'm actually thinking of doing instead is getting one of the entry-level Focusrite audio interfaces, and trying it with one of my "real" mics. What are your thoughts on the Focusrite iTrack Solo? Do you know if that device has zero latency monitoring? And does it have the same type of mic pre-amp in it that the newer, pricier units have?''

Thanks!
- Yvan

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Re: Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by dominicperry » Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:50 am

I haven't had a Focusrite interface since the Saffire56 came out. I thought it was mediocre and the drivers were unusable. However, that was a long time ago - plenty of people using Focusrite interfaces here who are very happy with them. All the MFi (Made For iOS) Focusrite interfaces have a direct monitor button, which gives you zero latency monitoring. However, it does not allow you to blend the amount of software return with the direct signal, meaning you have to adjust the software (DAW) master level in Auria (or whatever app you are using) and also leads to the temptation to adjust the monitor mix of the input signal but altering the input gain. This is bad - the level you set for input gain should be independent of how much of it you want in the 'phones for monitoring. However, once again, people work round these things.
At the moment, I can't find a good interface solution for the iPad. The iPad version of the Apogee interfaces are good, but they rely a lot on software control panel adjustment. The Usbpre2 is more my preferred approach, (lots of real physical controls), but apart from being very expensive, there is no way to charge the iPad while using it.

Dominic

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mtingle
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Re: Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by mtingle » Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:53 am

I've been using the BLUE nessie and I'm satisfied with it for general purposes. I would use a high end mic for critical HQ recording though.

It's their latest design.

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Re: Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by supanorton » Sun Feb 23, 2014 6:38 pm

I bought a Yeti a few years ago. It was, like many mics, great until I realized it wasn't. I got it because it was one of the first mics I found out would work with the CCK. As soon as I was able to use an interface, I stopped using the Yeti all together. It was pretty bright and a bit harsh. It has a gain control, but I found it too sensitive on even the lowest settings. There are lots of people happy with it.

Israel
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Re: Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by Israel » Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:20 pm

This is probably the answer you will hate the most, but I hope it helps the most in the long run. If I were you I would just buy a cheap interface like the iTrack Solo and a cheap condeser mic. That way when you enter the upgrade cycle you could buy just a better mic instead of mic and audio interface which is inevitable in the future.

If you plan on disregarding that, here comes the info on the Apogee Mic. It's a pretty good mic captures nice sounding acoustic and vocals. Not much of a fan on using it with guitar amps.

I bought the apogee mic and later got an iTrack Solo with an Mxl v67 and honestly, I wish I would've went straight to the latter set up. Hope you make the right choice! :)

Good luck to you

Katherine_Focusrite
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Re: Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by Katherine_Focusrite » Thu Feb 27, 2014 6:21 pm

All the MFi (Made For iOS) Focusrite interfaces have a direct monitor button, which gives you zero latency monitoring. However, it does not allow you to blend the amount of software return with the direct signal, meaning you have to adjust the software (DAW) master level in Auria (or whatever app you are using)
Hi DominicPerry,

This is not accurate.

Only the Scarlett 2i2, iTrack Solo and iTrack Dock have Direct Monitor Switches or Buttons rather than blend.

The Scarlett 2i4 has a Blend Knob that allows a Direct signal to be blended with the DAW signal for volume control. More to the left means more Input Volume, more to the right more DAW volume.

All other Scarletts can have their Direct Monitor volumes to be adjusted in MixControl software, exactly as your LS56 could.

Please let me know if I can help you further.
Katherine Kaplan // Focusrite Technical Support

http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/en/

dominicperry
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Re: Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by dominicperry » Fri Feb 28, 2014 4:22 am

Katherine_Focusrite wrote:
All the MFi (Made For iOS) Focusrite interfaces have a direct monitor button, which gives you zero latency monitoring. However, it does not allow you to blend the amount of software return with the direct signal, meaning you have to adjust the software (DAW) master level in Auria (or whatever app you are using)
Hi DominicPerry,

This is not accurate.

Only the Scarlett 2i2, iTrack Solo and iTrack Dock have Direct Monitor Switches or Buttons rather than blend.

The Scarlett 2i4 has a Blend Knob that allows a Direct signal to be blended with the DAW signal for volume control. More to the left means more Input Volume, more to the right more DAW volume.

All other Scarletts can have their Direct Monitor volumes to be adjusted in MixControl software, exactly as your LS56 could.

Please let me know if I can help you further.
Well, it is accurate unless your website is wrong. All the MFi interfaces have a Direct Monitor button. That's the iTrack Studio, the iTrack Solo and the iTrack Dock.
The 2i4 does have a blend knob. But it isn't MFi. It won't charge the iPad. Only MFi devices charge the iPad. All of them have Direct Monitor buttons.

As for your comment in the other thread about it costing more money to put a DSP chip in, so what? Put one in, charge more money.

The fact remains that the only current production MFi interfaces (which can charge the iPad) with monitor blend control and Midi are the Apogees. The 'One' can be battery powered but doesn't have midi. The 'Duet' has to be powered by an external PSU. they both have only one physical knob, and there are clearly some problems running them with Auria, given posts here. Focusrite had a chance to steal the market. Maybe you'll still do fine. But the search for a high quality solution goes on........

I'd happily pay for a SoundDevices UsbPre2, (about £800) - it has lots of mic gain, lots of headphone power, physical knobs for everything, a monitor blend knob - but, it needs a powered USB hub, and even when you've got that, you still don't get the ability to charge the iPad.

Dominic

ygagnon
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Re: Blue Snowball vs. Blue Yeti vs. Apogee Mic ?

Post by ygagnon » Mon Mar 03, 2014 4:33 pm

Well, .. I returned the smelly snowball mic, got my money refunded, and re-invested it in the Focusrite iTrack Solo audio interface, .. which I'll be using with my cheap M-Audio Nova condenser mic over the next couple of weeks.

Fingers crossed!
- yg

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