We have dedicated our new review to the Blue Yeti microphone, which has long become a quality standard for streamers and bloggers. If you’re not familiar with this beast, then it’s time to find out what the Blue Yeti can really do.

Review Blue Yeti Microphone 

Specifications

Required power/consumption: 5V 500mA

Sampling frequency: 48 kHz

Bit rate: 16 bit

Capsules: Three 14mm Blue condenser capsules

Modes: cardioid, bidirectional, omnidirectional, stereo

Frequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz

Maximum volume: 120dB (THD: 0.5% 1kHz)

Dimensions: 12 cm x 12.5 cm x 29.5 cm

Weight (microphone): 0.55 kg

Weight (stand): 1 kg

Headphone Amplifier Specifications

Resistance: > 16 ohm

Output power (RMS): 130mW

THD: 0.009%

Frequency response: 15Hz – 22kHz

Signal-to-noise: 100 dB

System requirements

PC: Windows Vista/XP/7/8/10; USB 1.1/2.0; 64 MB RAM (minimum)

Mac: Mac OSX (10.4.11 or higher); USB 1.1/2.0; 64 MB RAM (minimum)

Acquaintance

Let’s start with the fact that the manufacturer has not limited the model to only white and black colors for a long time. For example, we got a variant in the blue version of Midnight Blue. The microphone is packaged in a box with images of cute yeti, playfully explaining the operation of the device.

The microphone comes with a desktop stand with a rubberized base that protects the microphone from unnecessary vibrations. The support is metal, weighty. The Blue Yeti is attached to it with two screws, so if desired, the microphone can be easily removed and installed on another stand or pantograph. For fixing on a classic microphone stand, an additional threaded hole was placed at the bottom.

In the same place, below, you can find a mini-USB connector, through which the microphone is connected to a PC or Mac. A two meter cable is included. You can also connect headphones to the Blue Yeti to follow the recording.

On the front of the microphone there is a company logo, an output volume control and a Mute button with an indicator. The latter is useful when the device needs to be quickly disconnected.

On the back are the Gain and Pattern controls. The first will help to adjust the gain level, the second – to select the desired operating mode.

The Blue Yeti is a condenser microphone. It offers four recording modes at once: cardioid, bi-directional, omni-directional and stereo. The thing is that as many as three 14 mm capsules are installed here. Thanks to this, the device can be adjusted to different tasks.

Cardioid mode is best suited for streaming or recording only your voice: the microphone will only pick up sound from the front, isolating the signal. Bidirectional allows you to record a conversation between two people – this is a great option for podcasts or conversations at the same table. Omnidirectional is designed to record the entire room: it will hear all the surrounding sounds. Finally, stereo is useful when recording a choir (well, you never know!) or instruments.

How does it sound

We tested the microphone in all modes, but mainly concentrated on cardioid. After recording several sessions, it became clear that it was impossible to do without the selection of optimal settings. Fortunately, Blue Yeti is determined without any additional driver. Therefore, by tweaking the Gain a bit and adjusting the microphone volume in Windows, we got quite a decent result. Five minutes – and you can record podcasts or stream.

Note that the voice did not become excessively bassy, ​​but the upper frequencies seemed a bit harsh to us. Also, close-up sessions lacked a pop filter, causing the plosive “b” and “p” sounds to sometimes break through on the recording. This can not be called a minus, because its pop filter is useful for working with any high-quality microphone.

In games and programs like Discord, there are no problems with Yeti. If the OS has detected a microphone, then applications will be happy to use it. You will begin to hear distinctly and clearly.

The Blue Yeti is a versatile microphone capable of everything out of the box. Its most interesting feature is the choice of modes. For example, you can take one microphone for general high-quality sound recording from several sources at once: not every device can offer this. As a result, Blue Yeti is ideal for podcasters, streamers and gamers.

The official recommended price of the Blue Yeti is 12,999 rubles

Awards

Streamer’s friend . Blue Yeti is a springboard into the world of streaming and podcasting. Even if you just take the microphone out of the box and put it on the table, you can get a significant increase in the quality of broadcasts and recordings. And yes, it looks stylish.

Perfect build . The microphone is a real monolith. The body and stand are made of metal. Nothing backlash, no dangling, held firmly and securely.