Media:Electronics Autographed:No Memorabilia:No Batteries Included:No Shipping Weight (lbs):4 Dimensions (in):8.6 x 8.6 x 5 Blue just keeps coming up with recording solutions, and the Snowball makes computer recording easier than ever! The Snowball is a USB direct-recording microphone and the next of kin to Blues unusually hip lineup of spherical mics. The Snowball is designed for mobile laptop use and desktop studios with its universal drivers for Mac and Windows and built-in plug-and-play USB connectivity. Designed for desktop recording applications, the Snowball incorporates Blue's styling with versatility and eas Warranty:1 year, tubes 90 days
Product Description Includes: tripod stand. Blue Microphones Snowball - Round and white, the Snowball lives up to it's name, and features a retro style that harkens back to the early days of audio. But on the inside, the Snowball represents only the most modern in microphone technology. Bringing you professional quality audio recording on the PC or Macintosh via USB. It's perfect for everything from soft vocals to a loud garage band. It's also ideal for professional sounding podcasts. PC Requirements - XP Home or Professional Edition, USB 1.0 or 2.0 port, and a minimum of 64MB of RAM Mac Requirements - Mac OSX, USB 1.0 or 2.0 port, and a minimum of 64MB of RAM
From the Manufacturer 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.
Podcasting Perfected and More Golly. What is that thing? Simply put, the Snowball is Blue Microphones' revolutionary new USB microphone—the first studioquality USB mic on this (or any other) planet. It's 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!
Ok. But what's so great about it? Aside from its simple direct interface, the Snowball is simply the best-sounding USB mic on the market, and with two pickup patterns and a separate setting for really loud sounds, it's versatile enough to cover a wide range of recording and real-time applications, from high quality podcasting and telephony to vocal and instrument recording in both home and professional studios. Whether you're recording a podcast, a guitar at your kitchen table or the whole band in the studio, the Snowball can capture it with detail unheard of in a USB mic.
iPod, therefore iPodcast. Of course you want to do your own podcast! Enter the Snowball — the perfect solution for professional-sounding results in an affordable, easy-to-use package. Ideal for any application where you need to get high-quality audio into your computer, the Snowball unites the heritage of vintage classic microphones costing thousands of dollars with cutting edge technology and an ease of use never imagined! Engineered to be heads and ears above built-ins and "computer store" mics, the Snowball can handle everything from vocals to sound effects and, of course, just about any musical instrument!
Yep, it's included. The Snowball includes a shielded USB cable and a spiffy desktop mic stand. You also get an easy-to-understand manual with loads of recording tips, so you can literally set-up your Snowball and be recording in just a matter of minutes. Plus, a variety of software recording applications are compatible with the Snowball,* including Apple's new GarageBand 3. Give it a listen — you won't believe your ears.
The world's first professional studio-quality USB mic, from Blue.
Features & Functionality
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Adobe Premier Elements 4 (Windows Vista/XP)
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:
Quit Premiere Elements.
Visit the following web page and download the latest available version of ASIO4ALL: http://www.asio4all.com/
Install the software, and restart the system if asked to do so by the installer.
Make certain that your microphone is plugged in.
Launch Premiere Elements.
Go to the 'Edit->Preferences..>Audio Hardware' menu option.
For the Default Device, choose the ASIO4ALL option.
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
Under START MENU open SOUNDS AND AUDIO DEVICES control panel.
Select AUDIO tab; insure BLUE BALL USB MIC is selected as DEFAULT DEVICE.
Click on VOLUME; select appropriate volume level.
Exit control panel.
Macintosh Setup Procedure
1. Open Apple menu -> SYSTEM PREFERENCES.
Double-click SOUND preference file.
Click INPUT tab.
Double-click BLUE USB BALL MIC under CHOOSE A DEVICE FOR SOUND INPUT dialog box.
Listen to your peers!November 19, 2008 I am not a tech savvy person. This year I joined a professional group that meets in Web format - in an Interet room with capability for both audio and web cam (video). At first, I was simply typing in my responses, and not making use of audio or video. I was encouraged to get a mic, but was really in deep doo doo when I went to research them.
Then I remembered a Podcast done by someone in my field, who had just purchased this mic. They were raving about the quality and ease of use. On this basis, I made my purchase. I recently used it for the first time, and it passed with flying colors.
I highly recommend the Snowball for both its quality and ease of use. I am actually having fun with it! I should probably also mention that I am using it with a Toshiba Satellite laptop.
Simple and EffectiveNovember 18, 2008 I recently moved into a new home where I don't have room to setup a full home studio. I was jonesing for a way to quickly record some songs without setting up mixers and amps and the like. So I bought a Snowball and plugged it into my MacBook Pro. Within seconds I was recording in Cubase and Garageband. This mic gets an A+ for ease of setup!
I am delighted with the audio quality considering this is $100 mic. My Taylor guitar sounds crisp and clean and my vocals are mostly free of unwanted color. The mic does not compare to something like a Rode NTK tube mic in warmth, nor does it provide the crystal clear sound of a Blue Bluebird, but for a fraction of the price the sound is nice.
This mic will not replace more expensive mics in the studio, but it will let you setup a quick studio wherever your laptop is. It's great for the singer/songwriter type performance with a guitar and a vocalist. As long as you have realistic expectations for $100 mic, I think you will be thrilled with the Snowball.
great for many types of audio needsNovember 4, 2008 In the first month of having the snowball, I tested it with recording music (both vocals and guitar) on a Mac, and it performed very well. I also used it to broadcast audio for a webinar to nearly 200 people, and it worked seamlessly with the Windows/PC. Great plug-and-play usability with cool looks. The only thing you have to be careful with is when you're handling the snowball when it's off of the stand. It's heavy and can slip out of your hands if you're trying to carry other stuff. All in all, it's a very cool mic that works well with a variety of needs, and I recommend it.
So so, looks cool, and gets great audio, sometimesNovember 3, 2008 This mic seems VERY hit-or-miss. Some of my machines it works great on, others not so much. Sometimes it has some annoying muted static in the background on recordings, other times it gives wonderfully rich sounding clips. I havn't nailed down a pattern to all of this. I have 2 snowballs and numerous machines running XP, OS X Tiger, and OS X leopard, so there are too many variables to keep track of, but suffice it to say it's a gamble. Blue's tech support on this model is laughable, and sad. Check the support forums and you'd almost think the company fell off the face of the Earth. Lots of questions, no answers, many unhappy users, only crickets chirping from Blue. Lot's of mentions to firmware updates that are nowhere to be found on the website. Either their web staff has been held for ransom by disgruntled users, or they have employed a lethargic chimpanzee to organize their support/downloads. Don't believe me? Just go to bluemic.com and try to find any downloads for any USB product they offer, any one, at all. It's sad because this little mic had good promise, but Blue apparently "dropped the ball" on this one. That's right. I went there.
Oustanding MicrophoneOctober 9, 2008 I do radio interviews and use this mic when I edit interviews and put in my own script in my home (not at studio). Sound quality is excellent! You get clean, pure, FULL sound from your pc not that tin crappy sound from a pc mike. Use it now as a musician to record ideas to my pc. HIGHLY RECOMMED THIS MICROPHONE!
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