Media:Electronics Autographed:No Memorabilia:No Batteries Included:No Shipping Weight (lbs):2.5 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
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.
Set input volume to the appropriate level.
Exit SYSTEM PREFERENCES.
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
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!
Great Product. Strangely it works on my Vista Laptop!October 5, 2008 When I first received this mic,I had a laptop with XP. Very crisp and clear professional sound quality. I couldn't beleive my ears when I first heard such amazing quality. Unfortunately,my laptop had failed out on me in the beginning of this year s I was forced to buy another one (but this one I have has Vista). I heard alot of reviews on this site that this mic isn't compatible with Vista,but strangely when I plugged in this microphone into my comp it managed to work just as good as with my first computer. I heard from a friend that if you lower your screen resolution to 32 bits it'll work for Vista. I rate this product 2 solid thumbs up!:D
Excellent product, if you're not on VistaSeptember 7, 2008 I purchased my Blue Snowball through a third party seller on amazon about a month ago, and I can honestly say that this is a great product. All three of its built in modes work great, especially the -10 db Cardioid, which is excellent for recording in noisier areas. I use it for amateur voice acting and narration on a variety of projects, and it has produced excellent quality recordings the entire time. Though, if anyone intends to use this for vocal recording, I suggest that they also acquire a popscreen, which can be found here on amazon, or can be built by hand with instructions here: http://jakeludington.com/project_studio/20050321_build_your_own_microphone_pop_screen.html
However, I would only recommend this to users whose computers use Windows XP or lower, since Vista compatibility with this product is unpredictable. Blue tech support has been less than diligent with the customers who wanted a fix for Vista, citing issues with USB compliant devices that Vista has had since it's release. There are gain updates that can make it work scattered across the internet, but I was never able to get them to work properly with my copy of Vista Home Premium. This would have been a deal breaker for me, except that after a year of struggling with it, I was fed up with Vista anyway, and downgraded. After that, the mic worked perfectly. Blue insists that its newer models support Vista, but I haven't encountered any corroborating evidence.
So, in summary, this is an excellent mic for anyone wanting to get into the Podcasting or VA fields, but be warned, it doesn't play nice with Vista.
Works Great on the Mac with WiretapSeptember 4, 2008 I can't speak to the Windows experience, but I can assure you this little USB microphone gets the job done on the Mac. There's no white noise hiss and the recordings is plenty loud and warm. I use Wiretap for most of my recordings, but I don't need to do any post-production work to remove hiss or pop. Buy it.
Good for the application; picks up too much "air"September 3, 2008 Have had the mic for two days (just long enough to not return to Guitar Center).
The good: It does just what I needed it to: it is truly easy, plug and play with Camtasia, and does not crash my Dell Latitude notebook. I needed a mic for a very specific application: I am recording training sessions and the trainer-speaker is across the country. Their voice is projecting via a LifeSize videoconferencing 'disc' and I am capturing their screen via Glance. I point this mic at the disc and the audio captured is quite decent. Is it better than a $20 desktop mic? Not sure... It's not superb, but it is OK.
The bad: I'm in a quiet room and you can hear so much AIR!!! I will probably have to do my final recordings with a blanket over myself, the mic, my computer, and the disc to get the sound to be more contained-sounding. My partner, hearing my voice recorded for the first time, couldn't tell that it was me. Then we did another test with my daughter in my lap. It seemed to like that--the variety of mother voice with daughter voice. Weird, go figure... but still, lots of "air" sound.
Trying to figure out how to turn down the amount of ambient noise it's attuned to... wish they'd had a unidirectional USB mic @ Guitar Center yesterday...
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