Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone (Gloss Black)

I bought this mainly for a St. Louis Blues hockey podcast, along with a pop filter. I've used it for a half dozen shows so far, and it's an excellent microphone! I couldn't be happier with it.We bought two other Blue Snowballs for the other guys on the podcast, and our Lets Go Blues Radio show sounds great... umm...shameless plug: [...]Pros:- The stand is metal, high build quality- Rubber feet so it doesn't slip- 3 audio settings, two for speaking directly into the front (one of which reduces the DB a bit if you feel it is picking up too much and is too loud), and 1 setting to pick up sound from everyone in the room, 360 degrees (the sound quality is much better if you speak directly into the front about six inches or so away using settings 1 or 2)- Audio quality is outstanding for this price range mic. Perfect for high quality podcasting. You can spend a LOT more $$ on a more expensive mic setup, but the audio quality isn't going to be that much better to warrant the massive price jump.- USB cord is long and of high quality- Easy plug and play. You plug it into a PC or Mac, and it's good to go right away.- Has a retro-like logo and an overall cool design. I chose the black snowball...it looks slick.Cons:- The USB cord doesn't fit as snug as it probably should. Seems loose in the port on the mic, it can slip out with a slight tug. We have this issue on all three of our snowball mics, so it's not just my mic.- It would be nice if the mic had an On/Off switch and then the red light on top would only be on when the mic was on. But not a huge deal as you can simply unplug the USB. I just leave mine plugged in all of the time.- This is just purely cosmetic, but for the black snowball mic, the usb cord should be black, not clear/silver. It would just look a little better design wise. Not really a con though...just a nitpick on my part.CAUTION FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO USE MULTIPLE USB MICS ON THE SAME COMPUTER...If you plan on hooking multiple USB mics (like the Blue Snowball) to the same computer, it is a real pain to get it to work properly...even in Garage Band where the OS settings seem to allow for multiple USB mics. You will get feedback, echos, horrible delays, crackling audio, horrible sound, mics picking up other voices and on a delay, etc. It was a mess. Multiple USB mics are not meant to be used on the same computer. I'm surprised nobody has created a mixer for USB mics so you could use two or three USB mics on the same computer. We had some audio issues during our first couple shows because we tried to record in the same room on the same computer and it just wasn't working. We did tons of research and apparently this is an issue with USB mics in general, and nobody has a good solution, other than a Virtual Audio Cable (which doesn't work that well either).We solved the issue by everyone being on their own computer with their own Snowball mics in their own homes and then recording the show over a Google Hangout. We download the saved mp4 from Youtube when done. Then we import it into Audition or Audacity for post production editing, and then upload the podcast to our podcast server. It works great, the audio is great quality, and we sound like we are in the same room talking. And with Google Hangout, you can see everyone as well...as long as they have a webcam, and all laptops nowadays do, so it isn't an issue for us. Plus it's more convenient for everyone...no driving and easier to schedule.

First off, let me say that I have used many high-end microphones in a studio environment. This mic arrived quickly, was packaged beautifully and was as simple as removing from the box, attaching tripod base and plugging in USB cable. Windows 7 recognized the microphone instantly and installed appropriate drivers.Please keep in mind that there are two versions of these mics. The Snowball (this one) and the Snowball Ice. They both look exactly the same, but they differ greatly. The Snowball Ice is less expensive because it has less features. I am not saying it is a lesser mic, just appropriate for different uses. The Snowball ICE is a condenser mic, so it records 360 degrees around the mic (omni-directional). This is a good feature if you are trying to record an entire band or conduct an interview. The Snowball differs in that it has a 3 position switch above the USB port on the back. Position 1 puts the mic in Dynamic mode. In this mode, the microphone only records from the front, ignoring sound from the back of the mic. Position 2 put the mic in Dynamic mode with a -10 dB cut. This is good for recording sources with High SPL (sound pressure levels), such as guitar amps, rock bands, etc. Position 3 puts the mic in Condenser mode and it records in a full 360 degrees around the mic.I purchased this microphone for my wife to use when she is playing Online games and would like to use voice chat. I have chatted with her using the C3 chat program with the mic in position 1 (Dynamic mode). Rearward sound rejection is excellent. With her previous mic, I could constantly hear the sound from her game being picked up from the speakers. The Snowball rejects this noise and all I hear is her voice, loud and clear over the chat. Mic is currently positioned about 2 feet away and to the right.I am looking forward to recording some vocals, guitar amps and acoustic instruments with this mic in my studio as well. I will revise this review when I have done so.In conclusion, if you are looking for a quality mic at a more than fair price, the Snowball is an excellent choice! The ability to switch between modes makes this mic very versatile. I was also impressed by the size of the Snowball. When looking at it online, I was thinking baseball size. When the package arrived, I quickly realized it is more appropriately a softball size. Amazon Prime also made this a no-brainer. Price difference between the two version is approximately twenty dollars at the time of this review.