Obviously, this is subjective. Until the Snowball, I've used regular dynamic microphones with XLR running through a mixer and into the AUX in on my sound card. With the Snowball, the sound (voice) is more airy, crisper, and carries more of the baritone. It will make you a lot more comfortable with your voice. As long as you can find a relatively quiet room in the house (away from the fridge, AC unit, etc...) background noise isn't a problem, especially if you're mixing a voice-over into something that already has some sound - what little background noise there is, becomes inaudible. Also, software like Adobe Audition can learn and subtract noise from the selection altogether.

With the two capsules and 10dB pad, this mic has more features than you'll find in mikes costing several grand.

I have to come down to an 8 here. Depending on the USB chipset and the operating system, you may or may not be able to install this mic. Worst case scenario: Upon plugging it in, your "Found New Hardware" wizard will pop and ask you to select how you'd like to install this USB device. Whether you choose automatic or advanced install, it will invariably tell you that Windows couldn't find the proper drivers. Just something to keep in mind. I wanted to use it with my main workstation but it wouldn't install so I'm using it with my laptop which took it no problem.

If I was to re-build this mic on 10 times the budget, I wouldn't be able to make it as solid feeling / looking as it is. No rattles, creeks, pops, squeaks... While I record, I can pick up the mic by the stand and you'd never even know in listening to the playback.

Excellent. A lot of it comes down to how you use it but, assuming you use all your equipment correctly, the Snowball will outperform a lot of far more expensive microphones.

I don't know yet. I e-mailed BLUE about the above mentioned driver issue and am still waiting to hear back. Then again, it's only been a day.

Besides being a microphone to me, it's a conversation piece to anyone who sees it. It doesn't really look like anything. Could be a giant web cam, could be a small fan, could be an alien probe. It gets a lot of attention and, even if for some reason I stopped Podcasting, I would still wouldn't give away or sell this mic. I want it. It's mine. Hand's off--get your own.

Podcaster

Spoken Word

Piano for many years, not playing any more.

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VERY GOOD for recording acoustic guitar. You can even play your guitar while singing and it sounds great. Place the mic about 1-2 feet away from your guitar and jam away... its awesome. The 3 way switch really helps with getting the right sound according to what you're doing. The quite mode is good for the above mentioned acoustic guitar stuff. The loud mode is good for jamming even with full on drums!

The tripod feet for the mic feels REALLY sturdy. It also allows you to raise or lower the mic by a couple inches. Comes with a USB cord which is all you need for plugging into your laptop or PC.

PLUG AND PLAY... its a USB mic, is there really more to say? I use it with a program called Audacity which is free, you can do multi track recording with it and it sounds great with the mic. thats it!

This mic is SOLID. Doesn't feel cheap at all. Almost like you can drop it and it won't break. It's small, compact, solid.

I mean, look at the price, its a good deal. And did I mention it sounds amazing?

can't rate, had no problems with at yet, had it for about 2 months.

This mic is sexy. Period.

Active Musician

Anything Guitar

36 yrs playing guitar and banjo play at home

Christian country and bluegrass

Been doing music for over 15 yrs...

HIP-HOP AND RNB...

I have borrowed my friend's so many times, I just decided to purchase my own. This mic is incredible!!!

Great tripod

I plugged it in to my Mac and it worked right off the bat.

It sounds like a super expensive mic.

n/a

none

Techno

Saxophonist, Music Professor and Recording artist.

Jazz, Ballads Latin, Electronic, Pop

The mic is good for podcasting. The stand is a little cheesy.

The mic should be shipped with software. There is freeware out there so it really shouldn't be a big cost item to include some.

Easy to hook up and get working.

The stand is cheesy... not all that important though.

Good value, all in 1 style USB mic.

Have not dealt with a warranty issue as of yet.

It isn't sexy, but it does work good enough.

Engineer

Jazz/Rock/Blues/Classical/all

Once you get it to work, the sound quality is great.

Tech support provides little help on this model. The "high-gain" update bricked my mic. I had to send it in and wait 1 month to get it back. now it works with Vista, but not XP.

I paid $90 for this.

Support would not confess to the fact that many people have problems with this mic in both XP and Vista. They just blame Microsoft. I'm sure their other mics are great. I just wouldn't recommend this one.

Hobbyist

sound is ok. I'm not sure about the quality I have to play around with it a bit more.

very easy plug and play

product is made very well for a cheap mic.

for podcasting yes recordind an album. ?

have not called for support yet.

looks very good.