Blue Yeti

Initially I loved it and told all my friends how awesome it was. Over time though Ive gotten to despise it with a passion. Lets start with the negatives and end off with the positives.

The latency is a schizophrenic bitch. Sometimes its about nil and sometimes its clearly audible even on soft attack audio. Just yesterday I tried overdubbing extra vocals and got a clear slapback echo effect compared to the older takes. One cold reboot of everything and it was fixed. But by then the moment was gone. Im not that easily put off balance but the Yeti has stalled way to many sessions now. Im done with it. Last time I rebooted a mac this often was with OS9 connected to Novell servers

A while ago and just for kicks I got two different $9 + free shipping, no brand, audio to usb cables off eBay. Needless to say, theyre binned. Sonically harsh and major latency. But they did point me towards the issue with the Yeti, ie latency. But it bipolarly swings between working fine and working like those $9 + free shipping, no brand, usb devices off eBay. Im guessing the driver is sub par. It just refuses to communicate with OSX in a consistent manner. And the issue is exactly the same with both my Macs so its definitely the microphone.

The Yetis female usb connector is an odd variety. Loosing the original cable can be an unexpected impediment. Been there, done that. The cable falls out of the connector quite regularly, the circuit board isnt centered properly in the housing so the connector doesnt fit that well. Just hooking it up requires minor tweaking. And then it still may fall out. From time to time it goes dead, light is on but no sound. My theory was an electrical disconnect from the issues I just described. So I wrote to Blue Microphones via their webpage contact form regarding the flimsy usb connection. No reply. Now a company that cant be bothered to acknowledge a support question. Not pro at all

Without its orignal base, on a regular mike stand. It is insanely microphonic. If u wanna know what a headphone cable gently swinging from side to side sounds like, move ur head an inch and --> woooscchhh-wooossshhh-wooossshhh... Dont bother recording anything with low bass. With a shockmount theres an extra --> woomp-woomp-woomp… Without its claaank-clooonk-claaank… It clips with moderatly loud stuff and its not the electronics. The actual diaphragms distorts

All this is rather sad because when it does work, it sounds real nice. A clear hint of electret but really good for a small diaphragm condenser. The variable polar patterns are really useful and its gorgeous to look at. The cast aluminium body is beyond solid and holding it in ur hand, weighing it, gauging it visually - flatters all your senses. Unpacking it was pure joy. Exactly what unpacking a fantastic product should be. The manuals styling is miles above average and the copy keeps a nice friendly tone. Buying it, getting it delivered, unpacking, hooking it up for the first time. I was in fanboy heaven

That is - until I got to know it

Conclusion: If u like makin music and hate getting bogged down with technical issues? Dont buy it. Its an overpriced podcast microphone for tinkerers. Nothing more. Im definitely retiring this thing

PS: If Blue Microphones would code a proper driver that works, focuses on a functional housing more than a retro looking and overly hefty one, keeps the awesome functionality and nice sound + prices it lower. Then the Yeti would be an option. DS

Recent update:

I contacted Blue Mics again via their webpage, ie same way as before. Response was superfast. Ive been asked to send the Yeti back for service and now all I need is to find that darned receipt

Seems like my first encounter with Blues support was a glitch. So ignore my earlier dissing of it.