The high-gain link, on the other hand, still leads to the old firmware from 2006-using an installer, which I might add that I couldn't get to work on either Vista or XP. At the time of this writing, the low-gain Vista-compatible firmware is available right on the web site.
Support issuesīlue may make a good microphone, but their online service leaves a lot to be desired.
The firmware comes in two versions, for high-gain and low-gain applications. Last month, the company released a new firmware update for the Snowball that restores Vista compatibility (there are reports that early versions of the Snowball did work on Vista, but somewhere along the line that firmware was changed). Unfortunately, I tried testing this microphone on a Thinkpad with Vista installed, which Blue does not support out of the box. In theory, you can plug it in and begin recording immediately. It's pretty much self-contained, with built-in A/D converters and class-compliant drivers, so you shouldn't need to install anything. The Snowball plugs directly into the USB port on a computer, which handles both power and communication. With the size, shape, and color of a softball, it's a hefty chunk of plastic and metal, and feels very durable, with no rattling or shifting components. Certainly, you'd be hard pressed to argue that the Snowball's construction is deficient. This is no mark of shame-Chinese-made condenser microphones have flooded the market in recent years, and are often of decent quality at low prices for home studios. The Snowball, however, is manufactured in China like many of its competitors. Alesis, M-Audio, and Samson have all jumped in with packaged offerings-Rode even makes a USB microphone named "the Podcaster." But perhaps the oddest-looking member of this group is the $99 Blue Snowball ( Shop.Ars).īlue is actually well-known for its oddly-shaped or retro-styled microphones, which have usually been designed in California and manufactured in Latvia. For your pre-Black Friday reading pleasure, I present for your consideration this Kit guest review by Thomas Wilburn.Īmong professional and "prosumer" audio companies, there's an emerging interest in selling to the podcasting market.
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