( 26 reviews )
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Posted: Jun 8 2009
The Blue Snowflake no doubt sounds as good as the Snowball, as many Blue fans have attested. The main argument in the Snowball's favor is that the aesthetics, alone, are sufficient to encourage the speaker to be on his or her best behavior. The advantage of the Snowflake is that it slips over the screen of a laptop (but most desktop screens, such as those on an iMac, are definitely too thick to accommodate the device). The pictures don't provide a good representation of the look of the Snowflake next to a desktop machine. The white plastic part that you see is merely a "traveling" box that protects the wire grill of the mic and serves double duty as a carrying case for the included USB cable. This part is removed while the mic is in use. With a laptop, the thick and heavy aluminum base clips over the top of the screen; with a desk top, it serves as a base for the mic, which sits just in front of the computer screen. (It's necessary to tilt the microphone backwards on its swivel so that the base is balanced and consequently "anchored" to the desk.) Unlike more expensive mics that I've plugged into a 3.5mm audio input on the computer, the USB Snowflake required no preamplification whatsoever in order to be adequately sensitive and loud for effective announcing. However, its extreme sensitivity is somewhat of a double-edged sword, as it's almost certain to pick up every plosive consonant and similar artifact. I've finally broken down and ordered one of those overpriced 6" pop filters (Amazon carries several, though they all look and cost about the same). The quality is the best I've heard outside a professional studio: crisp, natural, very present. The only thing missing is the deeply resonant sound that only an expensive large-diaphragm condenser mic can provide. As for build quality, the Snowflake is heavier and more solid than I had expected (I had even imagined being able to bend the clip sufficiently to make it fit on top of a desktop screen--but Arnold S. I'm not). I wouldn't be surprised if it proves as rugged as a Shure SM-56 or 57.
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Posted: Jun 1 2009
We are using this Microphone for training material for the users we support in our publishing environment. We use it along with ScreenFlow application on the Macintosh to create training video's. The Mic has a good sound to it and is very portable. The only negative to it is that it's little stand just sits to far away from our voice for optimum pickup, at least for desktop computers, for laptops it works well. We keep it simple here though, we use a tall coffee mug to hook it to and it's perfect height at our desk! : ) If you're needing better quality pickup than what comes from your computer, this is a great microphone forthe money.
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Posted: May 13 2009
I am not that technical like other reviewer, DO NOT have that much time for 'unpaid' review! But for a good sport, I give this thing 5 stars... Just for the look, so vain, eh?
