Up your Zoom game with this microphone

52 Things We Love: Yeti by Blue Sarah Kobos The Yeti by Blue is the best microphone for your computer that won't break the bank. by Thom Dunn More than a decade after the [Yeti by Blue]( launched, in 2009, it’s still the best USB mic you can find for the price. Want to record a two-way conversation for a podcast interview? Easy. A standard unidirectional for voiceovers? Done. Trying to capture the surround sound of a full room? You can do that, too. I’ve personally used this microphone for Zoom meetings, podcasts, gaming, and voiceover recording, and with a wide range of musical equipment—acoustic guitars, amplifiers, vocals, even as a stereo overhead drum mic. The Yeti is the best USB mic for the price. Sure, there are better, more expensive microphones that are each designed to do any one of those things extraordinarily well (if you ever get the chance to sing into a $2,000 microphone, trust me, it is worth it). But for less than $150, the Yeti by Blue can do all of those things and still deliver professional-quality results. It doesn’t hurt that it looks cool, too. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. [Learn more]( → How it started In the mid-2000s, Blue Microphones had a great reputation for sound quality and a retro-futuristic design aesthetic when it released the Snowball, its first foray into USB mics. At the time, there were few options for a decent, affordable USB microphone. Meanwhile, the desktop content creation boom was just beginning, with things like YouTube, podcasting, and GarageBand quickly gaining popularity. But as good as the then-$100 Snowball was, the company knew it could do better. “We saw that there’s a need for a high-quality plug-and-play recording studio right on your desk,” said Gabriel Whyel, head of product marketing at Blue Mics. “So we need to take this to the next level.” To do that, the company looked at the Kiwi, its $2,000 XLR condenser microphone, which is capable of recording in a variety of different patterns, thanks to a proprietary cluster of switchable audio capsules inside the larger microphone. This provides you with multiple sound options that you can easily switch between, depending on the situation you’re in or what you’re trying to record. To make it even more useful, Blue added a built-in headphone jack, with separate gain and volume knobs—basically turning its USB microphone into a self-contained plug-and-play desktop recording studio. Blue has always had fun names for its products, and in naming this new mic, they wanted to keep it line with the winter-theme established by the Snowball and the Icicle, the now-defunct XLR-to-USB converter. Someone remarked that the new model was “vaguely humanoid,” with a sleek silver shell and haunch-like desktop stand—and thus, it was dubbed the Yeti. When to buy We used to see deals on the Blue Yeti quite regularly (often bundled with games), but over the past year, stock has been scarce, the price has gone up, and the deals have all but dried up. There might be some decent sales around Prime Day and Black Friday, but we didn’t see any last year. The numbers $130 Average street price $70 Best price we’ve ever seen Make it last The Yeti is a pretty heavy-duty microphone, with a base that can take a beating. That being said, it’s still a piece of audio recording equipment, so you should try not to abuse it too much or expose it to a lot of spills or food. There are a few things you can do to help it hold up, like investing in a decent [micro-USB cable]( and being extra careful when you plug in or remove it. Even I’ve made some mistakes in this regard; luckily, the Yeti has a two-year warranty. It also doesn’t hurt to get [a pop filter](. This will help reduce those awful pops and hisses when you speak, and it will keep your saliva from seeping through the grille. Copyright © 2021 Wirecutter, Inc., all rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for Wirecutter's newsletter. [Forward this email to a friend](. [View this email in your browser](. Getting too many emails from us? [Get only our Sunday newsletter](. To stop receiving all our emails, [unsubscribe here](. Our mailing address is: Wirecutter, Inc. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018‌ [Privacy Policy]( | [California Notices]( | [Terms of Service]( | [Contact Us](