Has anyone used this microphone?

I'm a piano player who has written several of my own songs, and I record exclusively with garageband by using the red and white stereo outputs on my piano with a converter plugged into the line in port on my macbook, and with my internal mic for voice after the piano track is done. The piano comes out sounding really good, but obviously the internal mic on the macbook leaves a lot to be desired. I have no idea how to use a mixer or anything like that, and I just wanted some sort of a decent but not extremely expensive mic to get the vocals at least a little closer to the quality that my piano is getting. I found this mic and have read a few good things about it. Has anyone used the Blue Snowball? Would this be a good bet for what I'm doing? If not can anyone recommend anything better for what I do? I really appreciate any input, thanks!!

that mic gets very good reviews, and Blue's line of mics is quite well received. I think you'd see this as a major, major upgrade of what you're currently doing -- and no mixer or phantom power needed.

Cool, thanks for the advice. I'm pretty sure that's what I'll be getting. If anyone wants to share any personal experience with it that'd be great, but the snowball sounds good to me.

I get a Shure SM 58 or 57 for that price...

This is really a great mic. USB mics are kinda tricky because there is no pre-amp so the volume stays pretty low while recording, but this can be fixed no problem, and I would say out of all the USB mics I've used, the snowball blows the rest out of the water, wise choice.

fitchesbass said:

I get a Shure SM 58 or 57 for that price...

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Care to elaborate? (Remember I know nothing about mics.) Why would this be better?

I'm trying to buy this mic also for my college classes.
My question is that how far can I seat from professor?
Like what's maximum distance I can get away from acutal speaker?
Thanks

Fromasta Flex said:

Care to elaborate? (Remember I know nothing about mics.) Why would this be better?

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The SM 58 has been the standard microphone from pro's to amateurs for the longest time (since the 60's). For $99 an SM 58 will last through anything and sound great. Its great for vocals with a slight boost in the vocal range of frequencies but is also great for instruments. You can read reviews on any website to see how many people use them and swear by them. Shure's customer service is also great should you ever have problems with the microphone.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Shure-SM58-Mic?sku=270101

By the way, I own 3 SM58's, an SM 57 and a few other Shure mics and love them.

Really, you would want to get a small preamp in which to run the microphone to, but the SM58 directly plugged into your mac should work pretty well until you decent to buy a cheap preamp.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation/mic-pre-amps?N=100001+304639

Mikejsung said:

I'm trying to buy this mic also for my college classes.
My question is that how far can I seat from professor?
Like what's maximum distance I can get away from acutal speaker?
Thanks

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Depending on the type of classroom and you would want to choose a microphone with the correct polar pattern. Here are some common microphone patterns: http://www.crownaudio.com/mic_web/tips/mictip2.htm

There is a lot more to a microphone than I think some people realize. Do some research and you will be happier in the long run.

Take a look at the Mackie Onyx satellite (google is your friend)... It is a great audio interface for a great price. I know by experience that you just plug it in and then go to Garageband preferences to select it (no drivers necessary).

This product has been discontinued so a pro audio buddy of mine bought three of them. This gives you FAR more versatility than a USB microphone and MUCH better quality than your mic input.
Hope this helps.

The Shure 57 and 58 are indeed industry standards, and I've used both for over 35 years in live performance and recording. However, for simply "plug and record" with a computer, neither will yield very good results without a preamp. These are also balanced input mics, so you'll need some type of adapter to go from 3 pin XLR to 1/8" audio input for the Mac. This means more stuff, more expense, more complexity. The 57/58 would be useful, however, outside the context of "straight to computer" recording should you every need/want that. The Snowball will be useful only in direct to computer recording because I'm not aware of any traditional mixers that have USB mic inputs (there may be a USB to XLR or 1/4" adapter, however).

BTW, I also bought one of the Mackie Onyx Satellites as they were being discontinued (for $199) and it is a great piece of recording gear for Mac's or PCs.

FF -- for what you said you wanted, I'd stick with the Snowball.

Mike -- the Snowball is primarily a cardioid pattern mic, so it's meant to be relatively close mic'd -- like, on the desktop. It may work from a greater distance, but it's going to pickup everything around it also (the guy whispering next to you, the girl crinkling paper, the a/c blowing, etc.). Think of what your typical videocamera mic picks up. If you sit in the front row it may work fine, or you could put it on the prof's table and run the USB back to your computer on the front row. For those kinds of recording, however, I'd consider a handheld digital "dictaphone" that you can put on prof's table then dump to computer at your leisure.