The podcasting world has exploded ever since it was introduced a few years ago, and has been growing ever since. Have you ever thought of starting your own podcast though? It’s not that hard, and can be as fun as possible even with a low budget. Today, we look at the Blue Snowball USB microphone which is perfect for podcasting, and you’ll see exactly why.

As I mentioned before, this microphone fits perfectly into the podcaster’s budget. Starting from $99 USD and up, depending on where you find it, you can start your own podcast or regular audio recordings easily. The Blue Snowball USB microphone comes with a tripod stand and USB cable, which allows you to start right out of the box with no drivers or software required. The Snowball works on Macs or PCs using GarageBand or Audacity, respectively, or any other available audio recording utility. Getting the Snowball to work is as simple as can be. Just screw on the stand, plug in the USB cable, and you’re good to go.

Recording with the Snowball was excellent and as flawless as possible. The Snowball microphone has a three-pattern switch on the back for cardioid, cardioid with -10dB pad and Omni-directional settings. We tested all three settings in our testing and they all worked like a charm. One small feature of the microphone is that it features a built-in pop filter for blocking out un-wanted noises.

Audio quality on this microphone is excellent; using an all-digital connection (USB) there was no extra work to be done with tweaking audio levels.

Overall the Snowball worked great in our audio tests and no flaws were shown in the testing of this device. The Blue Snowball USB microphone is available on online retailers today for as low as $99 USD. Check out Blue Microphones’ website for more information.

Editor’s Note: When we received the Blue Snowball USB microphone, we noticed that the recording levels were unrealistically low. Other customers were experiencing the same problem at the time of shipment. Blue Microphone later fixed this issue with a firmware update.

Pros
- Exceptional sound quality.
- Easy installation.

Cons
- None (read editor’s note for more information)

Spark’d Rating: 5-out-of-5 sparks - Editor’s Choice rating.

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