I played back the vocal/guitar recording through my studio monitors and was pleasantly surprised with the clarity and detail. The USB cable isn’t all that long – just 3’ between the plugs – so don’t plan on a lot of flexibility for where you place it. By moving myself and the mic around, I was able to get a good balance between the two sounds. The forward-back part of the pivot could use more friction to hold it in place, but it works – I thought it might flop forward or back, but it never did.įor my first recording test with the Snowflake, I decided on acoustic guitar and voice. The mic slides out of the back plastic part of the case and turns the metal part of the case into a tabletop stand just by folding the mic back and pivoting it around. I first set up the Snowflake on my computer desk, plugged into the MacBook and run through GarageBand. The Snowflake’s front-address element folds down inside a metal and plastic case that holds a slim USB cable and protects the mic when you’re hauling it around. The Snowflake is designed to be a portable and durable upgrade to your computer’s built-in mic. Finally, I also put Blue’s Icicle – a USB preamp that lets you plug whatever mic you want into your computer, even ones requiring phantom power – through its paces. I first spent some time with Blue’s Snowflake – a small USB condenser mic that comes in its own sturdy case/stand – and then with Blue’s Snowball, a versatile USB condenser mic with dual elements. (I don’t use a PC and can’t comment on that experience, but the Blue stuff is compatible with both platforms and should work for whichever computer and software you prefer.) On the Mac, setup effort is minimal – just choose the Blue mic in GarageBand’s preferences menu and tweak the mic’s level in System Preferences. When I received three moderately-priced pieces of computer recording gear from Blue to review, I upgraded my software to GarageBand ’09 and got to work. I thought GarageBand had potential as a recording tool, but wasn’t sure if musicians were taking it seriously. I was encouraged when Premier Guitar’s March 2009 issue mentioned that Nashville songwriters have been turning to the MacBook, Apple’s GarageBand recording software, and Blue Microphones’ Snowball mic for recording demos and working out arrangements.
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