If you've ever gone into a podcasting Facebook group and asked about microphones, you may have noticed some contention around the Blue Yeti USB Microphone.
"It picks up everything."
"It sounds like you're in the bathroom/tunnel."
"You can't use it with a mixer."
For the most part, the first two can be fixed with some tweaking, as you'll see below. And with some extra cables and software, even the third problem can be fixed.
But my wonderful friend Nick from The Epic Film Guys Podcast and The RestauRant Podcast figured out a way to make his sound amazing, and he used his Blue Yeti for a number of his earlier episodes of the Epic Film Guys (before switching to my favorite mic, the Audio-Technica ATR2100).
This is Nick, and he's awesome!
Since Nick also does The RestauRant Podcast where he talks about cooking and recipes, I've named this Nick's Blue Yeti Secret Sauce:
Set the gain on the mic to 30 percent.
Set the input on the computer between 20 and 30 percent.
Make sure the Pattern knob is set to cardioid (the upside down heart).
Position your mouth about six inches away from it and talk into the side (not the top).
And make sure you use a windscreen and pop filter.
Nick's Blue Yeti
If you've known me for a while, you know I love to talk about Nick. He was my first podcasting friend from way back when our shows were new and we were both only a few months into podcasting. He's a wonderful resource for anything podcast-related, and a great guy to know.
While I don't recommend this mic to people just starting out (my recommendations can be found here), it doesn't mean it's a bad mic. And I definitely don't recommend you use this mic in the middle of a table with everyone around it.
For a long time, the microphone got a bad rap in podcasting communities. But it can be a very good mic, as long as you use it properly.
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