Blue Microphones build quite a range of innovative models, including four spherical microphones, one of which is a white USB-powered design called the Snowball (reviewed in SOS July 2006). They have now decided to expand their USB range with the similarly wintery Yeti USB mic. Mounted on a silver desk stand, the Yeti is a multi-pattern microphone that is capable of running without drivers under both OSX and Windows. It includes an amplified, near zero-latency headphone output and a gain control for the built-in preamp, acting as its own audio interface. The analogue-to-digital convertor is fixed at 48kHz 16-bit, meaning that gain should be kept relatively near to peak when recording, in order to give a high-resolution signal.

Particularly interesting is the microphone capsule array, which uses three 14mm condenser capsules arranged in such a manner as to allow switching between omnidirectional, cardioid, stereo and bi-directional modes. The microphone is also the first to bear a THX badge, which is something you are most likely to see in a local cinema or on a consumer surround amplifier. THX certification is intended to imply a certain degree of quality relating to sound reproduction, having previously appeared on certain Mackie and JBL monitors, among others. A UK price for the Blue Yeti is yet to be announced.

www.bluemic.com