RECORDING OCTOBER 2008
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It’s a laptop world.
Everyone is trying to find
a way to create music on
the run, and equipment manu-
facturers are responding by mak-
ing products that are specifically tai-
lored to laptop music creation. Blue
Microphones, well known for its artis-
tic take on quality mics, has created a
small microphone that will be ideal
for many types of laptop recording.
Overview
The Snowflake is a small (1½"), ball
shaped microphone built into a
brushed-metal stand. This stand can
be either desktop-mounted or can be
used to latch onto the top of a laptop
computer’s monitor. It also doubles as
the transport case, with a slipcover
that holds an included USB cable.
This cable attaches to the back of the
microphone body and plugs into your
computer for a complete recording
input system. When assembled for
transport, the entire package is little
bigger than a pack of cigarettes.
There is more to this
package than initially meets the
eye. In addition to the mic, the
Snowflake has a built-in USB interface
and mic preamp, so no extra equip-
ment is needed for mobile recording.
The microphone itself is a pressure gra-
dient unit with a fixed cardiod pattern.
Blue lists the frequency response as 35
Hz–20 kHz, providing full-range record-
ing (no ± deviation tolerances given).
In practice
Installation of the Snowflake couldn’t
be easier—you plug it in, and it appears
as a mono audio input on your system. In
my case, I tested the device on a
MacBook ro; since there is no output, I
created an “Aggregate Audio Device”
that used the Snowflake for input and
the Mac’s headphone jack as output.
This allowed me to use the system with
all of the software on my system.
The combination of mic and preamp
provides very detailed sound with
incredible sensitivity. In fact, the sensi-
tivity was a little overwhelming; the
first time I started recording, I was sur-
prised by a strange hissing sound. As it
turns out, that sound was my palm
moving across the wrist rest of the com-
puter! There is plenty of gain here for
any recording you want to do, from
location pickup to interview recording.
I did some acoustic guitar recording,
and the Snowflake sounded very nice—
rather bright and open, but very sensi-
tive to placement. Initially, I was met
with more room sound than I would
have liked, but bringing the mic in
close (and adjusting the input level on
the computer) helped me find a good
balanced sound. It’s no replacement for
a Neumann, but it was more than ade-
quate for several songwriting sessions.
One of the most eye-catching fea-
tures of the Snowflake is also one of
its most valuable. The combined
stand/case makes it easy to take with
you everywhere, and location setup
takes about 5 seconds. It is also a
beautiful piece of gear—a guaranteed
conversation starter! Over the last few
weeks, I’ve carried the Snowflake
with me everywhere, and I found the
convenience of having quick access to
a nice sounding mic to be more useful
than I could have imagined.
Conclusion
Blue Microphones makes micro-
phones that are as attractive as they are
functional. In this case, they’ve created
a mic that is inexpensive, sounds good
and looks great. Combining this into a
package that begs to travel is a triple-
plus. At this price, the Snowflake’s
main competition is “consumer”-type
gear that can’t touch the sound and
convenience of this unique device.
Price: $89.99 ($69.99 street)
More from: Blue Microphones,
5706 Corsa Ave., Suite 102, Westlake
Village, CA 91362. 818/879-5200,
www.bluemic.com.
B Y D A R W I N G R O S S E
