How To Make Blue Yeti Sound Better In 30 Seconds
I have owned my Blue Yeti microphone for a few years now, and I have got to say that the mic has been a workhorse and it has given me amazing sound quality and I have been really impressed with how well the mic works. With a bit of trial and error, I have managed to find the best settings for the microphone and your environment to make it sound better.
So, how to make the Blue Yeti microphone sound better?
To make the Blue Yeti sound better, place the mic 6 to 8 inches away from the mouth in a vertical position, use the cardioid polar pattern and turn the mic’s gain down to 20%. Use a pop filter to eliminate plosives and reduce vibration noises with the help of a boom arm.
This was the short version of it, there’s a lot more to make your Blue Yeti sound professional in your live streams, interviews, and podcasting. Don’t get me wrong, the Blue Yeti mic, right out of the box is an amazing plug-and-play microphone that is capable of giving you awesome sound quality. In this article, I will explain in detail, from my own personal experience how I was able to get my Blue Yeti to sound even better, like a very expensive studio microphone.
Here’s How To Make Blue Yeti Sound Better
- Keep the microphone 6 to 8 inches away from your mouth.
- Use the cardioid polar pattern for the best sound quality.
- Keep the microphone in a vertical position while recording as it captures sound from the sides and not the top.
- Make sure that the microphone’s gain is turned down to about 20%.
- Use a pop filter to eliminate plosives.
- Use a boom arm to reduce vibration noises.
- Record in a quiet environment and reduce all background noise.
In this article, I am going to explain each of the above points in detail, and how they help in making the Blue Yeti microphone sound better. From the microphone placement for the best sound to its pick-up patterns, everything is extremely relevant if you’re looking to get the most out of your Blue Yeti.
Yeti is one of those plug-and-play mics that work exceptionally well with PC systems and MAC as it is compatible with Mac OS and most versions of Windows. Moreover, you can directly connect the Yeti microphone to your PC, Xbox or PlayStation using a USB cable and use it right away. Yet, to get the best sound from your Blue Yeti Microphone, you need to make sure that you’re using it properly because most of the time when the Blue Yeti sounds bad it’s because it’s not being used right or positioned correctly.
- Tri-capsule array - 3 condenser capsules can record almost any situation.
- Multiple pattern selection - cardioid, bidirectional, omnidirectional & stereo.
- Perfect for vocals, musical instruments, podcasting, voiceovers, interviews, field recordings, conference calls. Signal to Noise: 100dB
- 2-Year Limited Warranty
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Related Articles:
- Best USB Microphone For Rapping, Record Vocals; Reviews
- Best Budget Microphone For Streaming & Gaming; Reviews
- Best Dynamic Microphone For Streaming & Gaming; Reviews
- Best Noise Cancelling Microphone; Reviews
- Best USB Microphone For Singing/Vocals; Reviews
Blue Yeti Mic Placement For Best Sound
Now let’s get into some specifics of how to use the Blue Yeti mic to get the best results.
First, you might be thinking – where do I put the microphone? How close do I need to have the microphone if I am the one talking? (Or whatever your audio source might be.)
For best sound quality, keep the microphone 6 to 8 inches away from your mouth, if you don’t have a boom arm then the microphone’s stand works perfectly well too.
Keeping it at this distance works out well as it allows you to keep the gain low. If you place the mic further away and increase the microphone’s gain then you may end up picking up a lot of background noise.
Keeping the microphone close to you and keeping the gain low ensures that you don’t pick up sounds from your keyboard or computer fan, and eliminate every other background noise around you.
While recording, make sure the microphone is not bent towards you and it’s in an upright position. The Blue Yeti microphone is a side-address microphone and unlike many other microphones, it captures sound from the sides and not from the top.
Related Articles:
- How To Connect Blue Yeti Microphone To PS4 In 3 Minutes
- How To Connect Blue Yeti Mic To An iPhone In 30 Seconds
- How To Connect Blue Yeti Mic To Xbox One In 1 Minute
- 8 Factors To Consider When Choosing A Condenser Microphone
- What Is A USB Microphone? How Does A USB Mic Work?
Blue Yeti Polar Pattern For Best Sound
Blue uses a proprietary tri-capsule microphone array that allows you to switch between 4 different polar patterns, customizing how the Yeti picks up sound.
There are four different polar patterns on the Blue Yeti mic. Stereo, Omni-Directional, Cardioid, and Bi-Directional. Each pickup pattern has a different function and works better in different scenarios.
Cardioid Mode
Cardioid mode is the one that most people will use. It is perfect for podcasting, gaming, streaming, webinars, or calls – and focuses the pickup pattern to the front.
Stereo Mode
The stereo mode provides a realistic sound image. In this pickup pattern, the right and left channels are active. The mic will just pick up the sound on the left and right while the sounds from the front or backside do not overpower.
Omnidirectional Mode
Omnidirectional mode picks up sound from all directions equally. It’s best for recording multiple people in a room (leaves a lot of background noise though).
Bidirectional Mode
Bidirectional is great for interviews as with this setup, the front and back of the microphone captures sound while the two sides cannot pick up sounds.
So, which polar pattern should you use to make Blue Yeti sound better?
I highly recommend using the cardioid polar pattern to make Blue Yeti sound better. When you put the microphone on Cardioid, you will sound better as it eliminates a lot of other background noises that come from all the other directions of the microphone.
When you use the cardioid polar pattern the microphone has the highest sensitivity to sound coming in from directly in front of the microphone capsule, practically no sensitivity to sound coming directly from behind, and reduced sensitivity to sound coming in from the sides.
Why Should You Keep The Mic’s Gain Low
In order to make the Blue yeti sound better, you really need to pay attention to the gain knob of the microphone.
I have had the best results from my Blue Yeti when the gain knob was turned all the way down to around 15-20% of its full strength.
Turning up the gain any more than that makes the microphone extremely sensitive and it tends to pick up all kinds of background noises.
Related Articles:
- Best Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone; Reviews
- Best Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone Under $500
- Best Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone Under $1000
- Best High-End Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone ($1000 – $5000)
- 10 Best Stereo Microphones; Top Mics For All Budgets
How To Eliminate Plosives
In order to make the Blue Yeti sound better, the next thing that you have to tackle are the plosives.
Plosives — usually heard on words with Ps, Ts, and Bs at their start — send out a strong blast of air, which generally travels forward and downward from the mouth.
If that air blast reaches the microphone diaphragm, it creates a massive pressure change that takes a while to subside.
The best way to avoid plosives in your recording is to use a pop filter. Pop filters eliminate the popping sounds caused by the mechanical impact of fast-moving air on the microphone and they help to minimize plosives like Ps, Ts, and Bs and can cut down on sibilance.
- Cleaner Audio: This pop filter for microphones helps produce pristine sound quality by filtering pops, hisses and thuds. By providing a screen and gap, the pop screen helps disperse air pressure. Effectively reduces the plosives or wind interference.
- Double-Mesh: With a dual-layer mesh screen, the microphone pop filter wont stifle sound or diminish the quality of your voice. The pop shield for mics works to remove interference while elevating audio quality.
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
How To Reduce Vibration Noises
The best way to prevent the Blue Yeti microphone from picking up vibration noises is to use a boom arm. A boom arm doesn’t just help you in avoiding unnecessary background noises but it also allows you to get perfect mic placement much easier and with better posture. That means your voice sounds better.
- Shock Mount: Please noted the shock mount is not fit for Blue Yeti.It is made of high-quality material and can protect the microphone all-around with high rubber rope design which makes the microphone more convenient to install and prevent it from falling. The shock mount has a hole diameter of 52mm, which is slightly larger than others.
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Reduce Background Noise
To make your Blue Yeti mic sound better, the last thing that you need to deal with is the background noise.
While you may not be able to get rid of ambient noise completely, you can cut back on interference.
Examples of background noise that you may find pervasive on microphone input from a laptop or desktop include keyboards, the laptop fan, clicking from the mouse, ACs, traffic, neighbor’s dog, or the neighbors themselves.
You definitely don’t need to soundproof your environment if you use the Blue Yeti correctly and like I suggested – keep it around 6-8 inches away from your mouth. With some trial and error find a mic gain level low enough where you can be heard clearly without any trace of the background noise around you.
You also need to be mindful of the reverberations of your own voice. The best way to deal with the reverberations is to place the microphone close to you. If this doesn’t help then you can try damping those reflected sound waves by installing some padding, foam panels, and blankets. on the walls.
More Tips To Tackle Background Noise
Noise reduction software is always a useful tool to implement in the video or audio editing processes after recording. Noise reduction software analyses the voice recording and enables you to remove unwanted noise.
The latest Blue Yeti X (Amazon) comes with software called Blue VO!CE that has built-in noise suppression capabilities and other broadcast vocal effects of managing the voice level. Blue VO!CE offers capabilities that allow you to modify unwanted low-frequency noises. Blue VO!CE has been a game-changer to the Blue microphone products to improve sound quality by managing ambient noise.
- Four-capsule array – capture legendary Blue broadcast sound with greater focus and clarity than ever for professional-level gaming, Twitch streaming, podcasting and YouTube Productions.
- High-res LED metering – visualize your voice level with the Yeti X Microphone 11-segment LED meter. At a glance you can check if your voice level is too high or too low and adjust accordingly.
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Conclusion
Hopefully, with all the tips and tricks I gave you, you now have the knowledge you need to make the Blue Yeti sound better.
The nice thing about the Blue Yeti, aside from being a top-selling microphone, is that you can easily set it up on your desk without so much fuss. You just need to use its USB cable to connect it to your computer, and you’re good to go.
The Blue Yeti mic is also known for its durability and sturdiness. It also offers a sound characterized by naturalness and well-roundedness. Moreover, it is perfect for podcasting, streaming, or doing voice-overs.
Written by:
Most Popular
ABOUT US
At Radaudio, we help musicians find the best gear with top-ranking gear round-ups and high- quality, authoritative reviews. Our passion here at Radaudio is to provide helpful straight forward clear advice and product reviews for aspiring and established musicians.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Radaudio is a participant in several affiliate advertising programs, including (but not limited to) proprietary programs and the following networks: Amazon Associates, Clickbank, ShareASale.
We disclose, as an affiliate publisher, that we may earn advertising fees by advertising through these networks at no additional cost to you.