blue snowball ice microphone (help...? Please...???)

A

AmberAndGolden

I Love YTtalk
SO.
I have an issue,
I got this blue snowball ice mic a few months ago from ebay, second hand.
(It's the cheaper version of the blue snowball mic.)
I am having issues with it, It seems muffled, like its being covered or something, and its very VERY quiet.
I've done some research online, messed about with the settings on my laptop ect and nothing seems to work,
does anyone know how to fix this? Or was the mic just a huge waste of money...?
 
Have you used audacity? You can mess around with the volume input to sort out the volume of it to start with.
 
Hazzador said:
Have you used audacity? You can mess around with the volume input to sort out the volume of it to start with.
Click to expand...
Yep, I use audacity to edit all of my sound, Thats how I get the audio to an actual audible level for my videos LOL but it still sounds muffled and... just weird, You can hear it a lot in my latest video (or the haul I did a few weeks back)
 
AmberAndGolden said:
Yep, I use audacity to edit all of my sound, Thats how I get the audio to an actual audible level for my videos LOL but it still sounds muffled and... just weird, You can hear it a lot in my latest video (or the haul I did a few weeks back)
Click to expand...
I just watched your recent video and i can't notice anything wrong with it to be honest. It could maybe be that your mic isn't top quality, as the snowball is sort of the 'basic' starter mic to have on youtube. Upgrade to a blue yeti or the AT2020 ( the mic I have) If it still sounds weird
 
Hazzador said:
I just watched your recent video and i can't notice anything wrong with it to be honest. It could maybe be that your mic isn't top quality, as the snowball is sort of the 'basic' starter mic to have on youtube. Upgrade to a blue yeti or the AT2020 ( the mic I have) If it still sounds weird
Click to expand...
I guess I'm just kind of mad about it because my camera mic is actually better than a mic I spent almost £40 for nothing UGH
Well thanks for the help, I guess I'll just have to save up for a nicer mic!
 
I don't know the difference between the Ice and Standard one in Quality (I'm aware of the tripod difference and lack of polar pattern switch) but I had the normal Snowball for a while 2 years ago and tbh from your glasses video the quality isn't too far off my experience, but I had the advantage of doing gaming videos allowed me to bring the mic much closer to my mouth, I ended up selling mine went for a SC440 which was not only cheaper but I found to be much better in quality. The Snowball is a little overpriced for my liking for what you get, I guess you're paying for a ball really, the Yeti is no different imo, while the quality is decent out of the Yeti, it's price is...yeh.

Maybe look into lav mics? (That clip onto your shirt/top) For your type of videos it might be a better solution, the problem with condensers like the Snowball (and really any mic) when their that far away from the source (in this case you) you have to turn up the gain/volume and your voice begins to become less clear.
 
RedFox said:
I don't know the difference between the Ice and Standard one in Quality (I'm aware of the tripod difference and lack of polar pattern switch) but I had the normal Snowball for a while 2 years ago and tbh from your glasses video the quality isn't too far off my experience, but I had the advantage of doing gaming videos allowed me to bring the mic much closer to my mouth, I ended up selling mine went for a SC440 which was not only cheaper but I found to be much better in quality. The Snowball is a little overpriced for my liking for what you get, I guess you're paying for a ball really, the Yeti is no different imo, while the quality is decent out of the Yeti, it's price is...yeh.

Maybe look into lav mics? (That clip onto your shirt/top) For your type of videos it might be a better solution, the problem with condensers like the Snowball (and really any mic) when their that far away from the source (in this case you) you have to turn up the gain/volume and your voice begins to become less clear.
Click to expand...
I guess that makes sense, It was recommended to me by someone who knows someone who has it, who does podcasts with it (convoluted LOL) so I guess it suits that kind of work better.
I'll have a look into the clip on mics, but I hate how they look (dumb, but still)
I guess I'll just sell the mic I have on and hope to get a better one in future.[DOUBLEPOST=1487782310,1487782254][/DOUBLEPOST]
DamzyGaming said:
I used to own a snowball and had nothing but problems with it. Now I use a audio-technica 2020 and it's amazing
Click to expand...
I'd have to save up a lot to get that, I'll keep that one in mind for the future, thank you!
 
When I first used my Snowball mic in Audacity I couldn't believe how bad it sounded. After 30+ minutes of trying to fix it I found that it had my computer mic selected and not the snowball mic. You've probably sorted that already, but thought I'd mention it just in case. The other point is, using the right number for what you are trying to do. If you use two or three it sounds a little muffled because it is picking up sound in multiple directions, but if you have it on one, it sounds like you are talking into it quite smoothly.
 
I use a blue yeti microphone, I don't have issues. By the looks of what I can see online the snowball doesn't have gain adjustment on the mic itself like the yeti.

Here's what I want you to do, while connected to your PC click on the right click sound icon in your task bar (the icon that controls your volume) and select Recording Devices. Make sure the blue microphone is the ONLY microphone enabled on your PC and set it as your default device. Also, right click the device and open up properties. You should be able to see audio levels from the mic itself. If the mic is picking up audio properly you will know, you may also be able to adjust the gain of your mic if it is not already set to default.

One last thing, if that is super confusing for you try scratch testing your mic. I think it's possible you are recording with the wrong mic. Just scratch your mic while recording see if it picks up the sound. If not you're probably recording with something other than your mic.
 
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