Will the Blue Snowball pick up background noise?

[MrGeorge]

I am one button away from buying the Blue Snowball Microphone but there is a question I have to ask.
I have seen that the Blue Snowball has a cardioid setting which from what I have been told captures only sound from the front, a little from the sides and none from the back. I am planning to put both my keyboard and mouse back from my microphone so I can do a proper live commentary without any background noise. Can anybody who uses or has used this microphone share his experience?
Thanks in advance!

 

[WolfWraith]

All condensor microphones will pick up background noise. The further away you are from the microphone the more background noise it will pick up and the more echo it's likely to pick up. If you want to avoid background noises sit the mic at least a hands length away from your mouth, but I've heard the snowball can be problematic when yelling, either way most background noise like the static you hear or a continuous hum can be removed in Audacity view this tutorial:

keyboard or controller noises are pretty much stuck unless you get a silent keyboard or if the mic is compatible with a stand; a boom stand to rest it off the desk and away from the keyboard. Otherwise a dynamic microphone is less sensitive to background noises and more targeted towards where ever you aim it. If you'd like to view more mic information check out this thread: http://yttalk.com/threads/microphones.103333/[DOUBLEPOST=1401196255,1401196128][/DOUBLEPOST]I forgot to mention, try to stretch your hand as much as possible and also try to adjust the mic so it's not completely in front of your mouth, just off to the side a little, enough to pick up your voice but out of the way enough to reduce pops. Little remedies like this can help with a mic like the snowball but keep in mind I use the Yeti so I have slightly less issues.

 

[MrGeorge]

I never had a static sound problem with my Headphone's extremely cheap microphone, how is it possible for a more expensive microphone to capture static noise? So the cardioid is not a thing? Can't you put everything behind your microphone and capture only the side you want? Sorry for the question bombing I am just a real noob when it comes to audio and recording.

 

[WolfWraith]

I never had a static sound problem with my Headphone's extremely cheap microphone, how is it possible for a more expensive microphone to capture static noise? So the cardioid is not a thing? Can't you put everything behind your microphone and capture only the side you want? Sorry for the question bombing I am just a real noob when it comes to audio and recording.

I didn't know what to call it so I called it static but there will always be a hum in the background especially if you have a PC running nearby and even more so if you use a headset to listen to your commentary. Cardroid does not negate all sound as I said condensor mics pick up everything, they're very sensitive, my Yeti can pick up my parents speaking in another room if I don't position it correctly and even then with a headset I can hear it if I max my volume lol. The cardroid setting just targets a specific area more than other areas of the microphone, the microphone will still be able to pick up other sounds around it just not as much as the where it's directed. I don't even point my Yeti towards my controller or my keyboard and it will still pick it up, fortunately with the right positioning I can reduce that a fair bit to a point that you'd only really hear it if you wore headphones to listen to the video or unless I type like a mad man. But again, it will pick up background noise some you can eliminate via editing, some you can't. DTHJoe uses the Snowball microphone if you want to check out his channel and see how it sounds, listen with your normal speakers and then your headset to get an idea.

 

[MrGeorge]

Okay I think now I understand the situation. I heard DTHJoe and I can hear some keyboard sound but just minimum and not annoying at all. I suppose I am going to give it a try. Thanks a lot for the help.

 

[RedFox]

I used to use Setting 2 on the Snowball which is Cardiod -10DB and had it quite close to my face, it picked a little of background noise still but not much.