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Blue Snowball Ice Microphone Echo

Tags:
  • Microphone
  • Audio
  • Skype
Last response: in Home Audio
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August 12, 2014 11:54:05 AM

I received my Blue Snowball iCE this morning and plugged it in for everything to work first time or so I thought. Upon joining Teamspeak or even Skype I've been informed that the microphone sounds to be echoing when placed away from me, by that I mean roughly a foot or less.

Whenever the microphone is close to me, which means right on top of me pretty much It's as clear as anything

Close: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/102374271/Close.wav
1ft: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/102374271/1ft.wav

Can anyone suggest what may be causing this? I was hoping to do some recording for YouTube but with that echo It's going to make it extremely difficult.

More about : blue snowball ice microphone echo

August 12, 2014 11:59:18 AM

Honestly I don't hear anything that is not expected from the ICE.
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August 12, 2014 12:00:35 PM

So that kind of echo is expected? I assume I would be best off upgrading to the Snowball or Yeti then?
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August 12, 2014 12:10:09 PM

I've recently bought the Yeti myself after reviewing the Snowball and ICE along side it. Is there a gain adjustment that can be made? Maybe use software to adjust your equalizer?

I know the Standard Snowball features an omnidirectional feature that you may never use. Though it does feature an "extended distance" cardioid setting with -10db pad. So you could turn the gain up and the 10 db pad will help keep the background noise down that might be attributing to your "echo".

Honestly it sounds like the difference is just the farther your mic is from your mouth the more you hear the room.
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August 12, 2014 12:12:10 PM

The standard Snowball is the iCE, the next one up has the omnidirectional function but there isn't any adjustment etc that I can make. My levels are at 100 and there's no way I can have it any closer to me than It already is. I'm also sat in a virtually silent room, I have my PC going but even that is far away enough that you can barely hear it.
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August 12, 2014 12:24:12 PM

I'd advocate getting some software then. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Audacity is great. Also consider treating your room for reverberations. Sound absorbing things like pictures/furniture help a lot. Drapes and or blankets on the walls help. In a worst case scenario get a sound screen to put behind you. One of the pro audio members here even advised me to use one of these.



and the Snowball is the standard the ICE is the "lite" version.
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August 12, 2014 1:17:42 PM

Audacity is what I used to record those clips above, I'm not entirely sure If there's anything I can do to improve It using that program but I'll give it a shot.

I may try switching to the Standard or the Yeti or even investing in a mount so that I'm able to have the microphone in front of me where It's needed rather than off to the right slightly.
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Best solution

August 12, 2014 1:31:06 PM

SwiiftYz said:
Audacity is what I used to record those clips above, I'm not entirely sure If there's anything I can do to improve It using that program but I'll give it a shot.

I may try switching to the Standard or the Yeti or even investing in a mount so that I'm able to have the microphone in front of me where It's needed rather than off to the right slightly.


I bought a wind filter and an opposable boom arm for mine, it helps keep it closer for quality sound.
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August 13, 2014 6:18:39 AM

I'm going to invest in a boom arm myself, however trying to find one I'm 100% sure will fit with the Snowball iCE is another matter.
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August 13, 2014 9:03:31 AM

SwiiftYz said:
I'm going to invest in a boom arm myself, however trying to find one I'm 100% sure will fit with the Snowball iCE is another matter.


Most of the time you can google the size of the thread pattern and male/female type and then buy an adapter. My Yeti was 5/8 internal Female (us standard), but the boom arm was 3/8 (European standard) Male. So I got a 2 pack of "On Stage MA300 5/8-Inch Male to 3/8-Inch Female Knurled 2 Piece Mic Adapter" online. The build quality for the adapter was junk but it worked well enough and only cost $1.

Word of advice. Do yourself a favor and get a quality boom arm. If you ever plan on moving it or adjusting on the fly the cheap ones are worthless. I'm almost ready to augment mine to become more user friendly and I've only had it a few days!
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August 13, 2014 9:14:31 PM

I was planing on moving it or adjusting on the fly the cheap ones are worthless, so what should i do?
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August 13, 2014 9:38:28 PM

spend more than 50 bucks on an arm. Anything under and you risk your mic and possibly your monitor depending on how it might swing when it gives at a knuckle.
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August 14, 2014 10:29:59 AM

That second one looks to be decent. Shock mount maybe if you have vibration issues now. Pop filter is a must.
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