The Blue Yeti is one of the most popular microphones for podcasting! Its affordable price, versatility, and ease of use makes it a great choice for many applications. However, you may be surprised to know that it’s commonly used incorrectly, or not to its full potential!
The most common mistake made with the Yeti is speaking into the “top” of the microphone, as is done with most traditional microphones. However, the Blue Yeti is a side-address microphone, meaning you speak into the side of it.
While the Yeti does have various settings, or “pickup patterns” which determine the direction(s) it picks up sound from, none of them include the top of the microphone.
This graphic from the Blue Microphones website indicates exactly how the Yeti should be spoken into when recording a solo podcast:
If you’re using the Yeti for more complex setups such as in-person interviews with one or more people, you can refer to the below graphic from Blue Microphones to understand which setting will be optimal.
For solo recordings, you should always choose Cardioid mode to reduce ambient noise and echo, and capture the clearest recording of your voice.
Bidirectional mode is good for one-on-one interviews with you on one side of the mic and your guest on the other.
Omnidirectional mode is best reserved for situations where more than 2 people are being recorded. Note that omnidirectional mode will also pick up the most noise and echo, as opposed to if each person had their own microphone, so in these situations you will want to find the absolute quietest room possible.
Tip: USB microphones such as the Blue Yeti are NOT designed to be used with more than 1 at a time. If you’re considering buying multiple Yetis and connecting them all to one computer, or using multiple computers to record with multiple Yetis in the same room, you will almost certainly run into massive problems making your audio unusable. Please contact East Coast Studio for more information regarding recording setups.
