I bought the Yeti to initialize my beginner/intermediate streaming setup. I also considered buying RODE, Audiotechnica, Shure, and more, but I ultimately went with the Yeti because of its stellar reputation and plug and play simplicity. Reviewers often say it takes a lot of work to make the Yeti sound good. This is true compared to your average gaming headset, but the sound quality improvements are SO rewarding. Frankly, it's less of a barrier than you might think. With a little tinkering and research, I found it to be quite easy.



Why Yeti and not Yeti Pro or something more intense? The truth is, no matter how good you sound through your system, the platform you utilize will downgrade the quality of your mic. For example, you may sound amazing on your own recording program but then mediocre on YouTube because it compresses your raw audio to fit within a certain khz threshold. You WILL sound better, but there's a point of diminishing returns. I think the price point of the Yeti is among the most competitive for what it offers.



•• That's nice, but how does it SOUND? ••



Amazing. It sounds amazing. Rich, warm, and robust are the words I choose. I went from using the microphone on my Logitech G35 to the Yeti. The difference is night and day. My wife's Sennheiser PC 350 mic also sounds thoroughly meh in comparison. To test, I recorded all in Audacity (free audio editing software). I've used "cheap" mics for years and years, and I just didn't think it made that much of a difference. Honestly, I was shocked how flat and robotic the gaming headset mics sounded compared to the Yeti. And keep in mind, these are $100+ headsets. However, you need to make certain considerations. Condenser mics pick up all sorts of sounds. Obviously, a room with muted acoustics is best. I don't have the best acoustics in my living room, but it still sounds awesome. I think this is largely due to my accessories that limit vibrations and movement, but it's also because of my placement (I'll go over my chosen accessories in a later section). I keep the Yeti a comfortable 6-12 inches from my face on Cardioid mode. Cardioid mode is what you'll likely use, as it captures sound from the area roughly in front of the mic.



••Speaking of Cardioid... Where Do I Speak? Into The Top? ••



You might think speaking directly into the top of the mic is correct, but you'd be dead wrong. Instead, you want the mic pointed mainly up or down (I have it down in my setup) with the side of the mic facing you. You can likely see in my picture, but there are many Youtube videos showing how to properly use the Blue Yeti. If you're at all confused, google it, and I promise you'll have it sorted without too much difficulty.



•• Setup and Accessories ••



Overall, I didn't find the setup that difficult, but I'll admit that's likely because I packaged it with most of its expensive accompaniments (

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My reasoning for the gear I picked was that I didn't want to mess around with customized adapters. I wanted things that simply worked together, so I paid a premium for them. However, they're all great accessories. The RODE PSA-1 doesn't move around at all. I can shove it out of my way after using, and it's perfectly fine. It's stupid easy to install, and I'm definitely glad I didn't mess around with a cheap arm. The RADIUS II shock mount nullifies vibrations from my mechanical keyboard, rambunctious cats, and all sorts of baby rage. Yes, it's expensive, but I purchased it because I live in a place where vibrations were guaranteed. If you don't have that problem, you may not need it. The pop filter was the only area I cheaped out on, and I think I got the best of the cheapies. The Nady does not sag or move at all, installs easily, and it does its pop filtery job perfectly.



•• Tips for Setup - Settings, etc ••



If you further research this mic, you'll learn that fiddling with settings is necessary in order to make it sound great over every medium. For example, I had to do a bit of extra work in Discord because my gain settings were messed up. I was cutting in and out, even though it was being picked up flawlessly in Audacity and OBS. Speaking of Audacity, I highly recommend downloading it. You can record yourself at your leisure to understand exactly how you sound coming out of Windows.



I was watching YouTube tutorials from 2014 and 2015 that were all saying, "YOU HAVE TO TURN DOWN THE GAIN IN WINDOWS," which is done by right clicking your sound device in your task bar, choosing recording device, right clicking into properties, and changing your levels. So I turned the Windows gain down right away, and surprise surprise, I was having issues with the mic being picked up. While that may have been needed in earlier versions of Windows, I suspect it's unnecessary on Windows 10. Regardless, what I did was leave the Windows gain at 100. I reduced the gain on the microphone's physical nob to somewhere between 25-35%. That's an estimation based on position. The point is, fiddle with it until you're not BLAAAAAHRRRR fog horn loud and you're not robotic. It doesn't take much experimentation to find a happy medium. If my recommendations don't work, there are SO many educational sources within googling distance, you'll definitely find a setup that works for you.



Specifically regarding Discord, I found the best results came from disabling the "Automatically determine sensitivity." Set it manually. It'll record you with pristine accuracy.



•• Is an Equalizer Necessary? ••



I personally like the raw output of the Yeti given my particular acoustic situation, but there are free software equalizers you can use to enhance almost every facet of your sound - particularly in capturing or pushing bass. One such program is called Voicemeeter. Amazon hates links, so I'll drop a link to a YouTube tutorial in this review's comments that goes over installation and setup. The YouTube fella might be a bit... intense, but he walks you through a simple way to enhance your sound. Once you've got it installed, I recommend messing around with it. Never take someone's settings as gospel. Again, Audacity is a huge benefit here.



•• Quick Note on Price ••



Consider that the price drops frequently on different colors. I went with Space Gray because it dropped to $129.99. Shop around, and you won't have to pay $150+.



•• Conclusion ••



I love the Yeti. I did a lot of research before buying it. I made sure every piece played nicely together. When I got all the parts, I simply put them together, plugged it all in, and boom... away I went. It took a few days to get the sound exactly where I'd like, so consider that you'll be tinkering with it for a bit. Either way, it's significantly better than what I had before. If you have any questions on the setup or really about anything, please leave a comment. I'll try my best to accommodate.



Update 03/04/2018: I've had the Yeti for just under a year now. I still love it. Zero issues. The Rode boom arm I talked about earlier is the absolute champion of my setup. I couldn't recommend it more. It hasn't moved in a year, and I only have it clamp mounted, not screw mounted, onto my desk. Countless streamers I watch use it, and I keep seeing it on TV shows when people are podcasting or doing radio shows. It's literally the boom arm they use in Trish Talk in Marvel's "Daredevil", and I've seen it pop up countless other places.



05/31/2020: Rode arm literally HAS NOT MOVED in 3 years with zero adjustments. Worth its weight in gold. The Yeti still crushes, and I'm triply happy.