Blue Snowflake USB Microphone

I have not had a single issue with this mic. It was packaged great and the plastic travel cover works great as well. I can't hear my self on it, but my friends on skype said I sound great. I do believe it is all about positioning of the mic and keeping it as far from your speakers as possible. Mine sits about a foot away from my computer speakers and there is no interferance or vibration issues either.From a cosmetic standpoint, it is very sleek and pretty...well not pretty maybe but it has a clean techie look to it. I have a sleek 22 inch monitor and I can even put this on the top of it like was described in the details for a laptop which is very cool option if you have very limited desk space. I have plenty of space so I keep it down near my keyboard. Its good just to have options though. It does swivel pretty well and has a decent angle adjustment.My only tiny issue (definately not worth taking any stars off for) is that the cord it does come with is very short. Of course you can buy a longer one which I'd probably recommend off the jump if you are going to buy this. The reason for that is the unit over all is VERY light weight so with a short cable - the unit wants to face the direction of least resistance which isn't always the way you want it lol. If you have a longer cord you'd be able to have enough slack to prevent that from happening or if you want to you can run the cable behind your monitor etc. (this is coming from someone that has their tower right by thier feet on the left side and I have a standard height glass computer desk. I'd recommend getting a black cable. I'd think it would look better then the included white one. But that is pure preference lol. I like things to match and am very organized... a nice way of putting I have insane OCD :( Now that I think about it, I bet if you put some of those rubber little "footies" on the bottom of it, maybe the cord won't pull and reposition it so easily.The previous reviews regarding the cord and traveling case are accurate in my opinion. Basically there is a little sleeve that fits over the unit and the cord wraps around the mic itself in a coil. You have to get it nicely lined up and coil it tight to fit. It does fit, you just cannot try to rush and jam it all together or you will damage the mesh over the mic and if you get a larger cable for it, it will not fit, you'd have to pack up the cable seperate from the mic. The little plastic travel case (I'd rather think of it as a type of sleeve maybe" is a cream color, not silver like the unit itself. That doesn't concern me in the slightest but it might bug someone that will be traveling a lot with it (again...my OCD lol).Overall, I'm really happy I bought this and feel it is well worth the cost. I live paycheck to paycheck and weigh my purchases with that in consideration and I am not disappointed at all :) I opted for this over the snowball just for the size. I only use it only for playing WoW with my friends while on Skype and talking to my family that live in another state. For those purposes this was perfect for me. Fantastic quality, appropriately sized, and very sleek/stylish looking that goes well with my glass computer desk with black and sliver accessories and peripherals.Oh, and it is plug and play. I run Win7 and the directions that came with it were perfect. It basically just shows you how to get into your settings and select the mic as your primary output. They even tell you what it is called when the computer recognizes it which is pretty nice. Sometimes things show up that are called some pretty random stuff. This just shows up in my list as blue snowflake :)

I've had a heck of a time finding a microphone for my podcast and amateur singing efforts that 1) doesn't sound as if I'm talking on a low quality phone, 2) doesn't interact with my computer in such a way that there's a low hum in the background no matter what settings I use, and 3) is affordable. I sit at a desk when performing my audio tasks, so the size, form factor, and portability of such a device is not nearly as important to me as price and quality of function.I tried this microphone within about 20 minutes of receiving it. I babbled, I sang, I set it at a comfortable level upon my desk and at times leaned farther away or closer in to the device, doing a wide array of things while talking towards it. Replaying the file, I was much appeased by the resulting recording. For my use, it's perfect, with no detectable hum, and a clear rendering of my voice.I have mild hearing loss, so it's incredibly important to me that whatever I'm listening to be as clear as possible, as if I'm sitting across from someone who is narrating something or talking to me, rather than the fuzziness of a conversation over internet VOIP or a phone. This fit the bill very, VERY well. Sure, you can get even clearer quality if you spend enough money, but for my amateur purposes, this is well more than adequate.All of that said, this has a very specific purpose, being sat upon a surface 1-2 feet away from whomever is talking. I had my mic gain selected and still found my recording to be on the soft side. Subtle post-processing amplification will be necessary, but the quality is so crisp that it can withstand that small degradation, and the average listener won't even notice.I totally recommend this device for an audio podcaster who's prone to sitting while recording, or someone who's looking to record themselves singing. The Blue brand makes some really amazing quality microphones, and this low-end device fits that description very well. Placing the device closer to one's mouth will help with the volume, though you won't need to hold it as close to you as a standard condenser microphone.