Are you looking for a truly decent and reliable USB condenser microphone? Such equipment is crucial if you are a very busy and mobile person, and your job requires a mic that can be brought along throughout the day. For such case, Samson Go Mic and Blue Snowball are two feasible choices. Both products are heavily popular on the market, each boasting lots of positive reviews from the users. In a prior article, we have ever compared Samson Go Mic to the sibling of Blue Snowball, Blue Yeti, as well. Since Blue Yeti is also a USB condenser mic, don’t forget to take a look at the article as well!
Design
For sure, both Samson Go Mic and Blue Snowball are very compact, lightweight, and portable. Even so, of course, they are designed quite differently and distinctively. Samson Go Mic is rectangular-shaped and is slim enough to allow you to easily slip it into your pocket or any spare space available in your pocket. It comes with a clip stand that allows you to clip it to a laptop or stand comfortably on a desk.
On the other hand, Blue Snowball, as the name suggests, is shaped like a ball. Thus, it is perhaps quite bulky and not convenient to be put in your pocket. It comes with a detachable foot stand. The foot stand is also foldable for easy and convenient storage and travel.
Technical Specs
| Samson Go Mic | Blue Snowball |
|---|---|
| -Type: Condenser Microphone | - Transducer Type: Condenser, Pressure Gradient With USB digital output |
| -Frequency Response 20 - 18000 Hz | - Frequency Response: 40 –18 kHz |
| - 16-bit, 44.1kHz resolution | - Sample/word Rate: 44.1 kHz/16 bit |
| - Item Weight: 8 ounces | - Item Weight: 1.8 pounds |
| - Product Dimensions 6 x 1 x 5 inches | - Product Dimensions 10.6 x 9.1 x 5.5 inches |
Feature
Both models offer multiple polar patterns. Samson Go Mic can be set cardioid or omnidirectional, depending on the task at hand. A cardioid polar pattern will focus capturing sounds coming from the front, while slightly attenuating the sides and significantly attenuating the rear. An omnidirectional polar pattern picks up sounds from all angles. On the other hand, Blue Snowball also has both cardioid mode and omnidirectional mode, but there is a switchable -10dB pre-attenuation pad in the cardioid mode, allowing you to capture loud sounds with more fidelity. Both Samson Go Mic and Blue Snowball are USB-powered. They consume power directly via the USB connection, so they have no battery to recharge.
Sound Quality
Both Samson Go Mic and Blue Snowball both record in 16-bit/44.1-kHz resolution. Even though a lot of people initially thought that Blue Snowball has better audio quality due to the slightly higher price, this is not always the case. Putting the two models to real tests, Samson Go Mic has proven to deliver better sounds than Blue Snowball. The sounds are clearer, more accurate, more articulate. Apparently, the issue with Blue Snowball is due to the shorter frequency response range. Blue Snowball only has a frequency response range of 40 Hz – 18 kHz. The bass seems to slightly muddle the mids and highs. On the other hand, Samson Go Mic has a frequency response range of 20 Hz – 18 kHz. The bass is more solid and does not get muddled with mids and highs as much.
Samson Go Mic vs Blue Snowball
Conclusion
Even though Blue Snowball has a -10dB pre-attenuation pad, the other aspects are not as good as Samson Go Mic. For the most convenient design and the best recording quality, Samson Go Mic is the way to go.