In the quest for good quality audio, I tried out more than a few microphones. I decided that a USB mic would be a good route to go for my voiceovers, and began my search for the best one, at a reasonable price. This search lead me to Blue Microphone’s retro-cool model, the Snowball.

The package arrived, and I unpacked this piece of creatively-designed hardware. It was a bit larger than I expected, but its size actually gives it a more substantial, professional feel during recording. (I kind of felt like one of those old-time radio announcers!) I plugged it into my Mac G5 tower, and, just like that, I was ready to record… no driver installation needed.

Now, since I was working on my G5, not my Intel MacBook Pro, I couldn’t run Adobe Soundbooth to record my audio, so I used Audacity, which worked great. I was able to record my voiceovers, then move them over to my MacBook for some final editing in Soundbooth. (I used setting ’1′ on the mic and found it gave me the best quality for voice recording.) One thing I should note: I did have some trouble with a hissing background noise when using the Snowball on my MacBook. After much research, I determined that the MacBook USB ports just don’t give the Snowball enough power to get the clean audio I was getting on my G5.

I definitely recommend the Snowball if you’re looking for high quality sound on a desktop Mac (or PC). With its adjustable pattern settings (cardioid, cardioid with -10dB pad and omni), its a good mic for a variety of uses.