College Student Looking At Blue Snowball Lecture Recording

Which Snowball Should I get if it's right for me?

  • The Blue Snowball Ball White

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • The Blue Snowball Ball Gloss Black

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • The Blue Snowball Ball Brushed Aluminum

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Don't get the Blue Snowball (I hope you don't choose this)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
B

BrioCloud

New member
Hi. I am a college student falling behind in his classes. =/ I am looking to purchase the Blue Snowball to record my lectures to hopefully go over again so I can do better in the class. I was watching review clips of the Blue Snowball and it sounds EXTREMELY great. I'd also like to record some of my own podcasts and I don't need anything better than the Blue Snowball. The style is also a plus. However, I have not found any reviews on the student side of recording lectures. How well can it record from the student seats? The room is a large lecture hall. My professors all have mics on their shirt which emits through these speakers that makes it sound like his voice is right next to you, even if you're sitting in the corner. I'm not sure if that would explain to you what kind of sound I'm getting. But I was wondering if the Blue Snowball can pick the lectures up just as well as if it was close up and in a small room. Or are there better alternatives? I really do like this Blue Snowball.

If it is right for me, what color should I get? Also, I'm planning on placing the snowball in the seat next to me, yes it does take up a seat, but as of now, my classes are not very full, hopefully nobody glares at me for taking an extra seat in the future.

I am anxious for some feedback. Thank you.
 
Last edited:
What type of device would you be recording with?
A laptop? macbook? if so, which software?
Or are you using an ipod or mp3 player?

If your using an ipod i seen they have some cool mics that get good reviews for this kind of thing:

http://www.bluemic.com/mikey/


Also, maybe it would be an idea to ask if you can plug into their PA system to record the lecture? this would give you the best sound possible and you just need to record from left/right ports on the mixer, this is if your using a laptop i suppose..
 
Hi. Thanks for the response. I will be connecting the USB of the Blue Snowball to my laptop. Do you have any experience with it recording lectures? I have an iTouch, let me see if those microphones have acceptable recordings. I think they do have a machine to edit audio, is there an usb there for me to plug in the Blue Snowball in there?

Edit: I took a look, and it seem that the Blue Snowflake is much better option for me. It can go right on top of my laptops. But I want a snowball. =[ Does anybody know about the Snowflake?
 
Last edited:
Well you gotta realize that the recording is going to differ depending on where you are sitting in the room!
If you sit too far away things are going to get pretty quiet in your recordings, and if you sit the mic on a seat and not facing the sound source then its going to also me a lot more quiet.

I would say that using your ipod to record would be a much better idea as its easy to set up and would do the job.

Also, if you plug in a microphone to their mixer that isnt going to record the audio... its going to just add an extra mic to their system! the thing recording the audio is your laptop or ipod..

IF you wish to plug into their pa system you will need an interface rather than a microphone, if your only going to be using it for this and nothing else at all there there is very cheap options out there for you!
Now they have cables that go from 1/4 inch to USB at really cheap prices.
 
I see, but like I said my lecterers are speaking through mics and the speakers make their voices as if it was right infront of you. So positions don't quite matter. I'd fear the Snowflake would not pick up the sound as well as the Snowball. So I was hoping the snowball can do it's job but I'm not sure so I'm posting here for your expertise.
 
Well..... It doesn't sound ideal. You could record sound with a microphone, so that's not an issue.

Using a laptop injects a few whoas into the mix. How long is the lecture vs. How long does the laptops battery last while powering an external USB device. Not to mention the time it takes to boot, open a recording application and start recording. There goes 10% of the information that'll be on the test. If the recording application dies because your battery runs out, do you retain your recording, or loose it all? Did you forget to push record? Are you running windows and it's not Thursday and not raining? Is your mic positioned between 100+ peoples belly buttons, or elevated high enough to get above the crowd? Factor in that it's easier to pick out certain sounds in a noisy environment with a stereo image. And other ways to get a better recording. You certain could use said snowball. Wether or not you get a desired result??? anybody's guess.

For the time money and hassle you'd probably be better off with Zoom H2 or H4(n) type device. Probably that $50 voice recorder off the shelf at best buy would work to some degree. Or a $10 electret that plugs right into your computers mic port. Or even that built in mic that comes with a lot of laptops. Not that having said recordings means that you'll listen to said recordings before test time. Although playing them while you sleep might have better odds of obsorbtion by osmosis than the book under the pillow. Not to imply good odds.
 
At the last two posts, my lecture hall seating gives me a clear view of the professor. But I do stress that my lecturer has a mic that makes him sound as if he is everywhere. The classes that I attend never makes any noise and is dead silence. For the two other options that you have given me, the boundary mic, and the cheaper options, doesn't sound seem as high quality. For only about 10-20 more expensive, I thought the SnowBall would be a better investment. While the Zoom H4N is $299! However, it seems as you guys do not have experience with the SnowBall recording in this type of setting, which I'm really trying to get. I want the SnowBall to hopefully record my professors as if he was up close to the microphone. Of course to a degree, it won't be exact. It seems to me that it can either do just fine recording it, or it would be quiet recording it. I don't really remember how loud his speaker is, but I feel that I can hear him exactly as loud, ANYWHERE in the room, due to the speakers. Not to mention I always sit in front.

EDIT: Most importantly maybe this question would be more easier to answer. How can the SnowBall record voice when it is far away, yet at still very audible?

Thank you guys for your comments and suggestions, it is much appreciated.
 
BrioCloud said:
At the last two posts, my lecture hall seating gives me a clear view of the professor. But I do stress that my lecturer has a mic that makes him sound as if he is everywhere.
Click to expand...

The mic doesn't do that, the speakers the mic is connected to do. Where are those speakers? Above you in the ceiling?

The Snowball isn't a magical mic, it's just a somewhat directional condenser microphone. If you aim it away from the speakers in the ceiling, it will try to reject the sound coming from the speakers. So you need to aim the mic at the speakers.

Boundary mics don't need to be aimed, and they will use the surface of your desk to get some free acoustic gain. That's a clever trick the Snowball can't do, at least very well.

If you told me you only wanted to podcasts, I'd say, yeah, get the Snowball. The boundary mics would be terrible for the typical podcast. The Snowball will work OK for recording your class, but it isn't a magic bullet that makes everything sound wonderful, you still need to think about how to position it.

The classes that I attend never makes any noise and is dead silence.
Click to expand...

I can't say I really believe that. Your mind is an extremely powerful processor that filters out environmental noise, but that trick only works when you are there. When you hear the playback, you'll hear all kinds of noises you didn't hear live.

I want the SnowBall to hopefully record my professors as if he was up close to the microphone. Of course to a degree, it won't be exact. It seems to me that it can either do just fine recording it, or it would be quiet recording it. I don't really remember how loud his speaker is, but I feel that I can hear him exactly as loud, ANYWHERE in the room, due to the speakers. Not to mention I always sit in front.
Click to expand...

Again, this is a function of your brain's internal filter and not so much what you will get in a recording. You won't get the same sound as if you close-miced the professor with the Snowball. Laws of physics prevent that; there are several phenomena at play. You can get a perfectly good recording though.

EDIT: Most importantly maybe this question would be more easier to answer. How can the SnowBall record voice when it is far away, yet at still very audible?
Click to expand...

It can't. In a free field, reflection-free environment, sound will lose intensity with the square of distance. Reality inside a classroom is a bit more complicated, but bottom line is that the nature of the sound will change the further you get from the source. Of course, your source is the speaker over your head and not the professor, so it's not so bad.

If the classroom was done well acoustically. If not, there will be lots of competing signals and annoying reflections from all of the other speakers in the room. So find a seat that is as directly under a speaker as possible.

The other thing that happens as sound intensity from the source diminishes is that noise from other sources is still pretty much all around you. So the signal to noise ratio degrades, which means it's harder to hear prof over the guy next to you popping his bubblegum.

Some mics trying to overcome that limitation with very narrow pickup patterns ("shotgun" mics). They don't pick up sound any better in front than other microphones, they are just really good at rejecting noise from the sides. The result is improved signal to noise ratio. The Snowball, however, is a somewhat but not very directional microphone, so it's nowhere near as good as a shotgun mic would be for that purpose.

Again, if there is a speaker above your head, this is not a huge problem. Aim your Snowball at the speaker.
 
I mention the Zoom, because you're not factoring in the costs of said laptop. $300+ laptop + $75 mic, the zoom is still cheaper from a certain POV. Laptops are problematic. They can be used for this purpose and they will function for the most part. But you drop your bag on the way to class, laptop broke, game over. Some one steals your laptop. Or you're just mid-upgrade and your OS and/or recording application is rendered inert. A zoom being a dedicated device using flash storage (no moving parts) is relatively immune to most of those, except being stolen. Not to mention probably dusting your laptop in terms of battery life and other conveinences. Just another option to consider. Among MANY options.

Sound is directional. Sound tapers off fast with distance. Some mics amplify this tendencies, some try not to. You use a mic to record and you will record something as long as all of the IF's are met. As far as what you record, the world is a noisy place. It's even possible for some mics to record things not sound related. cell phone handshakes, the campus radio station, all of the electronic chatter in an active computer room. Oh, it's a technical college and you're in proximity of a proton accellerator?

Unless you monitor while recording you'll never know what if anything got recorded until it's too late. The Zoom type devices make this action easy. Laptops might find it a fair bit more difficult to do such things. And might even negatively affect the recording when trying to do so. Just some things to consider. A boundary mic on a desk, hard mounted to the floor, some A/C or generator type device sending vibrations through out the structure of the building, while it may not generate a lot of noise in your room, a sensitive mic sans shock mounts will record that motion. It MIGHT even be all that you can make out of all of the sounds that were available to record. The world is a noisy place, you'll realize this quickly when you start recording.

http://www.bluemic.com/snowball/

It looks to be directional. Even with the amplified speaker, point it the wrong way and it's 75% the guy snoring behind you, and 25 % speaker. Or if you don't have a clear line of sight from where the MIC is to the sound SOURCE. What's that your mic is on your shoe or in your bag and there's a desk with a front on it blocking the line of sight? That mic also looks to have a rather steep low end rolloff, is your lecturer a low bass voice? Obviously worst case scenarios, but something to consider. Not all mics are suited for all things. One other thing to consider, are you going to mount that mic to your laptops LCD? Do you know how much interference that device can add to a recording? Given worst case scenario, unshielded cable, draped along the back of the LCD, something video-ish playing on screen (screen saver / waveform representations of what's being recorded / timer). So many ways to not quite get it right first time out. Or second, or third, or.......
 
Mshilarious and Shadow_7 I have carefully read your arguments about the BlueSnowball. And the source of the speakers are indeed on the ceiling. If I did get it, I would hope to point it at the ceiling. I don't know how well the room is built acoustically, but from my ears, the voice of my professor doesn't sound like it's coming from the ceiling at all.

I understand the problems that may occur, but dropping it, stealing it, battery life of my laptop doesn't quite play into my factors of choosing a microphone.

Hey maybe this would help! I have tried to record the lecture from my laptop's mic. Of course the quality is not as good, but here is how it sounded like. It is completely audible to my surprise...it just has that constant weird buzz like a vcr is playing next to it. So. I was thinking. If my cheap laptop mic is recording it with audible voice AND it's pointing BEHIND ME, then the Blue Microphone, if pointed towards my lecturer, and is so much better, can pick it up quite nicely?

You can download a ~10mb file of my lecture recorded through my laptop's mic. You can hear me typing:

http://www.mediafire.com/?hoizdinmznh

The reason why I want the BlueSnowball, is that it's high quality up close is another way for me to use it, if I get the other options, it couldn't use it other than to record lectures.

Please take a listen at it, to maybe understand the setting that I am recording in, I hope it helps. Thank you.
 
Without listening, the buzz is probably mechanical noise from your laptop (fan) or maybe electrical noise. The microphone in your laptop is omnidirectional, so it doesn't particularly matter which way you point it.
 
So with the BlueMicrophone, I could put it on omnidirectional settings, and hopefully it would do just fine? Mshilarious, thank you for your patients with me.
 
Onboard / integrated soundcards have that buzz. Higher end gear / aftermarket soundcards have a lot less of it. That USB mic comes with MIC and SOUNDCARD (input only). ADC aka analog to digital converter. It will be better (without even listening to it). That's what started me down my gear trek. The other side of it is that USB mics don't have much in terms of resale value. While an interface plus XLR mic will likely run more cash, if you factor in buying used and selling at costs, it's technically cheaper. Moot if you plan on always having said gear, but still something to consider.

It'll do what you want it to do. Now if you were an instrumentalist wanting to work on tone and other attributes, you might find it equally as annoying as your laptops mic. But it will be better. (how could it be worse?) Not to imply ideal as when your neighbor or you ask a question it'll likely drown out level wise relative to what you intended to record. Maybe even clip depending on where you set the levels.
 
Shadow_7, yeah, if I wanted to get an even better microphone for podcasting and such the MXL 990, or Rode Podcaster or Heil PR-40 that I saw in the review with the Blue Microphone on Youtube. But either one does not allow me to use in a classroom lecture. Not to mention that the SnowBall is more than adequate for me to record Youtube videos. It sounds crystal clear to me.

I'm going to make a purchase and let you guys know the result of my lecture recordings. Hopefully it goes good. And hopefully with some studying, I can get my grades up. :( T_T
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top