Blue Yeti X review

If you’ve researched what microphone to get for your computer, chances are good that someone somewhere has told you to look at the Blue Microphones Yeti. It’s everywhere—as the consensus pick for most USB microphone needs, you’ll see it on streams, YouTube, and in the homes of many amateur voice actors. But this year, Blue released a yoked-up version of its flagship consumer mic: the Yeti X.

Editor’s note: this Blue Yeti X review was updated on August 11, 2022, to update formatting, add an FAQ section, and include the JOBY Wavo POD as an alternative.

What’s the Blue Yeti X like?

The Blue Yeti X is a desktop USB microphone offering beefier components than you’d usually find in its competitors. That’s probably why its predecessor, the Yeti, is so popular among the at-home recording crowd. Not only is the Yeti reasonably inexpensive, but it also offers recording results that are slightly worse than those of a more studio-appropriate microphone. Say what you want about USB mics, but they get you about 90% of the way to “good” recordings if you want to get started without a ton of cash. Just like photography, the skill and experience of the performer and mixer are vastly more important than the equipment you use. A mic is a tool that won’t do all the work for you but will treat you right, provided you put the time in.

Once you’ve set up the Blue Yeti X, you will want to speak directly at it and not into the top. That’s because the diaphragms are aimed at the front, sides, and back instead of outward like you might see with microphones on TV. This allows the microphone to be used in several different ways, even if it makes placement a little different than you may be used to. If you find yourself switching between podcasting, streaming, and recording multiple people at once, you will use the pickup pattern selector well. You might be wondering how a microphone can change its pickup pattern, but the way that the Yeti X does it is pretty clever. Inside the microphone are four different capsules, all pointed in different directions. By enabling some capsules and not others, the mic can work in ways a normal single-capsule mic cannot.

On the front of the unit is a gain dial with lights to show you both how loud you’re currently speaking and the level of gain applied. You can also push the dial-in to mute yourself when you need to on calls—or during a livestream if you don’t want your thousands of followers to hear your neighbors fighting or someone else embarrassing you somehow.

The bottom of the Blue Yeti X is home to the mounting socket, the 3.5mm port (for monitoring), and the micro USB port. This is pretty standard for the prosumer USB mic, but it’s no less appreciated. In my recording, the mounting socket is essential because I use a mic shield for most of my at-home recordings in order to combat echoes and other unwanted sounds.

How do you set up the Blue Yeti X?

Plug the micro-USB cable into the bottom of the microphone, and set your input on the computer to the Yeti X. Should you need to monitor your input, there’s also a headphone jack on the bottom of the unit on the opposite side of the USB port. That’s it! You’re done setting up.

However, there are a few optional things to discuss. For example, the socket at the bottom of the capsule allows you to use a mic stand with the Yeti, so you don’t have to use the included metal stand if you don’t want to. I personally like using a mic shield at my desk so no echoes reach the microphone when I’m recording the SoundGuys podcast.

Additionally, you could install the Logitech GHub and Sherpa utilities to do things like equalize your voice without a DAW—a dedicated piece of software to edit your recordings—change the LED behavior, or use voice presets to change your effects on the fly.

What do the lights on the front of the Blue Yeti X mean?

When you first start using the Blue Yeti X, you’ll see a ring of small LEDs around the volume knob, along with a solid ring embedded in the knob itself. While these can be a little confusing initially, getting the hang of it is pretty simple.

If you install the Logitech GHub utility, you can customize these all, of course. The idea is simple: if you need to customize your setup for a stream, Blue wants you to be able to do that. You can change the colors on all the LEDs and even load up vocal presets to

What pickup pattern should you use?

On the back of the Yeti X you’ll notice a toggle that cycles through these weird little icons. These icons describe pickup patterns. While you may end up just setting one and forgetting about it, each option has a use case in mind, so remember this handy-dandy table if you need some guidance.

If you’re recording yourself speaking, I’d suggest setting the cardioid pattern and calling it a day. That setting does the best for noise rejection and signal quality if you’re the only thing you’re trying to capture. The other pickup patterns are more appropriate for multiple speakers and capturing ambient sound in your room.

What does the Blue Yeti X sound like?

Because of the fairly narrow applications you’d use the Yeti X for, doing our typical testing suite seems unfair. In fact, it’s beyond unfair: it may lead you to think that it’s not a very good mic. So we won’t pit this against the Shure SM7b or Electro Voice RE20. Instead, I recorded a podcast with the Yeti X to give you a feel for the sound quality it’s capable of.

You can probably hear that the Yeti X still has minor difficulties with plosives and fricatives (p, ph, f, s, sh, z sounds) like any microphone, and that’s because I used it with nothing special out of the box. I recorded in my empty kitchen with lots of hard, flat, granite, and tile surfaces—basically, a worst-case scenario for an at-home recorder. If you want to make sure you don’t come across these issues in your own recordings, there’s quite a lot you can do with some prep time. I didn’t get a chance to record outside, but that might be for the best.

Blue Yeti X (omnidirectional) microphone demo:

Blue Yeti X (cardioid) microphone demo:

You can hear some bits and bobs here and there, but on the whole, the Yeti X handled itself well, even in a monstrously crappy recording situation. Usually, I need to break out my comparatively insensitive Telefunken M80 to deal with less-than-ideal environments like a trade show or an untreated room, but the Yeti X did pretty well (if you were unable to listen to the sample above).

Should you buy the Blue Yeti X?

Suppose you’re looking to get recordings of your own voice. In that case, you should probably take a good long look at the Yeti X. While it’s not going to give you better results than a dedicated studio setup, it’ll give you a rather frustration-free experience while giving you the control you need to squeeze as much quality as you can out of a USB microphone. Streamers will find a good ally in the Yeti X.

If the Blue Yeti X is on your radar it’s probably safe to assume that you’re looking for a step up from your Snowball, gaming headset mic, or cheap USB mic off of Amazon. In that light, you’ll be happy with the Yeti X. However, this isn’t the mic to buy if you’re trying to set up a professional recording studio, trying to record instruments, or make a living singing for the internet. This microphone is purpose-built for voice and interfacing with a PC.

What should you buy instead of the Blue Yeti X?

Regarding alternatives, you can get good results from the older Yeti, but you may also want to look at the HyperX QuadCast S for a comparably priced mic. The QuadCast S works pretty well, offers some similar features to the Yeti X, and even has software like the Yeti X. Though it isn’t a game-changing app by any means.

We also recommend the Shure MV7 for professionals and enthusiasts because it has an XLR and USB port. You can use these ports simultaneously to record a high-quality file from the XLR and a low-res file for redundancy’s sake. The mic houses a touch interface on its body that allows you to quickly adjust the gain or mute it all together. You can also use the Shure MOTIV app to customize the mic to your liking. If you don’t care for apps and just want an XLR input, you can save money with the Shure MV7X instead.

Another XLR-only option is the Logitech Blue Sona, which is pricier at $349, but it’s great for streamers and podcasters who want great recording audio. The super-cardioid pickup pattern is perfect for picking up only your voice and nothing else in the room, and the built-in signal booster ensures you don’t need a preamp.

Then there’s the smaller Blue Yeti Nano, a great budget pick at just $79 USD. You get two polar patterns (cardioid and omnidirectional) and can toggle between the modes directly from the back of the chassis. Another budget alternative is the JOBY Wavo POD, which is similarly straightforward to use, has two polar patterns (cardioid and bidirectional), and comes with a pop filter in the box too. For $99 USD, it’s a great cheap option for anyone starting out with recording.

Frequently asked questions about the Blue Yeti X