Logitech has boldly entered into a professional microphone class dominated by well-known manufacturers and comes out smelling like a rose: its Blue Sona hits each notice.
Contemplating what number of skilled content material creators there are, you’d count on the class {of professional} studio microphones could be an extremely crowded area. Flick through a catalog of audio tools, and your suspicions would appear confirmed, because of a seemingly infinite listing of dynamic XLR microphones for voice recording with costs starting from under $100 to across the $10,000 vary.
Oddly although, from the 1000’s of accessible microphones, just a few are thought of so well-designed as to be ubiquitous. Peek into recording cubicles, soundstages, radio stations, and, extra not too long ago, the units of YouTubers, and just some mics stand out.
One of the vital venerable microphones is the Shure SM7B. This unassuming microphone was legendarily used to create Michael Jackson’s Thriller and lots of extra Grammy-winning albums. A stratospheric value could be anticipated from a mic that’s the favourite of audio professionals and has received so many accolades, but it surely as a substitute prices an affordable $350.
Till now, Logitech has targeted its audio efforts on the identical streaming gaming phase the place its mice and keyboards dominate. The corporate is wanting upstream, and the brand new Logitech Blue Sona might be seen as both an homage to the Shure SM7B or a conspicuously related product.
Both by inspiration or conspicuous replication, what Logitech has performed with the Blue Sona is create a mic with properties almost similar to the Shure SM7B however noticeably simpler to get arrange. It succeeds, as in my checks of the Blue Sona proved to be an exceptionally easy-to-use and excellent-sounding microphone.
An XLR Dynamic Tremendous-Cardioid Microphone
The Blue Sona is an XLR dynamic super-cardioid microphone. A brilliant-cardioid microphone has a minimal space of sensitivity, making it splendid for sounds coming from a particular path whereas equally good for rejecting sounds from different areas.
This restricted pickup space makes it an ideal alternative for conditions the place a single particular person or instrument must be recorded, with any off-axis (not in entrance of the mic) noise rejected.
In apply, such a microphone is right for conditions the place audio coming from something apart from the topic is undesirable. One such surroundings is the standard soundstage or YouTube recording studio, the place the mic can faithfully reproduce sounds from the first consumer however reject echoes, background noise, lawnmowers, and so on.
In audio phrases, this capabilities like a polarizer, a filter that enables solely gentle from a particular path to hit the sensor.
The Blue Sona is an XLR mic (the connector most well-liked by audio engineers) with a frequency response of 40 Herz to 18 KiloHerz, that works with both +24V or +48V phantom energy. (For the audio wonks, the mic has a sensitivity of 20.97 mV/Pa @ 1KHz, a THD+N of 0.06% at 1Khz, 94 dBSPL, a S/N ratio of 69.9 dB a-wt, and Max Spl of 129 dB SPL @ 1% THD and 138 dB SPL @ 5%
Design and Construct High quality
Whereas most microphones function with out ever being seen or observed by their viewers, YouTube and video podcasters have their mic entrance and middle within the body.
Logitech will need to have had this in thoughts when it designed the Blue Sona, because the microphone is a extra sculpted and barely extra buff mic than the Shure SM7B. Edges on the Blue Sona are rounded and clean on the whole thing of the all-metal mic and mic arm. Solely the adjustment knob is plastic.
Even the Logitech Blue Compass, the companion increase arm each the Blue Sona and for Logitech’s different gamer-and-lifestyle-centric creators, is clean, sculpted, and appears like a robotic arm in a complicated manufacturing plant of the long run.
Not like any opponents, Logitech affords the mic in a black or white end, with the white mannequin being notably eye-catching. The corporate has acknowledged that many YouTubers make their mics part of the set, centering consideration round them almost as a lot as across the expertise.
Whereas I reviewed the black mannequin, I a lot most well-liked the look of the white Blue Sona, as there’s nothing prefer it on anybody’s channel. The black and white fashions include a black or a crimson wind cowl, and I paired my black mic with the crimson sock, and it regarded good however inferior to I feel the white would have regarded.
Sadly the Blue Compass arm comes solely in black, and whereas it’s not an enormous challenge, I feel a microphone with a pronounced white coloration design deserves an equally distinctive mic stand.
Logitech additionally opted for utilizing magnets, whereas different firms use friction or latches to carry issues in place. The microphone’s wind cowl has a small magnetic connector at its base, holding the cap firmly on the mic, and there’s a rear door utilizing magnets to carry a plate over a pair of switches.
These switches are the one bodily controls for the audio on the Blue Sona, with one being a high-pass filter management and the opposite being a toggle for Presence. Regardless that these don’t want frequent entry, it’s good to have a quick and visibly clear technique to entry these controls.
In Use
The Shure SM7B has issues about its use which can be notable. The primary is that getting the sound dialed in is a bit finicky, and the second is that when it’s arrange accurately, it offers one of the best audio in its class.
There are YouTube movies on organising the SM7B which can be dozens of minutes lengthy, and a number of other movies exist explaining why different movies have their setup procedures mistaken. Even Shure’s supplies have content material debunking “myths” concerning the SM7B.
Logitech got down to make a microphone for the creator who has no need to indicate off a level in audio engineering. The Blue Sona works admirably when plugged in and fed acceptable phantom energy, and the 2 on-body switches are sufficient to tailor the sound to the wants of the vast majority of customers.
Probably the most cumbersome a part of the setup was deciding on which XLR to USB-C audio interface I wished to make use of to manage the Blue Sona enter. I went with a deck from M-Audio, although a brand new management from Elgato referred to as the Wave XLR might be a greater possibility for anybody seeking to do streaming or reside broadcasting. The Wave XLR makes use of the corporate’s proprietary software program to combine computer-generated seems like system and recreation audio into the identical stream because the microphone, balancing all of them out for excellent-sounding recreation streaming.
Sound
The Logitech Blue Sona sounds wonderful, even with out an EQ or soundboard. The Shure SM7B has a deeper tonality, however the Blue Sona out of the field sounds adequate to go straight into manufacturing.
Akin to RAW recordsdata from cameras, it’s doable to take any high quality mic and tweak it to sound precisely as you’d like, and the Blue Sona is adaptable to a variety of EQ modifications and audio results; I spent a day messing round with audio presets in Ultimate Minimize Professional and GarageBand and might even now make a really correct Normal Grevious impression.
There isn’t a noise ground on the Blue Sona that I can detect, and in any respect however the highest enter acquire, there’s no audible noise within the audio stream. I often maintain the mic inside six inches or so of my mouth. Nevertheless, with my checks for the video evaluation above, I discovered I may maintain the Blue Sona as much as three toes away and, with out adjusting acquire, improve the degrees sufficient for useable audio with out clipping or introducing harsh background noise.
This may permit me to make use of the Blue Sona on a extra prolonged increase arm in photographs the place I don’t need a microphone within the body however need a backup or presumably a main audio supply.
My main studio mic is a RODE Wi-fi Go II lav microphone, which I take advantage of for numerous causes, however primarily as a result of it’s far more versatile than a corded mic — I can transfer round throughout my recordings and never fear if I’ve strayed too removed from the candy spot on a increase mic. I additionally just like the Wi-fi Go II because it offers a wonderful impartial audio supply, which doesn’t want a variety of post-production work to get dialed in.
My studio remains to be basically not sound-treated, so there’s an excellent quantity of echo, and the Wi-fi Go II, being mounted near my physique, does an excellent job rejecting most leeway echo. Nonetheless, the Blue Sona does a good higher job, regardless of being open to the room.
One factor the Wi-fi Go II does that the Blue Sona doesn’t do is deal with plosives properly. The Blue Sona suffers from some points with plosive sounds, though primarily when the mic is shut. Including an additional inch to the mic distance and choosing up the degrees in software program on an EQ board can resolve this. Nonetheless, it’s laborious to know if one is way sufficient from the mic to be experiencing popping with out having the ability to put on headphones throughout recording, one thing most YouTubers can’t do.
A plosive display — in any other case often known as a pop filter — eliminates this challenge, as does transferring the mic again a bit, however make sure to get the acquire low sufficient that no hiss or noise is launched to recuperate that distance.
Hitting Each Be aware
If you happen to’re a creator — particularly a YouTube creator, streamer, or podcaster — the Logitech Blue Sona is almost unattainable to beat when you think about its value, design, and efficiency. It has the good thing about being barely higher wanting on-camera than the extraordinarily fashionable Shure SM7B, with just about similar efficiency. It’s an amazing mic.
Are There Options
As talked about beforehand, the Shure SM7B is the closest, and for some would be the better option in comparison with the Blue Sona. You can additionally contemplate the extremely-popular RODE NT1, a large-diaphragm condenser mic with a much less related design to the Blue Sona than the SM7B. The NT1 does get pleasure from being cheaper than the Shure or the Logitech, but it surely requires a distinct setup as properly. Another choice, for those who don’t wish to take care of XLR, is the RODE NT-USB+.
Ought to You Purchase It?
Sure, so long as you don’t already personal a Shure SM7B. The Logitech Blue Sona is pretty much as good because the Shure, not higher, and the 2 units are so related sounding as to make it a poor alternative to interchange a functioning Shure mic.
Disclaimer: David Schloss was previously in control of media relations for Sony’s Alpha Public Relations company. Whereas this makes him extra aware of the system, his opinions are his personal, are backed by PetaPixel’s editorial workforce, and usually are not swayed both for or in opposition to the corporate. Earlier to his time with Sony, Schloss racked up extra 20 years of journalistic expertise and he takes his integrity severely.
