This is the review of the comparison between two microphones from two popular brands. The comparison here is between the Blue Snowball iCE and the Samson Meteor. There is around twenty dollars difference in their price range but there is not a huge difference in their features. But for the price difference there arises a difference in their performances. To know which one is good to buy, got to the detailed review.
Blue Snowball iCE | Samson Meteor |
BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
PROS | PROS |
Delivers crisp audio in a cardioid recording pattern. Small enough to toss in a backpack. A significant improvement on a computer microphone. | Stylish and portable. The mic is extremely sensitive. It would pick up any sound. Nice design. Sounds great. |
CONS | CONS |
Lacks low and top-end, and is mainly mid-frequencies. Just one polar pattern. Mic stand doesn’t angle high enough for proper mouth alignment. | No gain control or analog output. It does not have a good noise cancellation feature. The high sensitivity of the mic makes it so that it picks up every sound. |
SPECIFICATIONS:
HEADER | BLUE SNOWBALL ICE | SAMSON METEOR |
Brand | Blue Microphones | Samson |
Product Line | Blue Microphones Snowball | Samson |
Model | iCE | Meteor Mic |
GENERAL | BLUE SNOWBALL ICE | SAMSON METEOR |
Manufacturer | Logitech | Samson Technologies Corp. |
Recommended Use | computer | computer, portable electronics |
MICROPHONE | BLUE SNOWBALL ICE | SAMSON METEOR |
Microphone Technology | electret condenser | electret condenser |
Microphone Operation Mode | cardioid | |
Sensitivity | ||
Microphone Power Source Voultage (DC) | 5 V | |
Frequency Response | 20 Hz | |
Signal-To-Noise Ratio | ||
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) | ||
Max Sound Pressure | 120 dB | |
Audio Input Details | Cardioid – 20 – 20000 Hz | |
Connectivity Technology | Wired | Wired |
AUDIO SYSTEM | BLUE SNOWBALL ICE | SAMSON METEOR |
Type | Microphone | Microphone |
Recommended Use | computer | computer, portable electronics |
Specific Applications | instrument, recording, vocal, voice | |
Additional Functions | extra headphone port, status indicator | |
Controls | mute, volume | |
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT | BLUE SNOWBALL ICE | SAMSON METEOR |
Component | ||
Width | 5.50 in | 1.9 in |
Depth | 9.10 in | 1.9 in |
Height | 10.60 in | 3.15 in |
Weight | 1.02 lbs | 9.28 oz |
FEATURES | BLUE SNOWBALL ICE | SAMSON METEOR |
Features | Custom condenser capsule offers crystal clear audio. Easy plug’n play directly to Mac or PC – no drivers to install. Adjustable desktop mic stand and USB cable. From desktop to laptop to iPad (with Apple’s iPad Camera Connection Kit). Adds HD audio to recordings for YouTube, SoundCloud or Myspace. Improves audio quality on Skype, Windows Live, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger. Records instruments, vocals or bands. Creates podcasts and adds narration to your home movies. | Professional USB microphone with 1″ Studio-quality Capsule. Fold-back legs provide optimal mic positioning and folds up for easy transport. Cardioid pickup pattern captures the Audio in front of the microphone, minimizing ambient sound from entering the recording. Smooth, flat frequency response of 20hz–20khz captures the detail of your voice or instrument. 1/8″ Stereo headphone output with level control for zero-latency monitoring. Zinc die-cast construction with chrome-plated finish. Large, 25mm diaphragm USB studio condenser microphone. |
Detail Review:
INTRODUCTION:
Blue Snowball iCE
The Blue Snowball iCE is one of the budget-friendly microphones available in the market. This microphone is retailing for around fifty dollars currently on Amazon. This microphone almost looks the same as the regular Blue Snowball. The huge difference between them is the regular Snowball has two condenser capsules while the Snowball iCE has only one which makes the difference in their polar patterns too.
Samson Meteor
The Samson Meteor mic is an absolute beast for the price. The Samson Meteor microphone is also retailing for the lower price of around seventy dollars currently on Amazon. I think it’s honestly comparable to something like the Audio-Technica AT2020. The design of this microphone is really nice and it looks stylish. This microphone available in three colors namely chrome, titanium black, and titanium red.
DESIGN:
Blue Snowball iCE
In front of this microphone, there is Blue branding on it and also there is a LED flash on it, which lets you know whether your microphone is on or off. This microphone stands on a ball, which lets you rotate your microphone to the front and the back but to the sides. At the back of the microphone is where you have got your USB port that is a Type-B port that lets you connect your microphone to your computer or laptop.
This microphone has also got standard threading that lets you connect either that tripod stand that comes with your microphone or the other one. This microphone is a condenser microphone that has only one condenser capsule that performs the cardioid polar pattern. This microphone is made of plastic and some parts are made of metal too. The tripod stand looks short but it’s really heavy and sturdy that it keeps the microphone in place while recording when it’s kept on the desk.
Samson Meteor
As far as the construction and design of the Meteor, it’s completely made out of metal which feels extremely premium. It comes with three legs, so it’s able to stand up on its own but you’re able to take those legs off and put it in a shock mount. There’s also a 5/8 inch screw hole in the bottom, to give you a little bit more options when it comes to mounting the microphone. Although I often in for the Chrome edition of this mic, there is a matte black version which is also super nice, and it is too completely made out of metal.
The Meteor does have a headphone input with that you can listen to playback in real-time. You’re also able to change the volume of the playback directly on the microphone, and just like with most condenser microphones it does have a mute button directly on the front. This microphone is also small in size, so it becomes very portable and useful during traveling.
FEATURES:
Blue Snowball iCE
The Snowball iCE is a cardioid condenser USB microphone and as it is a USB microphone, it plugs right into your computer. You don’t need a preamp for it, you plug it in and you play so it is a plug and play USB microphone, Skype certified, and Discord certified. This microphone only runs for about 50 dollars on Amazon.
If you have a computer, you can use this microphone or a laptop either. This microphone picks up sound from the front, it is a cardioid condenser microphone, so if you talk behind the microphone, it may not pick up the sound. So, just make sure you’re gonna record from the front. It records in 16-bit, the frequency response on this microphone is 40 Hertz to 18 kilohertz. I would recommend you to buy a pop filter because the microphone does not come with a pop filter and it does pick up the plosives more. When you’re recording on your microphone, you should record about 6 inches away from the microphone to get better sound quality.
Samson Meteor
This microphone has a range of 20 Hertz to 20 kilohertz and a 48-kilohertz resolution. The Meteor mic is also extremely small, I mean extremely small. This also means that this microphone is fantastic for traveling, this way if you’re off to a convention, and you do some voice recording over the top of some footage, you have no need to compromise sound quality. So, I think we concluded that being small is a great plus for a microphone.
Unfortunately, this does come with a compromise, the mic does not have any sort of gain controls directly on the microphone itself. So, this being a USB microphone, the only real controls you have over the gain and sound in the microphone is through Windows, which is fairly limiting.
PERFORMANCE:
Blue Snowball iCE
One of the biggest problems, when people use it, is the way that it picks up the projections of air that you push towards the microphone, when you enunciate things like Peter picked a bunch of peppers kind of thing, you’re pushing a lot of air towards it. There’s an easy way to solve this, just have it skewed off to your mouth by not talking right into the microphone. I will agree the closer you are to the mic, the better it sounds. There is another solution you can do, you can easily just invest in a simple pop filter, and just put it in front of your mic, and that way when you say any P’s or B’s there is less air being transferred, and this way it solves the issue quite easily but you may just want to set the microphone off to the side of your mouth.
Samson Meteor
This microphone has absolutely fantastic audio quality, especially for its price and size. It has a huge bass presence which is something that I personally really like, and also if you don’t want that you can always change the levels in post. I seriously cannot complain one bit about the audio quality on this microphone. Overall, this mic is 100% the best microphone for the price, as better audio quality than the Blue Yeti.
WHICH TO BUY?
In my opinion, the Samson Meteor is good to buy than the Blue Snowball iCE because the quality is comparable to the AT2020 that much it is good and sounds that much good. For a Youtuber that’s just starting out or someone who’s trying to get into voice acting on a budget, this is for sure the microphone for you to get a good sound at a lower price. It really sounds better than the Blue Snowball iCE.
Expert Reviews of Blue Snowball iCE:
By OldTimemusic
Blue announced this mic as being better than your computer mic. It would be very difficult to be worse, wouldn’t it? Yes, it has Blue’s reliability. Yes, it has…By PCMag
Is the Snowball Ice the best-sounding mic on the market? No. Only being 44.1kHz/16 bit does limit its sonic capabilities somewhat. And some users might miss the more or less standard (for USB mics) gain knob and headphone jack. But for $50 we’re willing to let a lot slide, and for most vocal applications, it’s more than suitable. It’s simple, and the lack of DSP means a leaner, more pure signal than you’ll get from some gaming-oriented USB mics.By Tom’s Hardware
The Blue Snowball iCE is an excellent way to get into vocal recording or streaming if you can get used to its quirks.By microphonegeeks.com
Blue Snowball iCE is a stylish, entry USB mic with an attractive price tag. Unlike the similar-shaped Samson Meteorite, it is not as blatantly hot and it has a detachable USB cable with…By Forbes
Loyal readers may know that I’m a big fan of USB Microphones. For two-way video chats and podcasting, they’re absolutely brilliant. USB Mics…Expert Reviews of Samson Meteor:
By Trusted Reviews
The Samson Meteor Mic is one of the most charming products we’ve reviewed in a long time. It’s superb styling, high build quality, ease of use, and great sound quality combine to make…By beststudiomics.com
The Samson Meteor Mic is perfect for people who do podcasts, game streams, voiceovers, and music covers. It is up there with the condenser microphone giants…By Tech Radar
Podcasting is much improved by the addition of proper equipment, but you don’t need to go mad; Samson’s Meteor USB Microphone is a decent replacement for any laptop mic or headset, and it’s cheaper than a full-scale…By Gadget Review
The Samson Meteor Mic may not be the best choice for a nationally-syndicated radio show, and finding the right position to use it in to improve your recording quality from pretty dang good to perfect…By Gearank
If you’re looking for a budget USB compact condenser mic then there are more highly rated options available which you’ll find in our guide to The Highest Rated Mics Under $50…