Expensive audio equipment is absolutely wasted on me. Much to what I’m sure is the constant disappointment of my audiophile father, what matters to me most – and what has always mattered – is that I can plug in a microphone and know that it’s just going to work without me having to fiddle with a million different settings. I’ve done it before – I’ve recorded stimuli for scientific experiments where every tiny sound counted, and I know that there are a lot of professionals that count on being able to make those tiny adjustments. But for most of us? It’s just gotta work. On most days I just need something that won’t make me sound like I’m recording in a tin shed. Enter: the Yeti Orb, the easiest damn microphone I’ve ever used in my entire life.
From the moment it comes out of the box, everything about the Orb is simple. As the name suggests, it’s a sleek-looking circle, perched atop a simple plastic tripod. The little ball is covered in a charcoal grey-black mesh fabric with a single band around it, and whether attached to the tripod or not, it feels nice to hold in your hand. It’s all no-nonsense, with the only port being the one used for the USB-C connection to your PC, and the other other interruptions to the curved design being the two connection points available to attach the tripod. When it isn’t on the tripod, it’s extremely difficult to resist the urge to throw it around like a tennis ball, so it might be better to keep it attached – but it’s easy to carry it around fully assembled too.
While the Orb doesn’t have any physical buttons on its surface – the biggest sacrifice of this being a true entry-level model – it does have RGB LIGHTSYNC-enable lights in and above the logo to let you know when it’s recording, or muted, or whatever else you might want to know, all of which can be customised using the dedicated Blue VO!CE software. The handy lights can be seen even when the mic is facing away from you, and aside from their function, they add a touch of that good ol’ gamer rainbow flair.
While the Orb doesn’t have any physical buttons on its surface – the biggest sacrifice of this being a true entry-level model – it does have RGB LIGHTSYNC-enable lights in and above the logo to let you know when it’s recording, or muted, or whatever else you might want to know, all of which can be customised using the dedicated Blue VO!CE software. The handy lights can be seen even when the mic is facing away from you, and aside from their function, they add a touch of that good ol’ gamer rainbow flair.
The Blue VO!CE software’s role extends beyond just customising the light show, giving you the ability to add filters and effects to your voice to make it sound more broadcast-y, or radio-y, or to fiddle with more specific equalizer and signal settings. But to be honest? I barely touched it. For the first few times I plugged in this mic – to record a podcast, and a few video shorts for the Player 2 channel – I didn’t even have the software installed. That’s how well this works straight out of the box. My recordings were clear, with the cardiod condenser mic doing its job and ensuring my voice was coming through with almost no background disruption without a single bit of fiddling.
The one downside to the Orb is that it wants to get pretty up close and personal to do its best work. While the tripod is sturdy, it’s also fairly short, but the mic works best when it’s a little closer to your face – so you’re going to be doing some hunching over, or committing to holding the Orb up by said tripod for the duration of your recording. Because it looks so clean, I had no concerns with having it featuring in videos I recorded, and given they were only short, holding it up wasn’t an issue – but if you’re in it for a longer haul, you’re going to need to invest in a boom arm. It can easily screw into a compatible boom arm, and given it comes in at just under $100AUD, there might be a bit of extra in the budget for it – but it’s something to consider.
Overall, if you’re looking for something simple that’s extremely plug and play, it’s hard not to recommend the Yeti Orb – especially at its price point. If this ability to mute the mic or switch settings with physical buttons is important to you, this isn’t going to do that – but it’s going to do almost everything else with the help of intuitive software. For those looking to grab a microphone that doesn’t sacrifice much while staying affordable, and that looks pretty damn good while doing it, the Orb is the way to go. It’s compact, easy to use, and has just the right amount of flashy lights while still staying classy – and crisp sound quality to go along with it.
