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Blue Yeti Nano Review: It feels like everyone has a podcast these days – and with good reason. Podcasting can be a fun and easy way to immerse yourself in the topics you love most, whether you’re a real crime lover or a poetic connoisseur. That is, it’s easy if you have the right equipment. If you’ve recently searched online for the best podcasting microphones, you may have come across the Blue Yeti Nano.
Blue Yeti Nano Review: Design
The Blue Yeti Nano is made of the same aluminum metal alloy as its bigger brothers and is solidly built and has a nice weight with a touch of unique styling. You will find the stylish black-chrome Blue logo on the top of the microphone. The detachable aluminum stand is perfectly weighted, and shadow grey lacquered to match the microphone. The stand is bold, but subtle, and has a unique design and posture. When the microphone is in the stand, you can easily adjust the angle using two buttons on either side of the microphone.
The Yeti Nano is not entirely cylindrical like its brothers and has a more aerodynamic, rounded rectangular shape that looks as if it is meant for traveling at high speeds. Our grey test microphone has some stylish stains in the paint, which makes it sparkle and pizzazz. It also comes in Red Onyx, Cubano Gold, (as they have to mix the two honestly to make it look like Iron Man’s armor!) and Vivid Blue. They all look great and enhance the podcast and streaming appeal. These microphones look great on camera, and if you take one out to interview someone, they’ll be impressed.
On the front of the microphone, you’ll find a nice black multi-use button that adjusts the volume and lets you mute the microphone at the touch of a button. There’s a ring light in the button that lights up green when it’s in use or red when it’s muted; it’s nicely executed in the button and works without faltering. At the back is the pattern button, which has two small lights on either side to indicate which pickup pattern – cardioid or omnidirectional – you have selected.
Along the bottom, you’ll find a micro-USB plug and a 3.5mm headphone jack with low latency, as well as standard threads for an optional Radius III shock mount or to connect to a boom arm, that’s how I set it up at the moment. The Yeti Nano is beautifully designed, and you can see that every detail has been carefully designed and manufactured for excellence. The sound quality of the 3.5mm headphone jack with low latency should also be mentioned because it is also excellent.
Blue Yeti Nano Review: Performance
Just like the other Blue Yeti microphones, the installation is a piece of cake and is ready to go as soon as you plug it in. But, you will need to download the Blue Yeti Sherpa software to adjust the gain level for the Nano. But the level straight out of the box is more than satisfactory to start recording right away. The classic mic cap design includes two cardioid microphone capsules that are tuned and optimized to produce great recording results.
With the ability to record at high-quality 24-bit/48kHz (better than the Blue Yeti, Yeti Studio, and the Yeti Blackout), the Yeti Nano brings high production value to your streaming, podcasting, and other recordings. Although the Blue Yeti Nano has only two (omnidirectional and cardioid) recording patterns compared to the Blue Yeti Blackout and Yeti Pro which have four (cardioid, bidirectional, stereo, omnidirectional), I found the quality of the recordings I made in both patterns perfect and did not find any loss in sound quality with just the two.
The 24-bit/48kHz stands out when you look at how rich each recording was, and I’ve never felt that the Nano lacked performance or anything without the additional recording patterns. Each recording was loud and clear, and when I used it to make a Skype call, the person, on the other hand, found the audio “lovely [and] warm” and found the Yeti Nano visually appealing.
When I recorded myself for a voice-over in a cardioid pattern, the timbre of my voice was perfect. The Blue Yeti Nano captured the depth and warmth of my voice, and I found the recording equal to its bigger brothers and superior to other microphones, like the more expensive Razer’s Seiren Elite and Seiren Emote, which record at 16-bit/48Hz.
The omnidirectional pattern turned out just as well when I interviewed a test with my significant. The recording was excellent, and I can see myself traveling with the Blue Yeti Nano and doing improvised podcasts or interviews. Why? Because the Yeti Nano is sturdy and compact, and records such high-quality audio, and is a fantastic portable studio option compared to others. My only serious issue is the lack of a windshield or pop filter, which you can buy cheaply on Amazon for about $10. I hope Blue will deliver it in the future.
Conclusion
The Blue Yeti Nano is one of my favorite USB microphones. The $99 mic records in high-quality 24-bit/48Hz and produces a beautifully clear, crisp, and warm sound. Throw in the fantastic build quality, sexy technique, and visual appeal, and Blue has a winner. If you’re someone who wants to take their podcast, streaming, or personal recording to the next level, I highly recommend the Blue Yet Nano, especially if you’re looking for high quality at a reasonable price. The combination of design quality, recording quality, portability, and price makes it one of the best microphones.