Disorderly Content

Public service time, in case somebody else runs into the same problem I did.

I've been looking around for a good microphone for podcasting. I've been using a couple of headsets, one from Logitech and a better one from Plantronics. They're both USB and both convenient, except for their tendencies to pick up noises every time I move my head the wrong way. So, having done what I thought was adequate research, I put in an order for a Snowball from Blue Microphones. It's a self-contained USB mic that's substantial, cool looking and supposed to produce good recordings. It also has a minimalist aesthetic, with one slider switch to select between cardiod, omnidirectional a sort of compromise "cardioid with a little omni thrown in".

What it didn't have was enough gain; no matter what I tried, I couldn't get a loud enough recording to suit me. Going to the maker's discussion forum, I discovered I wasn't the only one who thought so. I also learned that there was an application that would adjust the mic's firmware between the default low gain (great perhaps for a loud concert) and a higher gain more suited to my dulcet tones. Unfortunately all the links led to the same place. Or, more precisely, to nowhere at all: the linked page was gone.

After some more searching I discovered lots more complaints about the lack of volume, but no solutions beyond the phantom firmware. So I sent a message to Blue's support line and waited for an answer.

Which just came. And included an explanation and a solution. The explanation is that the updater wasn't required any more, as Snowballs are now all going out with high gain firmware. Except of course for mine, and all the unsold inventory at all the dealers from before the change. (Which I pointed out in my reply to the service tech.) But that's moot, at least for me. The message included the updater, which did what I needed it to do.

So if you should happen to buy a Snowball, and it happens to suffer from a lack of volume, and you happen to Google for a solution and happen to encounter this page, now you know what to do: find the Contact Support page on Blue's website and let 'em know that they may have been premature in their deletion of that software from their site.

It really is an honor just to be nominated. But of course it'll be an even bigger one to win.

I refer to the Second Annual Parsec Awards, which will be given out at Dragon*Con in Atlanta in a couple of weeks. The Parsecs honor podcasters in the SF realm, which for some reason includes The ScapeCast, in which I play a small but inconsequential part. By some freak accident, we won the award for Best Fan Podcast last year, despite having barely released the minimum number of episodes to qualify. This year we're finalists both for Best Fan Podcast and for Best Audio Production, for which I can claim even less credit. Unless of course you count my voice as a special effect.