I’m a music teacher and spent untold hours since 2020 creating instructional videos for online classes. My Neumann KM184 mics are ideal for instruments, but are too pop prone for voiceovers, even with a clip-on pop filter. I needed a voice friendly mic and rolled the dice on the Yeti X.
Blue Yeti X World of Warcraft | On mic stand with level meter illuminated.
Why Are We Here?
Why buy a USB mic like the Yeti X instead of a standard vocal mic? Indeed, mics like the Neumann TLM 103 and Shure SM7B are great choices for voiceovers and podcasting, but to get their signal into your computer requires an outboard audio interface with XLR preamps and analog to digital conversion. Mics are sold ala carte, so an XLR cable and mic stand will be necessary as well.
USB mics simplify digital life by being an all-in-one solution at a significantly lower outlay compared to component systems. Mic, stand, preamp and analog to digital conversion are housed in one unit. Plug in the USB cable and you're ready to go. While USB mic quality can be very good, they're easily beat by dedicated hardware components in terms of sound quality and flexibility. If you need the best possible audio quality, stick with high-end large diaphragm mics and outboard components. For most mere mortals, myself included, a good USB mic is a great balance of quality, convenience and cost for podcasting, gaming, video conferencing and YouTube duties.
Construction & Appearance
I prefer the subdued appearance of the Yeti X Blackout model, but bought the World of Warcraft version due to a half price Lightning deal at Amazon. What's the difference between the Yeti X and Yeti X World of Warcraft mics? Save for cosmetics—gray speckled finish, gaudy gold trim and World of Warcraft logo and pictograms—both mics are the same. On the software side, there's a special edition Blue Voice effects app for Yeti X World of Warcraft users (not available for Mac OS).
The exterior of the Yeti X is metal and appears well made. Buttons are soft touch designs, but on the flimsy side. When mounted on the desk stand, the Yeti X is a looker, especially the blackout model, but a real desk hog. This is one big honkin'mic.
There's a standard 5/8" mic thread on the bottom, so I removed the desk stand and mounted the Yeti X on a Manfrotto Magic arm. Thus, I can position for optimal sound and swing out of the way when not in use.
Blue Yeti X | Hefty stand inscribed with World of Warcraft pictographs.
Ports
A 3.5mm headphone jack and USB mini port adorn the bottom of this mic but, sadly, no XLR socket. So it won't work with mixing boards or audio interfaces. The Yeti X is designed primarily for direct computers input via USB.
The USB mini port is fragile and easy to accidentally pull out. A large old style USB-A port on the back panel would be less prone to accidental unplugging. If you don't move the mic off your desktop, you probably won't have disconnect problems. I move my mics around and use an articulating arm, floor stand and boom, so I've managed to pull the USB cable out several times.
With the above said, I'm surprised the Yeti X wasn't outfitted with a USB-C port instead of a USB mini. It's not a deal breaker for me but it might be for some folks.
Controls
The Yeti X was plug ’n play on my iMac Pro (OS 11.6). Not needing a software driver is important to me. I merely plugged it into a USB port, selected Yeti X in the Sound Panel or audio app preferences, and hit record. I was immediately using it for crystal clear voiceovers with Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro. The video above, "How to Play Etude in A Minor," was my first voiceover using the Yeti X.
Levels
Yeti levels are easy to manage with the 11-segment LED meter up front. And what a wonderful feature it is to have viable and accessible levels! The front button—the multi-function smart knob—has three functions accessible by press and hold: mic gain, headphone gain, and mic and headphone balance.
Pickup Patterns
While the Yeti X is big and, thus, looks like a large diaphragm mic, its diaphragms are petite 14mm condenser capsules similar to those used in pencil mics. The Yeti X differs from most mics in that insomuch as it sports a four-diaphragm array under the grill. These diaphragms are aimed to the front, sides, and back, thus allowing stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid and bidirectional patterns.
Stereo: Left and right channel pickup for a sense of space and direction.
Bidirectional: Picks up sound in front and behind the mic.
Omnidirectional: records sound equally from all directions.
Cardioid: Mainly picks up sound directly in front of the mic.
Press the rear button—the pickup pattern selector—to cycle through stereo, omni, cardioid and bidirectional patterns. The default is cardioid and the pattern I use for voiceovers.
Blue Yeti X | The rear panel with pickup pattern selector on cardioid.
Buttons and knobs are on the loose as a goose side: be careful not to accidentally change the pickup pattern when adjusting mic position!
Software
Yeti X includes several software apps, all available via download.
Blue Sherpa
The app, Blue Sherpa, duplicates functions of the physical controls: gain, pickup patterns, etc. If you're live streaming and need an adjustment, doing it in the software avoids mic bump noise.
Blue VO!CE | Screenshot of Blue Voice functions.
Blue VO!CE
If you want to change the character of your voice—sound like a radio disk jockey—or apply EQ, compression, noise reduction, gate, de-esser or limiter, the Blue Voice app has it covered.
Blue Voice worked fine once it loaded. However, it's buggy on the Mac—spinning beach ball city—and I couldn't wait to uninstall it. No loss as features are bare bones compared to even a simple DAW app like GarageBand.
World of Warcraft Presets
Special effects presets were a major advertised feature for the World of Warcraft variant of the Yeti X, but are not available for Mac OS (or the Yeti X Blackout). I'm not interested in sounding like a gnome or demon, but if you're a Mac user and paid extra for the Yeti X World of Warcraft version for those presets, you'll be disappointed.
Luckily, the GarageBand and iMovie apps that come with Macs are great for editing and effects. If you make software tutorials, Yeti X works with Apple's Quicktime for adding voiceovers to screen videos.
Sound Quality
Yeti X sound quality shines in voiceovers: mic response is well optimized for human voice. At 4 to 12 inches it rendered a smooth, full and sweet timbre. Plus, the integrated pop screen (built-in metal grill) nixed my breath pops. I finally able to retire my awkward clip-on pop screen.
Yeti X 48kHz and 24 bit analogue to digital conversion is clean and pleasing in terms of timbre. I would have expected a 92kHz option in this price range but Blue saved that feature for the Yeti Pro.
I mainly use the cardioid setting, and the rejection of off axis sound is excellent. With the window open, I could barely hear downtown Honolulu traffic—typically a roar of white noise. The cardioid pattern is tight, so avoid turning your head while speaking or you’ll hear drop-offs. The stereo setting is more forgiving of placement and sounded great for guitar and ukulele, albeit coverage is narrow compared to my normal stereo mic setup of two KM 184 on boom stands.
For typical voiceover use, I set gain at about 50%, resulting in meter peaks around -6 dB. Even with a little normalization in post-production hiss is not evident through headphones during playback. Also, the Yeti X is less prone to clipping on unexpected peaks than my Sennheiser MKE 400 and Samson Go mics, almost as though a wee bit of compression is present.
When any of the mono modes are used—e.g., omni and cardioid pickup patterns—the Yeti X outputs a dual mono signal, filling both the right and left channels. Thus, audio is heard in both the left and right sides of headphones and stereo speakers.
How to Play Etude in A Minor | Voiceover using the Blue Yeti X
I'm not a streamer but I tried the Yeti X for Zoom sessions. It worked great and gave my voice a commanding presence. It you're teaching music over Zoom the Yeti X is a major sound upgrade over built-in computer mics.
Final Blurb
Yeti X is a wonderful mic for podcasting, voiceovers, casual music recording, Zoom and streaming. Due to the USB only interface, it can't be connected to most mixing boards, audio recorders and cameras—no XLR or 3.5mm output jacks. You can record audio separately on a computer using an audio app such as Logic Pro, and sync audio with video in post-production (what I do).
If you're on a Mac, don't buy the Yeti X World of Warcraft version unless on sale. Buy the standard Yet X instead. Same mic but you don't have to pay extra for distracting logos and demon presets that don't work on the Mac OS.
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Construction & Appearance
Ports
Controls
Software 
Sound Quality
Major Features
System Requirements
Reference