Blue Snowball ICE is very quiet

[Lichii]

hey forum!

 

I wanted to go for a bit better mic for my skyping, but the Blue Snowball ICE is just too damn quiet!

at first, i just rested it on the table with it's tripod, but since it meant my mouth was far from the mic, i got a mic scissor arm to hold it closer to my mouth.

The distance went from ~25cm away to ~10cm away from my mouth. surprisingly, it made VERY little difference, i don't sound much louder, my voice is just more bassy now (too bassy, sounds muddy)

 

I tried the most generic stuff of re-installing drivers, trying difference USB port, making sure it's the default device in windows

and turning up it's sensitivity to 100 under recording device > blue snowball > levels > 100

all of which you can find with just a minute's search in google.

but since google didn't give me the answer, i thought there might be someone who can help me over here.

 

the only thing i could think of is that the mic might need more juice (an amp).

but if that's the truth - i would be very disappointed.

i thought i would be treating my mates to better audio, but they often struggle to hear me.

i think its very foolish there's no driver software to play around with for the snowball, which is supposed to be an entry level mic.

 

P.S. as mentioned, i have the ICE version, so there are no 1-2-3 settings option. (it's the same as the 2nd option on the normal snowball i think)

 

Thanks in advance forum!

 

EDIT: gonna put this here in case new people miss it from the comments:

I've recorded my desktop as i was doing the skype mic test, and then sent it to my friends. to remind you all, there's a british lady telling you that they're gonna record your message, and afterwards the message plays back at me.

so i sent the recording to my friends, and they said my first recording (raw recording) was a lot louder and better quality than how they hear me.

then the message replay sounded quiet and muddy, just like they hear me when we're on a call.

however, when i listen to that video, ALL of it is muddy, both recordings AND the british lady.

so my drivers are faulty?

[RazerFX]

Was it preowned? Also did you spill any liquids on it?

[STRMfrmXMN]

7 minutes ago, Lichii said:

hey forum!

 

I wanted to go for a bit better mic for my skyping, but the Blue Snowball ICE is just too damn quiet!

at first, i just rested it on the table with it's tripod, but since it meant my mouth was far from the mic, i got a mic scissor arm to hold it closer to my mouth.

The distance went from ~25cm away to ~10cm away from my mouth. surprisingly, it made VERY little difference, i don't sound much louder, my voice is just more bassy now (too bassy, sounds muddy)

 

I tried the most generic stuff of re-installing drivers, trying difference USB port, making sure it's the default device in windows

and turning up it's sensitivity to 100 under recording device > blue snowball > levels > 100

all of which you can find with just a minute's search in google.

but since google didn't give me the answer, i thought there might be someone who can help me over here.

 

the only thing i could think of is that the mic might need more juice (an amp).

but if that's the truth - i would be very disappointed.

i thought i would be treating my mates to better audio, but they often struggle to hear me.

i think its very foolish there's no driver software to play around with for the snowball, which is supposed to be an entry level mic.

 

P.S. as mentioned, i have the ICE version, so there are no 1-2-3 settings option. (it's the same as the 2nd option on the normal snowball i think)

 

Thanks in advance forum!

Make sure your USB is plugged into your PC and not a hub of any sort.

[forthe48]

Have you tried recording with it in software other than Skype, and checked the volume settings in Skype? It may be caused by something on that end.

[dalekphalm]

@Lichii FYI since it's a digital over USB connection (the ADC is housed inside the Mic), you cannot connect it to an Amp. If you want to use an Amp to boost the output, you'd need a Mic that uses an Analog interface (3.5mm, XLR, etc).

 

How old is the Mic? Did you buy it new? Is it still covered under the warranty? Have you tried it on a different computer? Were the results any different?

[Lichii]

8 hours ago, RazerFX said:

Was it preowned? Also did you spill any liquids on it?

 

No, i bought it new, and kept it in good condition, so no liquids nor did it fall on the ground since i got it.

8 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Make sure your USB is plugged into your PC and not a hub of any sort.

 

yeah, it's connected straight into the PC

8 hours ago, forthe48 said:

Have you tried recording with it in software other than Skype, and checked the volume settings in Skype? It may be caused by something on that end.

 

I've recorded my desktop as i was doing the skype mic test, and then sent it to my friends. to remind you all, there's a british lady telling you that they're gonna record your message, and afterwards the message plays back at me.

so i sent the recording to my friends, and they said my first recording (raw recording) was a lot louder and better quality than how they hear me.

then the message replay sounded quiet and muddy, just like they hear me when we're on a call.

however, when i listen to that video, ALL of it is muddy, both recordings AND the british lady.

so my drivers are faulty?

 

also tried to talk on discord, and there everybody sounded muddy to everyone

8 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

@Lichii FYI since it's a digital over USB connection (the ADC is housed inside the Mic), you cannot connect it to an Amp. If you want to use an Amp to boost the output, you'd need a Mic that uses an Analog interface (3.5mm, XLR, etc).

 

How old is the Mic? Did you buy it new? Is it still covered under the warranty? Have you tried it on a different computer? Were the results any different?

 

i see, i didn't know that, thanks!

i bought the mic on january, so i've had it for roughly half a year. trying it on a different computer is a bit hard to do since this is my only computer.

and yes, its still covered by warranty, though from the recording i mentioned above, it seems to me like a driver malfunction

 

EDIT: i listened to recording on my phone, and i can agree that my raw recording was good, but the skype playback sounded more quiet and a bit muddy.

i also did listening to tests between my PC and phone on both my headphones and speakers. my pc sounded muddy while my phone was more clear.

[Guest]

Don't worry i've had this issue since i bougth this mic too, which was about ayear ago, but normally people are able to just turn me up on the volume.

 

Discord is very good in doing that, you can change pretty much anyone's voice level and it helps a lot with the issues that this mic haves 

[dalekphalm]

6 hours ago, Lichii said:

 

No, i bought it new, and kept it in good condition, so no liquids nor did it fall on the ground since i got it.

 

yeah, it's connected straight into the PC

 

I've recorded my desktop as i was doing the skype mic test, and then sent it to my friends. to remind you all, there's a british lady telling you that they're gonna record your message, and afterwards the message plays back at me.

so i sent the recording to my friends, and they said my first recording (raw recording) was a lot louder and better quality than how they hear me.

then the message replay sounded quiet and muddy, just like they hear me when we're on a call.

however, when i listen to that video, ALL of it is muddy, both recordings AND the british lady.

so my drivers are faulty?

 

also tried to talk on discord, and there everybody sounded muddy to everyone

 

i see, i didn't know that, thanks!

i bought the mic on january, so i've had it for roughly half a year. trying it on a different computer is a bit hard to do since this is my only computer.

and yes, its still covered by warranty, though from the recording i mentioned above, it seems to me like a driver malfunction

 

EDIT: i listened to recording on my phone, and i can agree that my raw recording was good, but the skype playback sounded more quiet and a bit muddy.

i also did listening to tests between my PC and phone on both my headphones and speakers. my pc sounded muddy while my phone was more clear.

Have you tried actually adjusting the settings in Skype itself?

As you can see, there's a Mic Gain ("Volume") slider for the Mic, and a checkbox for Automatic settings.

 

The Automatic settings basically just measure the gain on the Mic, and if it peaks too high, it'll automatically adjust the volume lower - and vice versa if the volume is too low. Note: It may not always work perfectly.

 

What are your Skype Settings for the Mic?

[Lichii]

4 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Have you tried actually adjusting the settings in Skype itself?

As you can see, there's a Mic Gain ("Volume") slider for the Mic, and a checkbox for Automatic settings.

 

The Automatic settings basically just measure the gain on the Mic, and if it peaks too high, it'll automatically adjust the volume lower - and vice versa if the volume is too low. Note: It may not always work perfectly.

 

What are your Skype Settings for the Mic?

 

Thanks, but my mic setting is on max, and the box for automatic adjustment is unticked.

 

i hate to be rude, but in my original post i've mentioned i've done the "most generic stuff" to prevent people from thinking those could be a fix, since i tried all of those.

granted, i didn't mention this in my "list"...

i've done some googling, but i've only reached the most basic of solutions. i just tried to prevent that from happening to my post ">.>

[dalekphalm]

35 minutes ago, Lichii said:

 

Thanks, but my mic setting is on max, and the box for automatic adjustment is unticked.

 

i hate to be rude, but in my original post i've mentioned i've done the "most generic stuff" to prevent people from thinking those could be a fix, since i tried all of those.

granted, i didn't mention this in my "list"...

i've done some googling, but i've only reached the most basic of solutions. i just tried to prevent that from happening to my post ">.>

No offense, but you said you did the most generic stuff, then listed things like checking the Windows Driver, etc. You made no mention of checking the Skype Settings, or even indicating whether you were aware that those settings exist (Easy to miss them if you're focusing heavily on drivers and Windows settings).

 

So when you don't list something, and someone asks you if you've done it, it's not me assuming you're an idiot. It's me making sure that we've covered all the basics and haven't missed anything.

[Lichii]

On 7/29/2016 at 5:47 PM, dalekphalm said:

No offense, but you said you did the most generic stuff, then listed things like checking the Windows Driver, etc. You made no mention of checking the Skype Settings, or even indicating whether you were aware that those settings exist (Easy to miss them if you're focusing heavily on drivers and Windows settings).

 

So when you don't list something, and someone asks you if you've done it, it's not me assuming you're an idiot. It's me making sure that we've covered all the basics and haven't missed anything.

 

yeah, i know if people reply to my post it's cuz they wanna try to help me. i just tried to make sure i don't get solutions i already know of, to save both of our precious time.

i probably look like a dick now.

 

anyways, for the time being i'm having to eat the mic, talking into it from less than an inch away is the only way i can get adequate volume out of this sucker.

[Awetopsy]

Sorry to revive an old thread, however I've seen this problem posted about in a number of places. 

To solve the quiet Blue snowball mic issue

Download Driver booster 

Let it scan and then do the update on any audio devices it registers. 

This will grab a working driver that registers audio levels at an acceptable level.

It's how I fixed mine. 

you can then uninstall driver booster after this. 

Hope this helps a few of you. 

cheers,