It’s only been a few weeks since Logitech kinda-sorta “killed” the Blue microphone brand, six years after buying the much-loved audio hardware company. Logitech said that the Yeti product name would stick around, integrated into new offerings yet to come. Today we’re seeing the consolidation effort. The Yeti GX is Logitech’s new flagship USB microphone, complete with a jet-black aesthetic and gamer LEDs. A smaller Yeti Orb is the successor to the Blue Snowball.
The Yeti GX, for which Jaden Yuki would no doubt get his game on, takes a more compact and minimalist approach than the ubiquitous Blue Yeti. The pill-shaped body has a heavy metal stand that swoops to one side, with an RGB strip at the base where the USB-C cable plugs in. Despite the radical aesthetic shift, Logitech says the new mic is “based on the iconic Yeti design.” But audiophiles will note that the cardiod-only setup (designed for single-user recording) and Logitech G Hub software control is a pretty steep departure from the Yeti’s original plug-and-play setup.
The GX’s promotional page says that it uses a custom dynamic supercardiod capsule to capture broadcast-quality audio, and indeed, the 24-bit/96KHz recording is slightly higher than the original Yeti, though its frequency range is a bit more restricted at 50Hz-18KHz. In layman’s terms, there’s a bit at the very top and very bottom of the audio range that it won’t capture. It also has a gamer-focused analog limiter, a feature designed to keep the loudest sounds from clipping. So those intense online gaming moments when your vocabulary consists only of four-letter words won’t be blown out.
The Yeti GX is listed for $150, a bit more expensive than the original Yeti but cheaper than the retail price for the updated Yeti X, which was the first new Blue USB mic under Logitech’s stewardship. It’s showing as a pre-order on Logitech’s online store, but is ready to ship at Best Buy.
Logitech
For those whose desktop space and/or budget is a little more restrictive, the smaller Blue Snowball is getting its own reinterpretation as the Yeti Orb. (I guess “Yeti Ball” didn’t make it past marketing.) The Orb has RGB, but only on the “G” logo, and keeps the cardiod recording pattern and old-fashioned condenser setup from its progenitor. At 4.53 inches wide, it’s actually a bit smaller than the Snowball, and its triangular base is kind of adorable. The Yeti Orb is $60, also showing as a pre-order on Logitech’s store and live on Best Buy.
If you’re still a fan of the original Blue Yeti design, and notably don’t want to mess with Logitech’s software in order to optimize settings, I wouldn’t worry. The classic Yeti is still on sale in Logitech’s store, not to mention more or less every electronics retailer. I’m betting it’ll stay in production for a few more years at least, and still be easy to find on the secondary market long after.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer
Michael is a former graphic designer who’s been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.
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