The Blue Yeti is a podcasting and YouTube legend. The original plug-and-play USB microphone is affordable, easy to use, and reassuringly loud. It is the 17-year-old micro who launched a thousand pods.
Now Logitech – after several spin-off models over the years – is launching a real sequel. The Blue Yeti 2. The new model adds some new features that suit the modern age, which help with cleaner and more consistent audio, but perhaps reduce the charm of the sound. The additions include a 3D proximity sensor, AI noise reduction and a 1.5in display to liven up any video podcasts or vlogs you cook.
Logitech says the proximity sensor can help “creators maintain consistent, broadcast-quality sound without manual adjustment” and that the Blue Yeti 2 also “tracks the speaker’s position in 3 dimensions and dynamically adjusts gain, EQ and pickup pattern in real time.” The AI ”de-noiser” will then help creators isolate the voices from background distractions.
This new color LED screen lets users control settings, voice profiles and more right on the microphone, and has also brought a Yeti to life in the UI. Yeti’s character changes its expression according to the audio settings, from ‘mute on’ to ‘clipping audio’.
“When I first started sketching the Yeti character, I knew right off the bat that I didn’t want to just design a character, but make a function that goes with it. So the Yeti is not only playful, but gives that character purpose,” said Suguru Ogata, Lead UX Designer for Yeti 2.
The Yeti 2 retains the iconic shape and the stand looks very familiar. Inside, a redesigned 3-capsule mic array promises “faithful & nuanced audio reproduction” at up to 24-bit/48kHz fidelity.
It’s available now in black and white and costs $160/£140.
