Logitech Blue Yeti is a strange and disagreeable recommendation in 2024. And not even one of the price-hiked/ slightly updated revisions?
It sounds no better than any given $40 ALLCAPS brand 192/24 microphone kit on Amazon or Aliexpress, Yet it manages to be twice the size and 3x the price. They also are not even that well built, and have become notorious for being DOA. The last time I watched a comparison video between the current Yeti vs the original (granted it was a year or 2 ago), the creator of the video had to return it twice to best buy just to get a third one that worked properly.
In 2009, the Yeti was revolutionary when it launched and was arguably the only real option for creators needing an entry level USB microphone with "Good enough" sound quality. But in the last 15 years their competition has gotten better, smaller, nicer, and a lot less expensive.
The only real thing the Yeti has going on is the adjustable polar pattern gimmick- but I heavily need to emphasize to anybody considering a yeti for this feature: You will not use this feature. You'll be disappointed by how it performs in 95% of the scenarios you think it will be good for. It's not worth an extra $40-$80 which is a big enough gap to just buy a second microphone which will do better in almost all of those use cases.
Even if you really, really want the brand for whatever reason, a Yeti costs more than just buying Yeti Snowballs Logi Orbs, which will give you the same quality and sound, plus you could now can rearrange 2 microphones however you like (I don't have 2 of these though, I can't confirm if Logi lets you use 2 of thier USB mics on one computer at the same time)
But simply complaining is useless, so here are my alternate recommendations:
If you are a internet creator or beginner that fits into these groups, these microphones will be more than good enough to last you until you're ready to save up and make a $250+ jump to start investing in "real" (XLR) audio equipment. You should not consider doing this until your content is making enough money to cover that cost. At that point, you will have a much better idea of your needs, and will likely be ready to buy a specific mic to solve a specific problem. For 99% of people, you're never going to reach that point, and that's ok.
Just remember: your audience is there for you, not for your gear. If your sound is above the level of "distractingly bad" then it's more than good enough. There are creators with millions of followers who sound no better than what you can get out of a cheap USB mic.
If you are specifically sitting at a computer in a relatively noisy or untreated (echo-y) room: Budget around $100 and get a USB dynamic microphone (not condenser) - preferably one with an XLR connection - and a cheap arm stand. Something like a Audio-Technica ATR2100x, FIFINE K688 (or any ALLCAPS equivalent, they're all about the same), or a Samson Q2u. Right now, Amazon has a Samson Q2U kit which includes a cheap arm, shock mount, and pop filter. That would be an easy choice for this use case.
If you are very budget constrained or are in a better treated room and want to get the microphone an extra 2 inches from your face, get any ALLCAPS 192khz/24bit condenser USB microphone kit for at most $50, which includes an arm, shock mount, and pop filter. The 192khz/24 bit doesn't necessarily make it sound better, but this spec separates recent microphones from those that are 5+ years old, which often sound worse for other reasons.
The FDUCE X9 kit fits here, and is often around $30. MAONO, TONOR, and FIFINE and also usually have very similar kits under $50. None of these are going to be a perfect or amazing microphone, but they sound so close to each other that the differences really aren't worth thinking about. They also sound close enough to any other gamer focused mic by Hyper X, Yeti, Elgato, etc. Moving the microphone an inch is a bigger difference than spending an extra $80-$100 on a microphone with more brand recognition - And these cheap kits come with an arm that will get the mic into a much better sounding position than a useless desk stand.
However: Do not buy any microphone promising any built-in noise reduction or reverb/echo functionality of any kind. Either of these features will make a decent cheap microphone sound terrible, and often they can't be fully disabled.
There is a little more risk with ALLCAPS microphones and quality control, don't feel bad returning one if you think its bad. Some ALLCAPS brands are more reputable than others.
If you are making videos away from a computer and can't be hard-wired to a PC, get a Zoom F2 lav mic body pack for each person in the scene. They're $150. There is no lav mic or shotgun mic option under $100 that will produce anything close to usable sound. I've tried dozens of cheap mics making this promise, a usable option just doesn't exist. If you need 2 mics, a rode wireless go/pro or DJI mic 2 kit (with external lavs) might be more convenient if you're making a vlog or live stream, but that's not going to save you any money. Zoom F2 isn't a budget option, it's entry level into "real" audio. There is no viable budget option available, sorry.
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