Need the best mic stand for your new Blue Yeti or Blue Snowball? You’re in the right place!
Blue has rocketed to the top of the tables as some of the best providers of USB microphones. The USB microphone puts recording capability into the hands of anyone with a PC or laptop.
That is a huge departure from the era where PC microphones were exclusive to those who owned an expensive USB interface.
Blue has revolutionized the USB interface marketplace, and their Yeti and Snowball microphones are probably considered the very best available in their class. On top of their awesome award-winning quality is their reasonable price at around $80 for the Snowball and $140 for the Yeti.
Note: Some users report that the Blue Yeti’s thread is slightly larger than the standard ⅝” size used for most mics and stands. Some speculate that this was a manufacturing fault, but either way, while it seems like the minority of Blue Yeti mics are affected, it’s something to be aware of.
To rectify the problem, you can wrap thread tape, also known as plumbing tape, around your mic stand thread. This effectively increases the thread’s size, so it’ll fit the Blue Yeti’s slightly bigger thread. Some of the mic stands here actually contain bundled thread tape for this purpose!
Top 4 Best Mic Stands for Blue Yeti and Blue Snowball
Rode PSA1 Swivel Mount Studio Microphone Boom Arm
The RODE PSA1 is a real beast of a stand. It provides a durable hardware option for positioning any microphone, and it will never lose its functionality. It’s built to the very highest standards, and RODE’s innovation and experience in the audio equipment industry shows. Rode doesn’t create rubbish, and this mic stand’s price shows that. Well made, durable, and clever, this RODE microphone gives meaning to the term ‘you get what you pay for.’
This stand is designed with desk mounting specifically in mind, so it’s perfect to pair with a Blue Yeti or Blue Snowball microphone. For voice-overs for games, podcasts, media purposes or vocals, acoustic instrument recording, or any other type of recording, this mic stand for Blue Yeti/Blue Snowball makes it easy to move your mic around to your heart’s content.
A multi-point swivel design provides this microphone’s flexibility, and it comes with two mounting options. You can screw this directly into a desk if you have a threaded mount already built into your workstation or desk.
Second, it comes with a secure and strong screw-down desk clamp, which allows you to attach it to any desk. The clamp features an internal width of 2.15 inches, which is suitable for attaching to the vast majority of desks or workstations.
DuaFire Microphone Arm Stand
At a glance, this stand looks pretty similar to the Rode PSA1. It’s another scissor-style stand, and its flexibility allows it to position a mic in almost any position over a studio desk or workplace.
DuaFire is well known for its quality but affordable hardware, and this mic stand fits into this category. It’s certainly strong, featuring an all-metal build and capped swivel points. It has been designed so you can run an XLR or USB cable down the casing to keep it out of the way when the mic is in use.
This microphone arm features a sturdy desk clamp. Screw this arm stand onto any desk. The desk clip extends to a width of 2.3 inches, meaning it’ll fit practically any desk. The package also contains an XLR mic cable and velcro cable ties!
As indicated earlier, some Blue Yeti microphones have a thread size, which is slightly under the standard ⅝” size (default for most mic stands). This package also contains thread tape, also known as plumbers tape, which you can use to wrap it around the microphone stand’s thread to provide a secure fit.
This scissor boom arm has an arm length of 19 inches, which is more than enough for most studio or bedroom applications.
Etubby Upgraded Microphone Suspension Boom Scissor Arm Stand
Another arm-style boom scissor stand here. This time, it’s an ultra-cheap stand made by the hardware manufacturer Etubby. This microphone stand certainly bangs for its bucks as it’s extremely cheap.
It still packs an all-metal frame and features strong springs and a strong desk clamp with a 2-inch width. That isn’t big enough for every desk so make sure you measure yours up! It can load a weight of 2kg, which means there’s no problem holding a Blue Yeti or Blue Snowball with this stand.
Overall, this stand is strong and cheap, and for many, this suits it perfectly to the job. Don’t expect the springs to keep their tension forever, though. It doesn’t matter if they don’t – it will still last for a long time and for this price you can’t complain!
InnoGear Mic Clip Adjustable Boom Studio Scissor Arm Stand
This best-selling mic stand is another no-nonsense solution to mounting your Blue Yeti or Blue Snowball microphones. For a scissor-style arm boom stand, this stand is strikingly cheap. InnoGear has constructed this remarkably cheap stand, and yet, it still receives glowing reviews for its usability, flexibility, and durability.
This scissor-style stand allows for great positioning options over your desk or workstation. It really can cover any area of a desk, despite its shorter arm length of 13.8 inches. Made from steel and with strong springs, this mic stand certainly won’t fall apart despite its skinny price. It can hold a weight of 1.5kg, which means it’ll easily deal with either the Snowball or Yeti!
This mic stand is very similar to the Etubby stand, but it is cheaper. Quite why it’s cheaper is hard to tell as it even contains bundled thread tape, which the Etubby lacks. Maybe there is a reason why but as far as I can see, they’re very, very similar.
Choosing the Best Mic Stand for Blue Yeti and Blue Snowball
Both microphones are easily installed on Mac or Windows and are pretty much plug and play with any audio editing software you could think of. The microphones often come with PreSonus Studio One – quality audio software. Check before you buy, though!
Both of these microphones are remarkably good at picking up the human voice and any variety of acoustic or environmental sources. The Snowball features a two-capsule condenser design, and the Yeti features a three-capsule condenser design.
The Snowball has a cardioid pickup pattern for voice applications and an omnidirectional pickup pattern for recording sound from all angles. The Yeti is capable of these settings and features stereo mode, which picks up a realistic image of recorded audio, and a bidirectional mode that picks up audio from the front and the microphone’s back.
The Snowball is most at home when recording speech for podcasts or voice-overs, etc. It can’t pick up very bassy sounds below 40 kHz, but this isn’t an issue in most situations. On the other hand, the Yeti can record any audio source with its full 20 Hz to 20 kHz range.
Features of the Best Mic Stands for Blue Yeti and Blue Snowball
So, given that these are two superb microphones, we might as well equip them with the perfect stand. Both microphones come with rather basic stands that serve a purpose. A simple upgrade will improve your positioning choices and enhance audio quality due to enhanced microphone isolation.
Now mic stands aren’t exactly rocket science, but there are probably more variations than you realize. Firstly, we have the traditional straight and boom stands. These are placed on the floor with a tripod base. These stands aren’t usually the best options for smaller studios or desktop use. Next, we have desktop stands, like those bundled with the Blue mics, placed directly on your desk.
These can do the job, but they do pose some issues.
Firstly, they’re directly in front of you if you’re recording at your PC, therefore obscuring your vision.
Secondly, it’s hard to operate your keyboard while you have a desktop mic stand in front of you.
Thirdly, these are small stands that aren’t very flexible, and since they’re connected to the desk, any nudge or knock will affect your recording.
The solution? Scissor stands. These stands discussed above give you the best flexibility when positioning your Blue Yeti or Blue Snowball around your table. They give greater sound isolation and reduce the chance of knocks or vibrations. They’re also sleek and convenient.
Summary: What’s the Best Mic Stand for Blue Snowball and Blue Yeti?
Here, we’ve got a split between the more expensive DuaFire and RODE models and the cheaper InnoGear and ETubby models.
The RODE is the king of the scissor stands. If it’s within your budget, it’s sure to be at your desk for many years. It has renowned durability, and with its smooth movement and dual mounting capability, it’s sure to remain usable and flexible for its entire lifetime.
The DuaFire is essentially a clone of the RODE PSA1, and it competes in most areas. There’s nothing that you can say to knock it down. It’s strong, allows for a wide range of movement, and its price is pretty reasonable.
The other two stands are very similar and very cheap. They seem practically identical, and therefore it’d make logical sense to side with the cheaper InnoGear model.