The Blue Yeti USB Microphone is highly popular, but its sensitivity can overwhelm you. Photo (CC) by LTD Team

The drawback to Yeti Blue USB Microphones for podcasting

Yeti Blue microphones are widely popular for podcasting and home sound recording. They do have a big drawback of being overly sensitive. They pick up too much background noise even when the gain is turned way down. I know because I bought one for my own podcasting and video streaming and had a hard time getting good sound with it.

The Wrong Advice

Most of the advice I found online says to turn the gain knob on the Yeti down to the absolute minimum. That avoids picking up too much background sound, but then the audio is really quiet and almost unusable. The wrong advice says to amplify that sound at the computer or in your software.

The resulting sound I got using this advice was what I would describe as hollow.

The Contrarian Advice that Works Better

A few contrarians online say to turn the gain knob higher and turn down input level at the computer or software. That worked for me. The sound was much richer, and without picking up all the background noise.

Here are the exact steps I followed

The gain knob is the top one on the back of the Yeti. Most advice says turn it as far down as you can. That advice is wrong. Photo (CC) by LTD Team

1. I plugged my best set of headphones directly into the Yeti so I could monitor the sound while I made adjustments.
2. I turned the gain knob on the back of the Yeti all the way up. I could hear EVERYTHING.
3. I opened the Windows Sound Settings by typing “sound settings” into the Windows search box.
4. In the Sound Settings, I scrolled down to the Input devices.
5. I made sure the Yeti mic was selected, then clicked Device Properties.
6. I adjusted the volume down to around 50.

Much better!

I adjusted the two settings a little bit each way, until my voice sounded the best I could get and I couldn’t hear my wall clock ticking.

I ended up with the Yeti gain knob down about a quarter of the way and the Windows volume set at 75.

You don’t have to do it every time

I made these changes one time in Sound Settings, and now Windows seems to remember for me. Whenever I hook or plug in my Yeti, it’s ready to go. I don’t have to do anything extra.

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Luther Snow believes in an asset based approach to rural, so naturally we connected. Photo courtesy of Luther Snow.

Luther Snow may have grown up in the big city, but he found his stride in small towns. His work with Asset Based Community Development for rural has been extremely influential in rural development. Currently, he lives in Decorah, Iowa.

He and I felt a connection in our approaches and a strong pull to work together. This interview is a kickoff of what we hope will be an ongoing series of conversations with other rural people.

Look: I even made cover art!

Why this podcast exists

If you’re “just a business owner” or “just” someone in a small town, you often feel like you’re the only one. Either the only one with a positive outlook or the only one who is trying to create change. The whole point of this podcast is to bring all of us together. You are not alone.

That’s why I’ve started interviewing people who share my positive view of rural. I have three more already recorded:

• Mike Knutson, an experienced rural leader now working in rural housing
• Scott Meyer, a young startup guy with such a soft spot for rural that his blog is called Digital Homesteading
• Caleb Pollard, a rural leader turned brewer with a strong sense of creating a legacy

To keep this going, I need to know who you think I should talk to. Who else shares a positive view of rural? You? A friend? Someone you know? Give me your suggestions in the comments.

I promise to get this submitted to iTunes soon for easy subscribing, but in the meantime, enjoy it freestyle. :)

Luther’s stories

Luther shares his work with North Slope Alaska villages, and how what he found could apply to most any rural area. And then we just swap stories and talk about what we’re thinking these days about small towns.

Near the end, listen for Luther to talk his way into a regular spot on the podcast. I’m going to take him up on that, and we’ll be doing more visits with Luther in the future.

MP3 download: Luther Snow interview

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