Blue Snowball vs Razer Seiren (2021): Entry Level Microphone Comparison

When it comes to affordable USB microphones, the Blue Snowball (Snowball and iCE) and the Razer Seiren (X and Mini) are some of the best options available in the market. Both lineups offer attractive pricing and excellent performance. But which of these should you get? We compare the Blue Snowball and the Razer Seiren X, as well as the Blue Snowball iCE and the Razer Seiren Mini, to help you decide which one is right for you.

Blue Snowball vs Razer Seiren Comparison Chart

Blue Snowball vs Razer Seiren X

The Blue Snowball has more pickup patterns than the Razer Seiren X, which only has one.

The Blue Snowball and the Razer Seiren X are easily distinguishable from each other since they have very different designs. As its name suggests, the Blue Snowball has a ball shape, while the Razer Seiren X has a more standard desktop mic shape.

Both microphones are compact and they won’t take up too much space on your desk. They both come with their desktop stands but you can attach them to a boom arm if you want to. Both microphones are plug and play via a USB port.

When it comes to overall build quality, there are no issues with both microphones. While they aren’t the most premium microphones around, there are no immediate concerns with their quality. They are solidly built and you should have no issues with either.

Key Differences

One of the biggest differences between the Blue Snowball and Razer Seiren X is their pickup patterns. With the Blue Snowball, you get to choose from multiple polar patterns—cardioid, cardioid with -10dB pad and omnidirectional. In contrast, the Razer Seiren X has a super cardioid polar pattern. When it comes to versatility, the Blue Snowball wins.

Another difference between the two microphones is that with the Razer Seiren X, you can monitor your audio output in real-time with its 3.5mm headphone out. The Blue Snowball does not have this feature. With this feature of the Razer Seiren X, you can make adjustments on the fly to get the best sound output. The Razer Seiren X also has a mute button while the Blue Snowball does not.

As far as sound quality goes, you can’t go wrong with either. They both sound good even though they are fairly cheap.

Blue Snowball iCE vs Razer Seiren Mini

The Blue Snowball and Razer Seiren Mini are as barebones as they come when it comes to entry-level USB microphones.

The Blue Snowball iCE is basically the Blue Snowball with some features removed, specifically, the Snowball’s multiple polar pattern feature. It has a circular form factor and it is the same size and weight as the Blue Snowball.

On the other hand, the Razer Seiren Mini has a pill-shaped form factor and it is the most barebones microphone in the Razer Seiren lineup. It lacks the features of the Razer Seiren X such as headphone out, mute button and headphone volume. This is expected as it is the most affordable microphone in the lineup.

Both the Blue Snowball iCE and Razer Seiren Mini come with their stands but you can also attach them to a boom arm (sold separately). When it comes to build quality, they are surprisingly very good, especially at their price point. They have some plastic parts but they are very durable.

Both microphones offer excellent portability due to their compact builds. They also won’t take up too much space on your desk, so you can have a clean looking setup.

Key Differences

Unlike with the Blue Snowball and Razer Seiren X comparison above, there’s not much difference between the Blue Snowball iCE and Razer Seiren Mini, aside from their appearance. The one main difference between the two is their pickup pattern. The Blue Snowball has a cardioid pickup pattern while the Razer Seiren Mini has a super cardioid pickup pattern, similar to the Razer Seiren X.

As mentioned above, super cardioid has a tighter pickup area than cardioid, so it is more effective when it comes to blocking unwanted noise from being captured. Aside from that, both cardioid and super cardioid behave similarly.

Both microphones are pretty barebones and it is expected since they are quite cheap. They don’t have any mute buttons, headphone monitoring, multiple polar patterns, etc. If you have a tight budget, these are the microphones that you should consider.

Verdict

The best value microphone is the Blue Snowball followed by the Razer Seiren X.

You can’t go wrong with either the Blue Snowball or the Razer Seiren X if your budget is in that range. Choose the Blue Snowball if you think that you’ll need its omnidirectional pickup pattern. Otherwise, pick the Razer Seiren X if you want to be able to monitor your audio output in real-time and if you don’t really need the omnidirectional pickup pattern of the Blue Snowball. Either way, you’ll get a great sounding microphone.

In the budget category, the Blue Snowball iCE and the Razer Seiren Mini are very similar. Both mics don’t offer a lot of features, so your choice will come down to design and if you want the cardioid pattern of the Blue Snowball iCE or the super cardioid polar pattern of the Razer Seiren Mini. Both microphones sound good for their price so choosing one will depend on your design preference.

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