I’ve already tested a lot of Blue-products and have never been disappointed. This time I tested the new Blue Ember, XLR microphone.
The Blue Ember is a long, blue XLR-microphone without a stand. It’s XLR, but can be converted to USB via the Blue Icicle. For only 99$ this is a very cheap XLR microphone. But does it hold up?
Watch our full review and test in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqryVqv5JlI&feature=youtu.be
PROS
- Overall professional sound quality
- For 99$ it’s a very cheap XLR microphone
- Plug and play
- Very good build quality
CONS
- No microphone stand
- Picks up a bit of background noise when silent
- A bit flat
VERDICT
As usual, the build quality of the Blue Ember is great. It’s a full metal body and it looks gorgeous. Very important is of course that this is an XLR microphone, which means it doesn’t plug in to usb for example. You can convert this with the Blue Icicle if necessary. So, the build quality is okay, but of course the sound is the most important factor in buying a microphone.
The Ember comes in at 99$, which is not a lot for an XLR microphone with that build quality. I use the Blue Spark SL and compared the two sound-wise. The Blue Spark SL is noticeably louder and has more bass and ‘fat’ sound to it, while the Ember is a bit flatter and sharper in sound. The Ember has more background white noise, because it doesn’t have a reducing filter or any other buttons on the microphone. However, if you put music over the voice-over for example, you won’t hear the white noise.
The Ember performs very well and delivers clear and crisp sound. It does tend to clip a bit when to loud, so don’t go to close to the microphone. Overall for 99$ you can’t go wrong with the Blue Ember. It gives out clean and crisp audio. The only downsides are the white noise, lack of bass and that there’s no microphone stand included. However, the Ember mounts to any other microphone stand available.