Customer Ratings & Reviews

Overall seemed like a pretty decent microphone just didn't provide the sound I was looking for with my voice.

For the price, fantastic and simple. Picks up less environment noise than the yeti x.

Working great. Have used Blue products in the past. I wish Best Buy carried more brands and styles.

Great Mic. But you do need an XLR connection.. they didn’t tell me that

Nice mic, does not include audio cable which was disappointing

Studio quality cardioid condenser mic. Wooden box with precision laser-cut foam to house the mic when not set up. And a custom metal shock mount that threads easily. Blue mics capture retro aesthetics with a modern touch, and it looks amazing. At the base of the mic, there are two dedicated switches: 100 Hz high pass filter and a -20 dB PAD. The inserts and marketing seemed to push the Spark SL more in a streaming setting, which would definitely be an ideal scenario for the cardioid design, but I used it for recording myself singing with a Taylor 414. With my home setup, I didn't end up needing to flip either switch on, but if you're streaming a game and you have big fans on your rig, I could imagine the HPF coming in handy to remove the rumbling. Sound was exactly as I've come to expect from Blue, as I've used their Yeti before. Very quick and easy to set up, and although aesthetics don't do anything for performance, the blacked out exterior and black shock mount didn't stand out in my corner. One thing, if you're new to XLR, in order to connect the Spark (or any other XLR mic) to your computer, you'll need an XLR audio interface. Personally, I use a Focusrite Scarlett Solo because it's affordable and reliable, but there are a ton of other options. That and an XLR cable are the only things you need to add on top of the Spark to get going.

This microphone is sleek, and the packaging is top quality.

so far its been working great. Daughter really liked!

Awesome mic. Set up with the right filters and its just perfect.

good item, hard to get hooked up and working right

Very retro and sturdy condenser microphone for any laptop musicians out there! I was in the market for a condenser mic to record my acoustic guitar and vocals. The sound out of this mic is very clear with many frequency range options. The microphone came with a wooden box came with looks awesome and the price tag doesn't hurt the bank for $199. It's affordable and looks very professional. I used the mic in an Apple Laptop with Logic Pro using a Beringer UMC 404HD 4x4 Channel audio Interface. I had no issues with connections and frequency adjustments. Lucky, I had my own mic stand so I had no issues, but I am considering using a desk clip-on mic stand since I do all my recording in my computer space. If you want to get a good sound from the mic I would recommend you use some good preamps and interfaces. The -20db pad switch is a good feature. Overall, the sound is nice, rich, and clear. I hoped they include a pop filter. Other than that it's a good buy, For $199, seems like a good purchase. It's sturdy, professional-looking, and sounds great! It's a good addition to any mic arsenal.

Great mic just not for me, had a different pickup pattern from what I prefer but overall was not a bad mic, maybe a little overpriced though, didn’t come with a few things in the box either

This thing is a knock out! It hits way above it's price point sound quality wise. The Blue Spark SL sounds nice and clean, and the included 100 Hz low cut filter did a good job of taming plosives and other undesired low frequency noises and rumbles etc. The cardioid pattern did a great job of reducing background noise and focusing in on my voice, and the included shock mount helped keep the mic from picking up bumps to my desk or the microphone stand. The microphone feels good and solid, and the build quality is 1st class. I would recommend running a pop filter in front of this microphone as it's super sensitive, which is actually a good thing. It allowed me to turn the gains down on my mixer which lowers the noise floor for a nice quiet background when not speaking. This microphone would be amazing for gaming / twitch / podcasting and even voice overs / voice acting. I highly recommend the Blue Spark SL to anyone in the market for a high quality XLR Condenser microphone!

Not as expected! Mic is just an ok mic. Also, it doesn't come with its cable. Sound is just basic. Nothing serious.

If u had a mixer it works good with it .son got it for his gaming desk top and we forgot to get the cords

I've been toying with home recording since my teens and this is the first time I've branched out to a nicer condenser mic rather than inexpensive dynamic mics. The difference is night and day, and I've found the Blue to be very versatile. My main signal path is mic>Soundcraft Notepad 5 USB Mixer>iMac running GarageBand. This setup works great, and the preamps on the Soundcraft are very quiet when used with this mic. The mixer also supplies phantom power for the mic. While playing around I had the EQ and gain on the board set to the 12:00 position and the bass roll-off set to off. The mic has it's own built in roll-off, so it's not necessary to use the one on the board. Keep in mind this is an XLR mic, not a USB one, so if you intend to use it with your DAW of choice, you will need an interface to bring it into your computer. It's worth it to use a high quality mic like this and purchase a good, quiet interface than to compromise on the quality that comes with the convenience of having the DAC built into the mic. I tried out vocals first. Ok, I'm not a singer, but I had to see how it sounded. I was a little put off by the amount of popping I got from my "P" sounds, but found that using the mic's bass roll-off fixed it perfectly, but still left a lot of warmth to my voice. There was no sibilance and clarity was top-notch! I've also tried using it with my guitars with excellent results. Using it near the sound-hole on an acoustic guitar (with the roll-off switch off) resulted a lush, clean sound perfect for acoustic guitar and easy to bring into GarageBand. Finally, it works equally well to mic up a guitar amp. I prefer to mic an amp over directly injecting a guitar into GarageBand because it brings out the natural sound from my amplifier and gives the tone some "air." I found it best to back off a little from the speaker, more than when I use a dynamic mic. If you're tight on space or want to keep it closer to cut down on bleed, you can always use the built-in 20db pad. The overall build quality on this thing is amazing. I was really surprised by how heavy it is. Photos don't do it justice, it's actually built like a tank and is all metal. Included is a very nice metal and rubber shock-mount designed soecifically for the mic. I got a cheap isolation arm to mount it on. I would highly recommend this kind of mount since you can clamp it to a desk for vocals or acoustic guitar and to your amp for electric. Even though it's obviously sturdy enough to survive in a padded bag Blue also included a cool wooden box with a form-fitted core and a slide-off lid. Packed in there there's no way it'll get damaged if you use it for a gig somewhere! This is a great all-purpose mic for vocals and instrument use. If you're looking for something for meetings or maybe podcasting, you may want to look into something with built-in USB for convenience, although you could definitely benefit from using this mic with an interface for podcasting.

it doesn't comes with the cable and doesn't work with another ones

Straight up, I did not know that there is a cardioid condenser mic that’s as reasonable priced like this. The build quality and design are top-notch! I am used to recording my vocals on a supercardioid microphone. Although my usual microphone is already great, this one exceeds it by far in terms of recording quality. Unfortunately, this did not work on my 5 year old USB audio interface, even if it had 48V power. I had to plug this in a pro mixer that is properly plugged in the wall. And man, when I first heard my voice on it, I was surprised how I have not been using cardioid condenser mics for recording. Oh yeah, I have not tried investing in separate mic for recording because they are usually expensive--- but not this one. For the price range, I think this is exceptional for recording vocals. As a part-time singer who sings oddly-phrased alternative songs, it is important to get my lyrics clear. This microphone picks up everything oh so clearly. The sensitivity is so precise, the difference when I throw my voice in different directions and varying distances is very noticeable. Though I would need a filter to control my sudden closed-lip syllables, this mic picks up each movement of my lips. It is so clear that I do not have to put in too much effort just to pronounce properly. My bandmate who does the mixing was so happy with the quality, he says, it gives him so much headroom to mix my recorded voice. He says the output quality is so wide and crisp that it takes him less effort to get his music layers straightened out. Those are his words, not mine. I do not know how to mix like a pro but I sure know when I made my money maker happy. Well, who knows you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to come up with good quality recordings. This Blue Microphone is such a good value mic. I think we’ll practicing out of the garage real soon!

I didn't even get the chance to use this item. I didn't know it requires special connections, and nowhere on the box does it even say what is needed to run an XLR microphone setup. Overall, this microphone is just not worth the price when compared to the yeticaster bundle for $200.

// Sound Quality For vocals, this Blackout Spark SL excels in capturing rich, clean sound with plenty of clarity and detail. I have a lower voice, but not a baritone, and I feel it represented my voice well. The mic did a good job at rejecting and not picking up sounds that are close to the microphone but just like all mics of this style you’ll want to make sure to be up close to the mic. However, not too close as plosives (p’s) tend to be bit pronounced. I also recorded acoustic guitar and I was vey impressed with the detail that it was able to capture. I had this hooked up to a Scarlett Solo XLR interface and with the 48 volt phantom power, I set the gain in the middle of the range so this mic doesn’t need a ton of gain. I didn’t have to use the high pass filter or the -20db pad in my environment but I can see how these can come in handy if there’s a lot of rumble or background noise. // Construction Just like all Blue products, the construction of this microphone is impressive. It’s very solid, does not feel cheap in any way, and this blackout version looks amazing in a studio setup or if you are using this for podcasting. The shock mount is also very attractive and adds that retro look to the entire setup. Sound quality is top notch and with the retro look with the black details, it’s a fantastic option especially if you are using this microphone while being on video.