Blue Microphones has been making an impressive name for itself with high-end recording equipment. From the portable recording prowess of the Blue Microphones Tiki, to the podcaster's choice, the Blue Microphones Yeti Pro, we've always liked the build and sound quality of Blue Microphone's products.
The flagship Blue Microphones Spark Digital, priced at £199.95 / US$199.95 / AU$249.95, is no different. This is a seriously nice bit of kit, beautifully crafted with Blue Microphones' pedigree in professional studio recording equipment clearly evident.
Though it looks like a professional microphone, it comes with USB and iPhone/iPad cables, clearly aimed at the home recorder/podcaster. Both cables also have a jack output, making it useful for plugging in some headphones and monitoring the recordings.
There's no XLR output for connecting to amps and mixing desks, which may put off some more serious musicians. If you want that kind of professional connectivity then the slightly more expensive Blue Microphones Yeti Pro is a wiser purchase. For plug and play recording, however, the Blue Microphones Spark Digital proved to be excellent.
On the body of the microphone are volume controls that can be pressed to mute the mic, and also a switch to turn on the focus mode. This improves clarity and detail when dealing with mid-range and higher frequencies, which worked well, but tended to pick up more ambient noises when we were testing. In a completely quiet environment, we were more impressed.
Verdict
There's no doubt that the Blue Microphones Spark Digital is a well built and quality product, but with minimal options for tweaking the sound quality on the body, along with iPad and iPhone connections and USB included over XLR, this is a microphone that's aimed squarely at home users.
It's fantastic for plug and play recording, where you just want to get it quickly set up, and with fantastic sound quality, you can be confident that your podcasts and other recordings are going to sound great. If you want a more versatile microphone for your recording needs, however, then you might need to look elsewhere.
First reviewed 22 August 2013