If you’re looking among tech review sites for a USB microphone recommendation, you’ll definitely see a blue product listed. It was founded in 1995 and has earned consumer recognition with iconic designs, such as Snowball and Snowball YetiThe Blue Microphones brand has become well known, from audiophiles to newcomers looking to launch their first podcast. But from now on, the Blue Microphones brand will no longer exist.
Logitech announced its acquisition of Blue Microphones in 2018, 23 years after jazz guitarist Skipper Wise and audio engineer Martins Saulespurens created the company. Initially, Blue Microphones installed microphones from the 1950s and 1960s, but eventually began creating equipment for the recording industry, such as Los Angeles Times Reported in 2009.
Blue’s co-founders told the Los Angeles Times that Apple encouraged Blue to enter the computer microphone space. The global supply manager at the time reportedly encouraged Blue to make an affordable microphone for music recording software. Apple was, at the time, preparing its own GarageBand software. The result was the Blue Snowball USB Microphone, and as soon as it became available in Apple Stores, it really took off. The microphone has become a more accessible and affordable option than paying for a studio session, and it’s becoming popular with a growing number of musicians.
“Compared to other budget condenser microphones, the sound quality is a bit lackluster, and ground noise seemed a bit loud, but it’s definitely a step up from the cheap microphones that come with most computers,” Ars Technica’s 2007 review of the Snowball microphone reads.
Blue would go on to release other USB mics and catch the eye of hobbyists, reviewers, streamers, podcasters… and Logitech. Bought Logitech Blue for $117 million.
Five years later, Logitech dropped the Blue Microphones name in favor of Yeti, the name of one of Blue’s most popular microphone series. The Yeti microphones will live on under the broader Logitech G umbrella of PC peripherals and accessories that were once aimed at gamers and streamers.
Logitech said via reddit On Thursday, as previously spotted the edge.
Astro Gaming, which was acquired by Logitech in 2017 for its own sake $85 millionand Logitech for Creator products will now also remain under Logitech G. However, unlike Blue and Logitech for Creators, the Astro brand will continue, and Its website is not Logitech It is still active as of this writing.
The move appears to be an attempt to unify Logitech’s wide range of Logitech hardware products for creators and gamers, whose technology needs can sometimes overlap.
It also means that upcoming products from these brands will all work in Logitech’s G Hub app, which would be relatively convenient if the G Hub is really fun to use and people assume they have products across these brands. Logitech isn’t retroactively adding G Hub support to any products that don’t have it, though.
As of this writing, all microphones formerly known as Blue are listed on Logitech website It is named Yeti (Yeti X instead of Blue Yeti X, for example). Of course, they still have a physical blue metal badge, as there’s nothing Logitech can do about that until they release a new one. blue Logitech G Yeti microphones.
what’s in a name?
Logitech microphones yeti
The good news for Blue mic fans is that Logitech says it won’t be discontinuing any of its mics. It will still be available but with less indication that it used to come from a company called Blue. But does the name really matter? For co-founder from Latvia Saulespurens, it did.
According to a 2009 LA Times report, Blue was an acronym for Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics.
“I just wanted to name Latvia somewhere,” Solisborns told the Los Angeles Times then. “[Blue co-founder] Skipper said the name should be easy to remember, so he said, “Blue, let’s just call it blue.”
Mic names will no longer bear this tribute to one of their founders, which is the risk when a company is sold. Some might think the Blue name will stick because it’s recognizable and because Logitech hasn’t left out other brand names it’s bought, like Ultimate Ears and Saitek, as The Verge points out.
However, Logitech is keeping the trademark “Yeti” heritage of microphones instead. But with microphones bearing the defunct Blue logo still being sold and sitting on people’s desks, the name will live on to some extent.
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