In the market for a USB microphone? You may want to check out my review of Nessie. This is an adaptive plug-and-play microphone for Mac/PC/iOS that will add real-time processing to your voice.

Back in January I had a chance to get a first-hand preview of Nessie at CES 2013. Since then, Blue Microphones has released this exciting new microphone and I had to check it out for myself. Like I said this USB microphone is compatible with all platforms (Mac/PC/iOS with Camera Connection Kit) and will deliver performance and real-time processing of your voice. Of course, there is a “raw” setting for the mic if you’d like to add post-processing yourself.

Overall, I’d have to say that Nessie is just a decent microphone. Though, this is in my professional opinion as far as audio production goes, and I’m kind of biased towards some of the higher-end Blue microphones.

Pro Audio?

For the price, Nessie is pretty good. The only thing that bothered me was the lack of protection against pops. I found that in order to prevent harsh plosives, I had to be a foot or more away from the mic which didn’t work well for that up-clo0se recording sound. And for closer recordings, there’s really no place to mount a pop-filter.

The other downside is that there’s no gain control. Nessie has a fixed gain, so you’ll have to rely on your recording software to boost the gain post-recording. Other than that, I think Nessie has some great technology inside, but why not check it out for yourself?

Sound Speaks For Itself

In the video review above, you’ll find some audio samples to give you a good idea of Nessie’s performance. As you’ll notice below, I have decided that it’s only fair to provide two ratings for this microphone. As an audiophile, I don’t think Nessie is on par with the quality I expect/desire. Though, as a standard consumer, Nessie is certainly a great starter mic and will help you learn the ropes and has the potential for demo quality recordings.

Currently, Nessie is available for around $99.99. If you’d like to find out more information about Nessie, check out Blue’s website. Check it out and be sure to let me know what you think in the comments.

[xrr label=”Pro Rating:” rating=2.5/5] [xrr label=”Consumer Rating:” rating=4/5]