Blue Microphones Tiki review

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Verdict:

Excellent, natural sound recording, but the noise cancellation only had limited effect on the background noise in our office

Review Date: 12 Nov 2012

Price when reviewed: £30

Supplier: http://www.currys.co.uk

Reviewed By: Kat Orphanides

Our Rating 4 stars out of 5

Blue Microphones' hardware is well known in the world of stage and studio recording equipment, but the company has also been putting its condensor microphone technology to other uses. The Tiki is a small and very stylish USB microphone designed for use with internet chat clients.

At 31x25x85mm (including its stand) it's a little bit bigger than many chat mics, but it's small by the standards of condensor microphones. The unit has a pair of condensor mics and is both powered and connected by USB, working with your operating system's default USB audio drivers.

Unlike most mics, the Tiki has a built-in DSP chip that applies intelligent noise reduction to background sounds such as servers, fans and the clatter of keyboards. It can also be disabled at the touch of a button if you want natural. It offers a bit of improvement, but it did little to eliminate the drone of rack servers or the clatter of keys being struck on the laptop next to the mic in our labs.

With its ability to capture very natural-sounding human speech, this is a great microphone for high-quality chat, or even podcast recording if you don't need to record a group. However, its sound cancelling isn't particularly effective in very noisy environments.

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