Blue Sona Active Dynamic XLR Mic review

Blue Sona: Two-minute review

The Blue Sona is a fantastic mic and somewhat of an anomaly in today’s world of USB mics geared towards gamers, streamers, and podcasters. While it can certainly hold its own in the studio, it’s meant for the kind of “creators” mentioned above that take the quality of their recordings seriously. And, to do that, you have to graduate from USB mics, as far as they come, to a more modular setup that includes an audio interface and a microphone that focuses on doing one thing and doing it well. The Blue Sona is that kind of mic.

In fact, the Blue Sona is really meant as an alternative to the very popular Shure SM7B, which sports a similar price and functionality, though the SM7B has been around for decades. While the Blue Sona most likely won’t displace the SM7B, it’s a strong contender that is a fantastic choice for anyone wanting to up their podcasting / streaming game. And, if you want to use it to record some guitar and vocals, it can do that too. It won’t have the versatility of many of the USB mics out there. But, when it comes to microphones, quality and versatility usually have a fragile coexistence and you typically have to choose one or the other (or pay a lot more).

While this seemingly stripped down mic clearly favors quality, there’s plenty going on here. Sure, there’s just the one supercardioid polar pattern and one XLR port, but on the base of the Blue Sona’s body is a magnetized cover that reveals two switches, one to roll off the bass and one to boost presence. There’s also internally an shockmount to keep bumps from picking up too loudly while in use.

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