Blue yeti static: Why Is Your Blue Yeti Crackling? 9 Solutions

28 апреля, 2023

Why Is Your Blue Yeti Crackling? 9 Solutions

The Blue Yeti is an incredible mic with an appealing price tag. Virtually every tech YouTuber on the planet has recommended it at some point. But all pieces of tech have some problems. If you’re asking, “Why is my Blue Yeti crackling?” you came to the right place.

Your Blue Yeti may be crackling because of software-related issues or a problem with the USB cable or port. You can restart your computer, adjust the microphone gain and volume, and turn off background processes to fix it. Using a different USB port and cable is another possible solution.

In this article, I’ll explain some common Blue Yeti issues that can cause it to crackle and how to fix them.

Contents

  • 1 Restart Your Computer To Refresh Your PC Hardware
  • 2 Turn off Background Processes To Speed Up Your Computer
  • 3 Change Your Speaker and Blue Yeti’s Recording Sample Rate
  • 4 Blue Yeti Headphone Jack Crackling
  • 5 Use a Different USB Port To Give Your Blue Yeti More Power
  • 6 Replace a Bad USB Cable
  • 7 Change Your Blue Yeti’s Volume and Gain
  • 8 Remove the Blue Yeti in Device Manager
  • 9 Record Through Audacity
  • 10 Use a Pop Filter To Make You Sound Better
  • 11 Frequently Asked Questions
  • 12 How To Deal With Blue Yeti Headphone Jack Crackling
  • 13 Final Thoughts
  • 14 Sources

Restart Your Computer To Refresh Your PC Hardware

I know it sounds incredibly cliché, but restarting your computer is the easiest way to fix Blue Yeti crackling sounds.

If the microphone was working just fine yesterday but crackles now, it’s worth a shot.

Several factors can make the Blue Yeti start to crackle all of a sudden. Maybe your BIOS didn’t load it correctly, or your USB port bugged out, or perhaps the driver isn’t loaded correctly.

Whatever the issue might be, a quick restart could fix it.

Turn off Background Processes To Speed Up Your Computer

There are a few reasons why background processes can make your Blue Yeti crackle. 

Maybe your CPU and RAM are working too hard, so your recording quality starts to suffer.

And don’t get fooled that a high-end CPU won’t face this issue. It has more to do with lousy optimization than hardware power.

CPU and GPU performance and temp monitoring programs are to blame most of the time for crackling.

Here is how you can find and turn off any background process:

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager.
  2. Click on Details.
  3. Press on the CPU tab to list the processes by CPU usage.
  4. Press on any unknown task and click on End task.

Turn off all processes and check your microphone. If it stopped crackling, there’s your fix.

I recommend repeating this by restarting your PC and then turning the processes off one by one until you find the one causing the issue.

It’s most likely going to be a third-party program that you’re using for gaming or productivity. If it isn’t something you can’t live without, go ahead and uninstall it.

Change Your Speaker and Blue Yeti’s Recording Sample Rate

Sample rate indicates how many samples your microphone records in a second.

In simpler terms, the higher the sampling rate, the better the sound quality. At least in theory.

I lowered my speakers and microphone sampling rate because of crackling noise, and I honestly can’t tell the difference. Both sound just as good on a lower sample rate, but your mileage may vary.

Here is how you change the recording sample rate in Windows 10:

  1. Go to Start and type Sound settings.
  2. Scroll down to Input and click on Device properties.
  3. Under Related Settings, press Additional Device properties.
  4. Click on the Advanced tab.
  5. Under Default Format, press on the sample rate and change it to 2 channel, 16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality).
  6. Press Apply and OK.

Try other sample rates as well to see if the crackling persists.

While you’re here in the Advanced tab, you can try a few other things. Uncheck the box next to Enable audio enhancements.

Also, check the box next to Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device. Changing these settings could fix your crackling issues, but there’s no guarantee.

Blue Yeti Headphone Jack Crackling

If your Blue Yeti Headphone Jack is crackling

Use a Different USB Port To Give Your Blue Yeti More Power

One of the most common microphone issues can be fixed by simply changing the USB port you’re using.

If you plugged your Blue Yeti into a front USB port, that’s a red flag. Front USB ports are case ports and don’t have nearly as much bandwidth as motherboard USB ports in the back.

If you already have the Blue Yeti plugged in a back USB port, try a different one. USB ports are buggy and sometimes can’t provide enough juice to power your excellent microphone, causing it to crackle.

Replace a Bad USB Cable

Just like a bad USB port can cause crackling, so can a bad USB cable. Thankfully, the Blue Yeti uses a standard Mini USB cable.

You can get this A-Male to Mini-B Cable from Amazon.com. It’s 3 ft (0.9 m) long, so plugging it in the back of the case won’t be an issue. Also, it’s gold-plated, which means it won’t rust.

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Even if your Blue Yeti is brand-new, that doesn’t mean that the USB cable functions. A new USB cable can quickly stop your crackling issue.

Change Your Blue Yeti’s Volume and Gain

Microphone gain is similar to microphone volume, but it’s not the same — the higher your gain, the more sound the microphone will pick up.

However, if you crank the gain knob on your Blue Yeti to the max, it’ll pick up a lot of background noise.

A different thing happens with your microphone volume, though. Your friends might hear you loudly, but not clearly.

This happens when you set the volume to 100, but the mic gain stays low.

Here’s what you have to do:

  1. Go to Start and type Sound settings.
  2. Go to Input and press Device properties.
  3. Turn down the Volume slider to 20-50 and turn up the gain on your microphone using the gain knob on the back.

You’ll have to play with the gain and volume settings a bit until you fine-tune the sound. Doing this can stop your microphone from crackling. As a bonus, it’ll improve the sound quality.

Remove the Blue Yeti in Device Manager

This is a more advanced version of “plugging it out and back in” because you’re removing all the software related to the microphone along with it.

Here’s how to remove your Blue Yeti in Device Manager:

  1. Go to Start and type Device Manager.
  2. Expand Audio inputs and outputs.
  3. Right-click the Blue Yeti and select Uninstall device.
  4. Plug the microphone out.
  5. Restart your computer.
  6. Plug the microphone back in.

In a nutshell, you’ve just plugged your Blue Yeti in for the first time. 

Your computer will now automatically download and install the optimized drivers for the microphone. The crackling should be gone now.

For more information, check out how to lessen background noise on a Blue Yeti mic.

Record Through Audacity

If you get crackling noise only in OBS Studio and other programs, you can try Audacity, a free program used to record and edit audio.

You can prevent crackling, screeching, and everything in between. Also, you can significantly improve the Yeti’s sound quality using Audacity.

Here’s a quick YouTube video that showcases how to use Audacity for the Blue Yeti:

Use a Pop Filter To Make You Sound Better

If the crackling noise you’re hearing is the puff of air that leaves your mouth when speaking, a pop filter will alleviate that issue.

Pop filters are great at isolating sound and making you sound better.

You don’t need to go overboard. A simple pop filter like this one by EJT from Amazon.com is enough. It’s double-layered and has an adjustable screw clamp that you can attach to the Blue Yeti’s stand.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How To Deal With Blue Yeti Headphone Jack Crackling

If your Blue Yeti headphone jack is crackling, there is a problem with the connection with the cable or the port. If it crackles even if you replace the cable, then the problem is with the headphone jack. You should check the warranty and contact the manufacturer regarding fixing the headphone jack.

Final Thoughts

The Blue Yeti is a great microphone. However, like any other microphone, you’re bound to face some common issues.

If your brand-new Blue Yeti is crackling in videos and games, you now know 9 solutions to fix it.

Sources

  • Wikipedia: Background process
  • Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative: Term: Sampling rate (audio)
  • Podcast Articles: What is microphone gain?
  • Wikipedia: OBS Studio
  • Audacity: Home
  • Wikipedia: Pop filter

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Blue Yeti Loud Static — 7 Possible Reasons and Best Fixes (2023)

If you’re reading this, you’re probably on a desperate hunt to find a fix for your Blue Yeti’s static sound, and you’ve come to the right place!

In this article, you’ll learn about some of the most likely causes of this problem with the Blue Yeti microphone, as well as some possible fixes.

Many people have had the Blue Yeti loud static issue, but because several things can cause that issue, there are multiple solutions for that problem.

The Best Ways to Fix Blue Yeti Loud Static Issue

1. Check your USB connectivity (try different sockets and check the cable)
2. Choose an appropriate gain setting
3. Choose the correct polar pattern
4. Update your OBS or switch to another streaming software
5. Have an electrician check your grounding
6. Convert files into another format
7. Try using software for noise reduction

Here’s what I’ll go through:

  • Main issues that cause the static sound on the Blue Yeti
  • The best solutions for these issues
  • Some solutions that you should try if none of the specific fixes work

Now, let’s get into it and fix that irritating static noise!

Table of Contents

1

Blue Yeti Microphone Loud Static Sound Reasons

Blue Yeti microphones are well-loved and used among many streamers and content creators, however, for the past few years there seems to be a problem with this mic – it picks up a strange static-like noise on people’s recordings.

The causes can vary, there are both software and hardware-related ones, and hopefully, you can figure out what’s up with your specific one by using my list.

I have my fingers crossed that you won’t have to spend an additional chink on money for your recording equipment!

1. Issues With The USB Port

Issues with USB ports are common with all the devices that use them, so the Blue Yeti mic isn’t much different from that.

To check if this is your issue, you’ll just need to try out some of the other USB ports on your computer and check what happens with the audio quality when you do that.

If you use a separate USB hub, it might be that its ports are broken.

2. Issues With The USB Cable

Just as common as issues as USB ports, or probably even more common, USB cables tend to break on us all of the time.

Before you go out and buy a new separate USB cable for the Yeti mic, take a cable from some of your other devices, that you know works, and connect it to the mic.

Then try out the Blue Yeti mic and see if you’ll have clear audio or if the mic still makes that white noise.

3. The Mic Gain Is Not Appropriate

If you don’t know what mic gain is, then that might be a sign that’s the problem with your Blue Yeti mic.

Basically, mic gain is a setting that makes sure that the mic’s input is right – not overloading and picking up all of the background noise, and not on the opposite end where it doesn’t even pick up your voice that well.

If you’ve tried out every cable, port, and any other possible part of the hardware that could be the issue, then this is probably the best next step that you could take.

To check this out, you just need to go to your Settings, open the Sound section, and then go to Recording.

If it’s set too high, then your mic might be picking up the hum of your PC, or some other radio frequencies.

4. Wrong Polar Pattern

A polar pattern might be another term that is unknown to you, but it can be the reason why your Blue Yeti mic is picking up every background sound that makes your mic have that static sound.

The polar pattern is the term used to describe the direction in which your mic senses signals.

Different polar patterns can be subcardioid, cardioid pattern, omnidirectional, super-cardioid, hyper-cardioid, bi-directional, and lobar.

The Blue Yeti specifically has 4 different polar patterns: stereo, cardioid, omnidirectional and bi-directional.

So, your mic might be set to one of the modes that pick up too many background noises.

5. OBS Doesn’t Agree With Latest Mac OS update

Many people that have their Mac OS up to date have had the same problem with their Blue Yeti, but have found out that the problem is indeed in the OBS, and not the mic itself.

If you’re a Mac user, then you should look into this.

The slight issue here is that you’ll have to find some other laptop that doesn’t have the same operating system to check whether the mic will work well there.

If you have some other programs that have the same function, you can also try that out and see if that will reduce background noise picking up.

6. Your Mic Is Not On An Appropriate Spot

This is probably the first thing that you should work out.

Sometimes, the location of your mic could cause interruptions in its performance.

For example, it can pick up vibrations from other devices that are on the same table.

To check this, you will obviously have to move your device around and see whether the voice recording is still having static noise in it.

Also, if you find out that the mic works fine when it’s on some type of mic stand, then this is what you’re dealing with.

7. Grounding Issues

Finally, your power supply could be the reason why the static sound appears in the recording.

The outlet that your PC cable is plugged in might be poorly grounded, or it might not be grounded at all.

If you’re using a laptop computer, and not a PC, then you should try to use the Blue Yeti device when it’s running just on battery, and not plugged in.

If you have a PC, try to plug everything into a different socket.

If the noise goes away when you try these things out, then that will be the proof that power supply issues are what’s behind your white noise problem.

If the static continues after you’ve tried to plug the computer into every other socket, you will need to test your outlets using a device called a multimeter.

You can purchase this yourself, but before you make such a step, ask around and see whether someone you know has it and has experience using it, maybe it’s better to ask them to do it.

This way it will be a bit cheaper to fix your audio recording quality.

How To Fix Blue Yeti Static Sound Issues

Depending on what was your issue, you will see which one of these solutions will work for you.

1. Fixing USB Connection Issues

The first and most basic thing that you can do to fix your USB issues, is to try using a different USB port to connect your mic to the PC.

If you have a powered USB hub, you should try connecting the USB microphones to some of the other ports on it, but maybe it is time to change it up if you find that it has issues with other devices too.

However, if you don’t have a port, getting it might solve your problems, as many people found out that that fixed their mic works just fine with it.

Then, the cable on your Yeti mic might be broken, so you should buy a new one and change it.

This is now a big investment, but try not to buy the cheapest available ones, as they tend to break faster on the audio device.

2. Resolving The Gain Setting On Your Mic

As I said, the amount of background noise that the Blue Yeti microphone will pick up can depend on which gain setting is currently set.

The gain your mic is set on now is probably too high, so you will need to lower it.

This is what you need to do:

  • Take a pair trusty of headphones or earbuds for streaming, that you’re 100% work well, and plug them into your Blue Yeti
  • On the mic, there is a gain knob, and you should try and find it at the back of the mic
  • Once you do, turn the gain knob and increase the gain and listen to the audio
  • Open the Sound settings on your computer, and choose the Blue Yeti microphone to be your input device
  • Turn the microphone volume down to 50%
  • Get the knob again, decrease the gain and listen to what the mic picks up, and once you hear clear audio, stop and keep it set on there

3.

Fixing The Wrong Polar Pattern

To fix the polar pattern, you should set your mic to cardioid mode.

When you plug the mic in, you will get the ability to choose which polar pattern you want to use.

It looks the same on all different computers, so there shouldn’t be an issue with figuring this out.

When it’s on this mode, the microphone usually works just fine.

4. Dealing With OBS-related Issues

The only real and sustainable solution for this is to opt for using another streaming software.

Some of the possible alternatives are Wondershare DemoCreator, XSplit, or ShareX.

While OBS seems to be an industry standard, a lot of streamers still use these alternatives because they’ve found them better for one reason or another.

When it comes to the microphone issues specifically, no one found any audio issues with Blue Yeti or any other equipment.

While this problem is primarily connected to the newer Mac updates, you could still try this out with Windows.

5. Fixing Grounding Issues

There are 2 problems that can happen here, the grounding wires in your house are either broken, or there aren’t any at all.

Both of these will probably require a professional electrician tuning in, as it can be potentially dangerous to fiddle with this on your own.

If this seems too much for just a background noise issue, this is your reminder that this actually is not just a background noise issue.

Having a grounding problem isn’t only affecting your sound quality, but it can also have an impact on your quality of life.

You don’t want just quality content, you want your life quality to be good as well, and that won’t happen when there is a grounding issue.

6. Convert Your File Format

Some people found the solution for the loud noises in converting your files.

The default format your file will be in is .mkv, and it seems like the microphone recording loses the static noise when it’s in .mp4.

This is a step more, and it might be irritating, but it is a free and simple solution.

7. Noise Reduction Software

If nothing here helped you, then you should look into software made for improving sound quality.

Noise cancellation software works by placing pop filters over your audio recording.

To do this, it records the background sound and then inverts it to a signal which it uses to create an anti-noise that will cancel it.

The two main ones that work for both Windows and Mac OS are Krisp and Nvidia RTX Voice.

If you’re a Linux user, there’s NoiseGator, and if you use sour microphones on an Android device, try Neutralizer or Noise Killer apps.

Whenever you edit your recording, make sure that you use headphones to be sure that it works out fine once it goes through the program.

FAQ

Why is my Blue Yeti making static noise?

There are many reasons why the mic could be having this kind of an issue. Some of the most common ones include USB issues, gain, and polar pattern issues, which are all very easy to deal with.

Also, if you use Mac OS and also OBS, it seems like the latest updates of the operating system don’t work well with OBS, making microphones have a static noise to them.

A bit of a bigger issue that you could have is related to your power supply, and your grounding might not work properly, or you might not have grounding at all.

Finally, maybe the location where you have your microphone isn’t the best for acoustics so you might need to work out a new recording place.

How do you get rid of the static noise on a Blue Yeti?

This depends mostly on what is the issue that is causing the sound in the first place. Depending on what is your core issue, you will see what are the next steps you need to take in order to fix the problem.

If you aren’t sure and you can’t really point your finger at the primary problem, some recording fixes include converting your files to .mp4 or installing software that’s made for canceling the background sounds.

The first things that you should check when troubleshooting this is the USB ports and cables, the placement of your mic, and the grounding status of your sockets.

Why does my mic have so much static?

There are many issues that can cause this to happen. Some of the most common issues are the things related to your mic’s USB connection, the microphone settings, the placement of your mic, and even whether you have a good grounding in your home.

You should try each of these things out to see and point where the problem lies. Once you diagnose what the exact problem is, you will know what your solutions are.

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