Blue Yeti X vs HyperX Quadcast: Which One Is Worth Buying?

This is the review comparison between the Blue Yeti X and the HyperX QuadCast microphones. Both have different designs. Currently, there is huge differences in their price range but not much difference in their features. To know which one is good for you to buy, go to the detailed review.

BLUE YETI XHYPERX QUADCAST
Blue Yeti XHyperX QuadCast
BUY NOWBUY NOW
PROSPROS
LED live metering.
Excellent construction.
Sleek Design
Phenomenal sound quality.
Recording software included.
Simple Plug-And-Play Setup.
Easy to use.
Loud and clear audio.
Shockmount and adapter for boom stand.
Four polar patterns.
CONSCONS
No pop filter or adapter for a standard mic stand.
Expensive.
Dials feel a little loose and plastic.
Attracts smudges.
USB only.
May lead to a mega-expensive headphone purchase.

SPECIFICATIONS:

HEADERBLUE YETI XHYPERX QUADCAST
BrandBlue MicrophonesHyperX
Product LineBlue Microphones YetiHyperX
Model988-000105QuadCast
GENERALBLUE YETI XHYPERX QUADCAST
ManufacturerLogitechKingston Technology
Recommended UseProfessional USB Microphone for Gaming, Streaming and Podcasting.Game console, computer
MICROPHONEBLUE YETI XHYPERX QUADCAST
Microphone Technology condenserelectret condenser
Microphone Operation Modecardioid / omni-directional / bi-directional (switchable), stereobi-directional, cardioid, omni-directional, stereo
Sensitivity-36 dB
Microphone Power Source Voultage (DC)
Frequency Response20 Hz20 Hz
Signal-To-Noise Ratio
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)
Max Sound Pressure122 dB
Audio Input DetailsCardioid / omni-directional / bi-directional (switchable) – 20 – 20000 HzCardioid / omni-directional / bi-directional / stereo (switchable) – 20 – 20000 Hz
Connectivity TechnologyWired
AUDIO SYSTEMBLUE YETI XHYPERX QUADCAST
TypeMicrophoneMicrophone
Recommended Usecomputercomputer, game console
Specific Applicationsbroadcast, recording
Additional FunctionsLED lightsLED lights
ControlsGain, Mute, volumeMute
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHTBLUE YETI XHYPERX QUADCAST
Componentmicrophone stand
Width4.3 in4 in
Depth4.8 in5.1 in
Height11.4 in9.8 in
Weight18.31 oz, 2.8 lbs8.96 oz
FEATURESBLUE YETI XHYPERX QUADCAST
FeaturesCustom four-capsule condenser array for greater focus and clarity

High-res LED meter helps you visualize your voice level

Multi-function smart knob controls headphone volume, mic gain, blend and mute

Blue voice broadcast vocal effects including pro streaming and podcasting presets

Customizable lighting for personalizing your mic

Logitech G HUB integration for deeper control of microphone settings

Four versatile pickup patterns: cardioid, omni, bi-directional and stereo

Plug ‘n play on Mac and PC
Come with USB Cable and Gallium Pi Accessories.

Tap-to-Mute sensor with LED indicator.. Quickly check mic status with the LED indicator, and tap-to-mute to prevent audio accidents.

Ideal standalone condenser microphone for streamers who want quality sound.

Select from four polar patterns, set mic input levels with the conveniently-located gain control, and monitor sound via headphone jack.

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Blue Yeti X

Blue Yeti X sounds like it’s coming right out of the box. The good thing about this microphone is that it is plug-in-play, so it works with Macs, and, PCs via the USB cable. This is available on Mac and PC. Once you select your microphone and enable the Blue voice option, you have adjustments that you can make to the microphone alongside the EQ and you can get in there in just all the different levels for that. Then there’s another checkbox there so you can enable even more advanced settings. 

HyperX QuadCast

The HyperX quad is a USB multi-pattern condenser microphone. It sounds excellent. It has multiple capsule configurations. It features onboard gain adjustments and headphone monitoring. This mic is best for the streamer or podcaster looking for a condenser mic with quality sound. It instantly lets you know your mic status with an LED indicator. The red color of this mic is very much attractive and unique.

Blue Yeti X

DESIGN: 

Blue Yeti X

This microphone simply looks great, it looks fine sitting on a desk. It would be something that people would like to show off, especially if they are streaming online, maybe streaming a game, or a podcast. It has a couple of features with the design of it. First, it’s going to be the stand that it comes on it’s a pretty heavy hefty stand, it’s a solid stand that’s not gonna move easily on your desk. It does a really good job. In front of the microphone, there is also a knob and LED lightings.

In the bottom of Yeti X, you will find a 3.5-millimeter headphone port, which will allow you to monitor your audio with a pair of headphones and then you also have the micro USB port and then you have the 5/8 threading at the bottom which will allow you to attach this to a microphone stand. This also makes it more compact when you are traveling maybe you want to put it in your camera bag folding it down definitely helps out. Lastly, you do have some controls there for the 3.5-millimeter output, to control how everything sounds going through that.

HyperX QuadCast

The build quality doesn’t feel amazing or even that good, but it feels fine. It does have an all-metal body but the metal feels incredibly light and a little bit cheap. The shock mount is attached with the screws, so it would be a pain to remove it. The bottom of the microphone is where you’ll find the gain control to adjust the microphone’s recording level.

The top of the microphone has a big mute button and it becomes apparent when the microphone is muted because the red LED inside turns off. But when the light comes back on, you will know your microphone is hot again. On the back of the microphone, you will find a USB port to connect it to your computer as well as a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack which does offer latency-free monitoring. But there’s no way to turn it off or even adjust the level that you’re monitoring the microphone.

Hyperx Quadcast.

FEATURES:

Blue Yeti

In the front of this microphone, you do have a multifunctional knob that also has some LED lighting that helps with being able to monitor your audio right on the front of this mic. On the first step, you have to adjust your gain and you can adjust that just by twisting the knob left and right, and you will see it in real-time with the LEDs. If you press and hold, you can swap between other different modes like being able to adjust the level that your headphones hear and then also to adjusting the blend between your microphone audio and also the audio coming from your computer. When you need to mute your microphone you can just press in on the knob to do that. Having all of this information right in front of your face is really useful to have one single place to be able to adjust these different things without having to go to your computer.

The software does have some really good presets. So, if you’re looking for a particular type of different sound you can use these presets as a really good base layer, and then you can adjust them from there. When you will enable it, you will see, the first one is just going to be a broadcaster that will sound like TV or something, as you will go down to the classic radio voice that kind of sounds like an old-school, after that you can go down to crisp and modern so maybe that sounds more 2019, it sounds like one of the young kids. If you go down to warm and vintage and that may be sounds kind of warm and fuzzy and, especially may be good for a podcast or something.

This app also allows you to control other things with the microphone like the lighting effects. On the front, you can control all of the LED lights and you can adjust the color of these lights. You can select the ones for the live button or the mute button and you can change that to blue if you want to. Also, you can change the effect force like a solid color or you can go to breathing. So it’s kind of going pulse in and out.

If you are concerned about vibrations you can always get a shock mount, and then you put the microphone inside of that, and that’s easy because its microphone unscrews from the stand that it comes on. You basically just twist a couple of screws on the east side of it and then you can place this on a shock mount or any other type of mic stand. When you do have the microphone just sitting on the stand itself and you’re not using it you can unplug the cable. Also, you can flip the microphone down and that will save you a couple of inches at the top, so it’s not gonna be in your way when they’re sitting on your desk, well it’s still gonna be in your way a little bit because this is a big microphone but it’s just not gonna be as tall as it is when you are using it.

HyperX QuadCast

In the box, you will get the microphone. It comes with a shock mount that is pre-installed. It also comes with a desktop stand already installed. If you want to remove the desktop stand, it does come with a mount to put it on a proper microphone stand. You get a USB cable and some documentation.

The good thing about this microphone is that there’s a physical game dial on the microphone that’s always something that everyone is looking for. Also, one more good thing is the big mute button and the LED light to indicate when you’re muted or when you’re hot. It did a pretty decent job at rejecting background noise.

In terms of cons, the microphone was pretty dang bad at rejecting plosives. There’s also no way to shut off the zero-latency monitoring or adjust the zero-latency monitoring level. Also, when you have the microphone on the actual stand adapter, you will find that the ports were very poorly placed, there’s just not enough room between the microphone and the adapter to keep the cables from getting crunched or have some unnecessary pressure on them which makes us worry about the longevity of those ports. In terms of frequency, nothings going to bother you. 

Another thing is the 4 polar patterns are not necessary as 99% of streamers. The only polar pattern they’re going to need in a microphone is cardioid. So according to me, the majority of streamers should look for a microphone that is just cardioid and it does cardioid very well rather than a microphone that has four polar patterns three of which you will not use.

Blue Yeti-X

PERFORMANCE:

Blue Yeti X

In the software, you can switch between the four different pick patterns that this microphone has i.e. stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid, and, BI-directional. You can also do it with the button on the back of the microphone, but a quick note about that button is that it is really easy to press in. So if you are moving the microphone around and your desk getting set up, be careful because you can accidentally hit that button and switch to a pickup pattern that you’re not looking for and that can be disastrous after you get done recording you go back and listen to it and it sounds bad. An easy fix for this would be if blue made you have to double press that button to switch between the different patterns because that would be a little bit harder to do accidentally.

You can adjust the different modes, and also the metering, and also the patterns there. So you can change between Omni, cardioid, and, bi-directional and change the colors for that.  The cardioid pattern is great for one person in front of the microphone. In cardioid as you rotate the microphone and go to the left and behind it your voice will start to drop out and then as you will move back to the front you will sound a lot better. You can also switch to Omnidirectional, so if you have a bunch of people around the microphone it should be picking up the audio clearly from all sides. It will pick up as you turn around and go all the way back to the front and go to the other side there. If you switch to Bi-directional, this is going to be great if you have somebody sitting across from you like the patterns gonna be in the front and the back so maybe in an interview. So on the front, you will sound good and as you will start to switch toward the back it will fade out a little bit, then you will sound a lot better on the opposite side. The last one is going to be stereo. In that, if you move left and right, your voice will travel between those speakers like so. This can also be great if you are trying to record instruments and things like that.

HyperX QuadCast

This microphone has 4 patterns:- a stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid, and, bi-directional polar pattern. It has a frequency response of 20 Hertz to 20 kilohertz. The sensitivity is around negative 36 decibels, a bit depth of 16 bit, and a sample rate of 48 kilohertz.

In to the stereo polar pattern, as you move around the microphone, you will hear your voice moving from your left to your right-hand speaker or vice-versa. In the omnidirectional polar pattern and the frequency response and sound should remain consistent as you move all the way around the microphone as an omnidirectional microphone does. The cardioid polar pattern is a majority for gamers and streamers. This is the polar pattern you should be using, you should avoid the stereo, the omnidirectional, and, the bi-directional like they’re the plague especially if you are just a solo streamer. On the bi-directional polar pattern, it picks up audio in the front and in the back and it has some pretty dead areas on the side. So if you were interviewing somebody at a table and they were sitting across from you this is the polar pattern you would want.

When you will open the sound in Logic Pro and this microphone only records at 48 kilohertz. So with that sample rate and an i/o buffer size of 128 samples, we have a resulting round-trip latency of 12 and 1/2 milliseconds or 5 milliseconds output, if we drop it down to 64 we have 9 and 1/2 milliseconds round-trip or 3 and 1/2 milliseconds output and if we jump up to 256 samples 18 milliseconds round-trip or 8 milliseconds output.

Hyperx Quadcast

WHICH TO BUY?

Blue Yeti X and HyperX Quadcast, both the microphones are almost the same in every way. They have the same features. And both have 4 polar patterns which are Cardioid, Omnidirectional, Stereo, and, Bi-directional patterns. If you’re just a simple person looking for a better audio solution than using built-in microphones and your computers and things like that then Blue Yeti X is a great option for you. The advantage of Blue Yeti X is its plug-and-play microphone. HyperX Quadcast is more expensive compare to Blue Yeti X. HyperX Quadcast has a light and cheap design as it’s made of metal but it has a good sound quality.

Expert Reviews of Blue Yeti X:

By PCmag
Like most Blue microphones, the Yeti X is first and foremost a DSP-free mic, so you’re getting a pure signal with no EQ or compression. If you prefer to record with DSP presets, consider the aforementioned $200 Shure MV51. BlueVoice software does, in a way, provide…

By venturebeat
The Blue Yeti X USB microphone is so good it is making me consider dropping my XLR setup. XLR has the potential to sound far better than USB, but the Yeti X is beyond “good enough” with the Blue Voice processing. And USB is so much cleaner and simpler. If you are a part-time creator on Twitch or YouTube, the Yeti X is…

By Laptop
The Blue Yeti X is an excellent microphone. It sports a sleek design outfitted with colorful and customizable LEDs. On the inside, you have a solid, four-capsule-condenser array backed by… 

By IGN
Even with the extra premium over the cost of the original Yeti, the Yeti X is an outstanding microphone that could easily become the new icon for streamers. I love the streamlined design but it’s the excellent and superbly customizable vocal capture that seals the deal. The Yeti X…

By GEEKDAD
Blue says its award-winning microphone is ideal for gaming, streaming, and podcasting. My use was pretty pedestrian—video voiceovers in iMovie—but the results are night and day better than anything… 

Expert Reviews of HyperX QuadCast:

By SoundGuys
The HyperX Quadcast is an ultra-credible USB mic that takes aim at other units in the sub-$200 price range. Despite its technical limitations, it can credibly record a podcast, stream, or other… 

By venturebeat.com
With the QuadCast, HyperX has continued to show that it understands how to appeal to gaming fans. While it knows that great sound is crucial, it added multiple features that it knows will keep people happy long after…

By PCMag
Gamers who want to stream or record commentary can make do use of a good gaming headset with a solid boom microphone. But if you’re serious about putting your voice on the internet, you should seriously… 

By PCGamer
In its quest to inject RGB into everything on the planet, HyperX’s signature microphone, the Quadcast, is back with a colorful new look, as the HyperX Quadcast. The new dynamic RGB lighting adds a little something extra to an already great microphone. If everything else on your desk lights up in rhythmic unison…

By Tom’s Hardware
Kingston’s unusual design incorporating three diaphragms produces great sound at a low price. The Quadcast’s controls are also intuitive for any gamer or game streamer…