Blue keeps churning out variations on a recipe it has come close to mastering: the USB microphone.
The Yeti Nano, at $99.99, is a more affordable take on the company's popular (and more expensive) Yeti mic.
It differs in that it has fewer polar patterns to choose from, but it still offers a cardioid pattern and an omnidirectional pattern—and these are based on individual capsules, not digital algorithms.
Possibly the biggest difference between the two mics is the Yeti Nano's lack of an onboard gain control knob—the gain must be adjusted through software rather than manually.
This will be enough of an annoyance to some users that the Yeti's slightly higher price will be worth it to get the extra polar pattern and the manual gain control.
For $100, however, the Yeti Nano offers a DSP (digital signal processing)-free, clear and crisp signal that's ideal for podcasting and music recording.
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Design
With the Yeti Nano mounted to the included stand, the mic measures 8.3 by 3.8 by 4.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.4 pounds.
Its build, available in muted gold, black, blue, or red models, has a professional look to it, with the Blue logo and a headphone volume knob situated on the front panel.
With the mic connected to a computer, the volume dial lights up green.
When pressed, it functions as a mute button, and lights up red.
The mic stand has a swivel mount, allowing you to angle the capsule to get the ideal recording position—knobs on either side of the mic stand can be tightened to keep the mic locked in when the desired angle is achieved.
Its height is ideal for desktop recording—in most scenarios, the capsule will be six to ten inches from the speaker's mouth, which is not always a given with desktop stands and smaller USB mics.
For closer scenarios, however, the stand will likely be a little low on the desktop.
The base has a canal to thread the USB cable through for a tidy look.
On the bottom of the mic, there's a quarter-inch thread mount that allows for connecting to various camera tripods—the included 0.75-inch screw-in adapter allows for connection to any standard mic stand.
This bottom panel also houses the 3.5mm headphone jack and the micro USB port for the included USB cable, which is of a generous length.
The mic is a side-address model, so you speak into grille above the front panel with the Blue logo and the volume knob.
Internally, the condenser mic has two 14mm capsules—one cardioid, one omnidirectional, allowing you to choose between a typical pattern for recording vocals for podcasts, game streaming, or music (cardioid); or a 360-degree recording field better suited for field recordings, conference calls, or recording several musicians or speakers at once (omnidirectional).
Switching between the two modes is simple: A button on the back toggles between the two, with the selected pattern's LED lighting up.
The Yeti Nano outputs 24-bit, 48kHz audio (the sample rate can be lowered), with a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz.
Like the other Blue USB mics we've tested, the Yeti Nano does not use DSP, which makes it more like a typical professional recording mic with an XLR connection.
For some users, the lack of DSP might be a challenge at first—it means the mic can and will distort if the right balance of gain levels and mic placement (and speaker performance) isn't achieved.
But again, that's the way nearly all pro mics work, and avoiding DSP means a purer signal and a better recording—you can still apply EQ and dynamic compression to the recording after, if necessary.
Blue's Sherpa app is a desktop application that allows for basic mic control, such as gain adjustment and switching polar patterns without touching the mic.
But that brings up the Yeti Nano's primary omission: no gain knob.
Who wants to download a desktop app simply to adjust gain levels? Why not just have a gain knob on the mic itself and make life easy for everyone? The Sherpa app is also where you can download firmware updates for the mic.
The Yeti Nano works with Windows 7, 8.1, or 10, Mac OS 10.10 or higher, and requires USB 1.1, 2.0, or 3.0.
It will work with the majority of recording software apps available, with the exception of ProTools.
There is a workaround for this, but it's annoying (search online for "aggregate device USB mic ProTools" and there should be several explanations on how to set this up).
To be clear, this is a ProTools shortcoming, not the fault of this or any other USB mic.
The Yeti Nano also comes with free trials of Xsplit and OvrStream software.
Performance
In GarageBand, the Yeti Nano appears immediately and is ready for use.
Without adjusting the gain levels in the Sherpa software, the default levels are workable—meaning, there's no distortion on typical vocals, and most people will able to hit record and use this level right away.
Some mics claim to be low-latency but, when plugged into GarageBand, still have some minor slapback delay.
The Yeti Nano doesn't have this issue.
What you hear in the headphones corresponds with real-time audio in the room.
We started off using the mic in a cardioid pattern, using the default gain setting.
Vocals sounded crisp and clear at these levels from a distance of about eight inches away.
Coming in closer, the recording remained crisp.
This isn't a bass-heavy, rich mic; it's far more focused on clarity in the high-mids and highs.
This doesn't mean that lows are ignored—adjusting the gain to higher levels seems to bring them up a bit, and of course recording from a closer distance increases the proximity effect, but generally speaking, this is a high-mids-focused mic.
Switching to omnidirectional had little effect on the overall crispness of the recording, and the pattern is ideal for getting more room sound.
It seemed to pick up just slightly less signal from the sides than the front and back of the capsule, but the difference was nominal.
Adjusting the mic levels in Sherpa is simple.
To be fair, the default gain level really is close to ideal (for my vocals, at least), but if you have a loud speaker or sound source, you'll need to dial things back significantly.
The Sherpa app is easy to use while recording in GarageBand.
So, generally speaking, the Yeti Nano delivers an excellent, clean signal, provided you get the right levels.
Even though the default gain setting is a great starting point, the Sherpa software is more or less essential if you want to really dial in ideal levels.
And, as mentioned, it's a solid way to remotely adjust the mic pattern, as well.
Conclusions
The Yeti Nano gets most things right, from its low-latency headphone jack monitoring to its dual-mic patterns and its crisp, clear audio quality.
Still, it's hard to overstate how much more complete the mic would feel with an onboard gain knob, regardless of how easy the Sherpa app is to use.
And that makes the more expensive (by about $50) Yeti the more attractive option of the two.
If the lack of gain knob doesn't bother you, you're getting a steal with the Nano—a quality USB microphone at a budget-friendly price.
Still, for even less, the Blue Snowball Ice delivers a solid, inexpensive experience.
In the $100 to $200 realm, we're also fans of the Shure MV51 and the Blue Raspberry.
The Bottom Line
The reasonably priced Blue Yeti Nano USB microphone delivers high-quality, crisp audio with two selectable polar patterns and a DSP-free signal chain.
