
Introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013, Nessie is the first "adaptive" USB microphone to hit the market. I've been looking forward to getting this mic since reading the initial reports from CES. I record a lot for tutorials, video marketing, pod-casts, music, etc. My time is valuable and I spend way too much time in post-production cleaning up audio. It's one thing to edit video, but it's a whole other animal to get audio recordings to sound great. I'm anticipating that Nessie will help reduce or eliminate my audio post-production editing activities.
What Makes Nessie "Adaptive?"
"Adaptive" means that Nessie's built-in circuitry processes the audio input in real-time to create professional quality output without having to resort to post-production editing. Blue's website states:
Nessie’s key features and internal processing are specifically designed to combat the most common pitfalls of recording. The built-in, studio-grade pop filter and shockmount reduce harsh plosives and disruptive rumbling and vibrations, while the adaptive processing, including EQ, de-esser and level control, automatically smoothes and refines your audio in real time. Nessie employs a single custom-tuned condenser capsule with a cardioid pattern. Nessie’s three flexible recording modes are optimized for richer vocals, more detailed instruments or an option for raw audio for manual post-production editing. Nessie features a zero-latency headphone output for direct monitoring, while headphone volume and instant mute are located directly on the microphone. For optimal positioning, Nessie’s head adjusts with serpentine flexibility. Nessie is plug-and-play compatible via USB with both PC and Mac.
The Nessie Experience

First Impressions



Nessie, as it turns out, works well with Dragon Dictation as well. With the mic set in voice mode, I ran through Dragon Dictation's voice training. It didn't miss a word, which is a far cry different than when I've used other microphones. The only other microphone that compared favorably is the Zoom H4N when used as a USB audio interface.
Nessie Audio Samples
The following audio sample is created with Nessie and Audacity V.2.0.3 on a Retina MacBook Pro running OSX 10.8.4. I am reading a short selection from an essay entitled "Youth" by Samuel Ullman.
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
The audio track starts with Nessie in voice mode which means the circuitry is turned on. About halfway through the reading, you'll hear the click when I switched to raw mode.
In deference to full disclosure, I must admit that this clip did receive one little bit of post-production cleanup. As I listened to it before converting it to .mp3, I detected the faint hum of our air conditioner in the background. I used Audacity's noise removal filter to get rid of the hum. That was all I did. There are no modifications to change the voice quality of the sample. What you are hearing is what I heard through the monitor as I recorded it.
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