Logitech is releasing a new set of products that will start shipping on September 24th and are aimed squarely at the likes of gamers, streamers, podcasters, and other creators. The big one is the $149.99 Logitech G Yeti GX, a “broadcast-style” USB microphone with a heavy stand and RGB lighting.
The Yeti GX is a dynamic supercardioid microphone, which is a kind of unidirectional mic designed to focus on sound in front of the pickup rather than behind the microphone. That’s a good thing if you don’t want the noise of your keyboard overtaking your voice. It also means if you move off-axis, your voice quickly falls away, but the trade-off can be worth it when you’re contending with poor recording spaces. Soren Pedersen, Logitech’s global product manager, described it as having the vibe of a Shure SM7, a popular broadcaster microphone.
The Logitech Yeti GX on the included stand. Image: Logitech
Of course, it wouldn’t be a gamer mic without configurable RGB lighting. There are two configurable LEDs — one in a circle on the back of the mic and one behind the Logitech G logo on its side — and you can set various animated effects or just choose a specific color for the lights. An LED stripe in the digital volume wheel is either red or blue, depending on whether the mic is muted.
Pressing the volume wheel turns on Smart Audio Lock, a feature Pederson described as a “safety net” to keep the mic from clipping and distorting when, say, a streamer gets excited and starts yelling about something. The mic does this with an analog limiter — like you’d find on the Razer Seiren V2 X — which compresses the signal when you get too loud to stop the mic from distorting. The feature also uses a built-in downward expander to lower the volume of background noise or unwanted echo in a bad recording environment.
The mic ships with a USB-C to USB-A cable desktop mount but can be attached to a standard boom mic stand as well, with adapters for 5/8-inch and 3/8-inch connections.
The Logitech Yeti Orb. Image: Logitech
Logitech also announced the $59.99 Yeti Orb, a small ball-style USB mic similar to the Yeti Snowball. The mic has a more muted look than the Snowball, with a cloth-covered front and with configurable RGB lights on top. Like the Yeti GX, it has a USB-C port on the back for connecting to your computer. The Orb is a condenser cardioid mic, and Logitech says it will also minimize background noise. It can also be removed from its small desktop stand for use with a boom stand.
The Litra Beam LX. Image: Logitech
Logitech also announced an updated version of its Litra Beam X LED light bar, the $149.99 Litra Beam LX. The LX is dual-sided, with a tunable (2700K – 6500K) white bar like the original on one side and an RGB light on the other. Senior product marketing manager Andrew Siminoff said the lights are UL-certified for safe, all-day use. The light has 1/4-20-inch-threaded fittings for mounting either on its end or the middle of the light, and it connects either via USB-C or Bluetooth.
All three work with Logitech’s G Hub app for configuring lighting effects, as well as vocal effects and specific audio profiles through the software’s Blue Voice feature presets. If you have multiple Logitech Lightsync devices, you can synchronize lighting effects, too, if you really want to be awash in strobing, pulsing RGB colors while you game. Logitech says they’ll also be compatible with Windows Dynamic Lighting, through which you can sync lighting effects with other non-Logitech lighting.
It’s worth noting — and I do so with some nostalgic sadness — that these are the first Yeti microphones that don’t feature the “Blue” branding since Logitech bought the company in 2018. In a FAQ earlier this year, Logitech said it would no longer use the Blue brand in its product names, and instead will use it “to describe our technologies.”
Pour one out for old Blue, my friends.
