Blue Sona: Two-minute review

The Blue Sona is a fantastic mic and somewhat of an anomaly in today’s world of USB mics geared towards gamers, streamers, and podcasters. While it can certainly hold its own in the studio, it’s meant for the kind of “creators” mentioned above that take the quality of their recordings seriously. And, to do that, you have to graduate from USB mics, as far as they come, to a more modular setup that includes an audio interface and a microphone that focuses on doing one thing and doing it well. The Blue Sona is that kind of mic.

In fact, the Blue Sona is really meant as an alternative to the very popular Shure SM7B, which sports a similar price and functionality, though the SM7B has been around for decades. While the Blue Sona most likely won’t displace the SM7B, it’s a strong contender that is a fantastic choice for anyone wanting to up their podcasting / streaming game. And, if you want to use it to record some guitar and vocals, it can do that too. It won’t have the versatility of many of the USB mics out there. But, when it comes to microphones, quality and versatility usually have a fragile coexistence and you typically have to choose one or the other (or pay a lot more).

While this seemingly stripped down mic clearly favors quality, there’s plenty going on here. Sure, there’s just the one supercardioid polar pattern and one XLR port, but on the base of the Blue Sona’s body is a magnetized cover that reveals two switches, one to roll off the bass and one to boost presence. There’s also internally an shockmount to keep bumps from picking up too loudly while in use.

Additionally, a dial attaching the mic body to the mount can be tightened to keep the mic from slipping once you’ve oriented it to your liking. Of course, you won’t be able to remove the mic body from the mount but it is threaded on the bottom to use with a mic stand or boom arm.

The Blue Sona is also made to be used and abused. That’s to say that it’s built very well. In fact, when I first started to screw it onto a short mic stand I had, it slipped from my hands onto my laptop, my desk, and then the ground. The only damage was a battlescar on my laptop. The Blue Sona itself was unscathed. That’s because the body and mount are made of a very strong metal. Even the grille is very sturdy. There’s absolutely no flex when pressing on it.

As durable as the Blue Sona is, that doesn’t matter if it doesn’t sound good. Luckily, the Blue Sona does. Its 40-18kHz frequency response may seem a little underwhelming on paper but this mic does a great job picking up audio loudly and clearly. 

Its supercardioid polar pattern picks up my voice without too much alteration (proximity effect notwithstanding) if I move to the side an inch so I don’t have to stay incredibly still when using it. But, if I go way off-axis, it will start to reject my voice as well as other sounds to favor what’s in front of it. This makes this ideal for reproducing single sources like a voice while minimizing background noise. Since it just has the one polar pattern, you won’t be able to use one mic for a group of people so you’ll have to invest in additional units if you’re planning to do a podcast or stream with guests.

On top of sounding good, the Blue Sona also excels in another way. You have to get very loud to distort it. This is great news for those who become animated when speaking as it won’t clip unless you’re screaming into it from less than an inch away. Additionally, it has plenty of gain on tap so that it will easily pick up quieter speakers as well.

Lastly, one of the issues with a lot of USB mics is how easily they pick up vibrations. If you were to use a condenser mic in a studio-type setting, you would most likely have it in a shockmount. But, USB mics are meant for those that don’t have the funds for that kind of setup. So, they’re attached to a proprietary stand that usually sits on a desk. Any time you knock against your desk or even the mic stand, you’ll hear it very clearly. While they can almost all be mounted on a boom arm, this is one area where the Blue Sona trumps them all. Thanks to its internal shockmount, those bumps and vibrations are greatly minimized and that’s without mounting on a boom arm.

Blue Sona: Price & availability

• How much does it cost? $349.95 / £299.99 (about AU$510.28)
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US and UK

Spending $349.95 / £299.99 (about AU$510.28) on the Blue Sona may seem steep, especially when compared to the plethora of capable USB mics on the market that mostly max out at the $200 / £200 range. But, that’s actually not a bad price for a solid XLR mic.

While that might sound counterintuitive as USB mics are plug-and-play and an XLR-equipped mic needs an external audio interface, there are a few reasons XLR mics are a better long term option. XLR mics don’t run on software so they will be just as capable 20 years from now as long as the build quality is good. And, since they don’t have an audio interface built into them the way USB mics do, you don’t have to throw the whole thing away if something does malfunction. Also, you can use a mic like the Blue Sona with an audio interface or console that can accept multiple mic inputs. While most people reading this review aren’t going to consider the Blue Sona for the studio, it’s an important consideration if you’re thinking about having multiple mics at the ready for a podcast.

With that in mind, the real competition is not something like the AKG Ara or Blue Yeti as solid as those USB mics are but the Shure SM7B, a legendary mic that has probably popped up in every other Youtube video you’ve ever watched, not to mention was to capture Michael Jackson’s vocals on Thriller. Considering that the SM7B goes for $399.99 / £439 / about AU$581.47. While I’m not able to do a side-by-side comparison of the two mics, the Blue Sona does have a lot of similar qualities as the SM7B with its great sound quality and ability to take loud sources without distorting easily.

Unfortunately for those in Australia, the Blue Sona doesn’t seem to be available at the time of writing.

• Value: 4 / 5

Blue Sona: Specs

Should you buy the Blue Sona?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Blue Sona: Also consider

How we tested

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2023

Yamaha SR-C30A: One-minute review

There’s a lot to be said for discretion, and as far as soundbars go, the Yamaha SR-C30A is about as discreet as they come. Well, looks-wise, at least. It’s super-compact, and is accompanied by a wireless subwoofer that’s almost as teeny. Between the two of them, they generate a nicely detailed, quite assertive sensation of stereo audio that’s a cut or two above the sound your TV is likely to be able to create by itself when it comes to the clarity of speech and exciting dynamic range.

The Yamaha SR-C30A's build and finish are well up to the standard we’d expect from Yamaha, and the fact that the soundbar is so tiny and light means it’s about as easy to place as these things ever get. Even the best cheap soundbars can be quite large these days, but this is good for 32-inch TVs up to around 50-inch TVs.

But while it sounds quite upfront and articulate, the SR-C30A doesn’t sound especially big. And the limitations of the soundbar means the subwoofer has quite a lot of work to get through – and the fact that they don’t share identical tonality makes for a slightly bumpier ride from the top of the frequency range to the bottom than is strictly ideal. But we're coming at this from a picky audio-reviewer point of view, and now everything will be bothered by it in the same way,

Still, if you don't mind have something a bit larger or paying a little more, you can get something with even more expansive and refined sound, such as the Sony HT-G700 or Sonos Beam 2nd Gen. However, for something at both the size and price of the Yamaha, it's a superb buy overall.

Yamaha SR-C30A review: Price & release date

• Costs $279 / £269 / AU$399
• Released October 2022

Was released in October 2022, and is officially priced at £269 in the UK, $299 in the US, and AU$399.

There’s no shortage of competition where soundbars at this sort of money are concerned, of course – but the SR-C30A has a couple of significant selling points on its side. Firstly, there’s Yamaha’s long and proud heritage where products like this are concerned – poor Yamaha soundbars are about as rare as hen’s teeth. 

And then there’s the super-compact dimensions of the SR-C30A – anyone who’s after the least obtrusive soundbar possible, or a soundbar that can easily be moved from one room to another, is going to be all over the SR-C30A like a rash.

However, soundbars have been dropping in price a lot recently, and you can now get competition that includes Dolby Atmos support for around the same price – see the Sony HT-G700 as an example, which has fallen in price a lot since its release in 2020.

Yamaha SR-C30A review: Features

• 90 watts of Class D amplification
• HDMI ARC and Bluetooth 5.0 inputs
• Comes with a remote but you can use your TV's remote

The soundbar/subwoofer combination enjoys 90 watts of Class D power. The subwoofer gets 50 watts to drive its 130mm bass driver, while the soundbar’s pair of 46mm drivers get 20 watts each. As you might expect, this produces 2.1 channels of sound.

Those numbers look perfectly acceptable at first glance, but it’s worth noting that Yamaha has been relatively generous with its parameters. Still, as we all know, it’s not how many watts you have but what you do with them – so the proof is in the listening, not in the reading of the spec sheet.

On the soundbar’s rear, there’s HDMI ARC, a pair of digital optical sockets (one is a duplicate ‘TV’ input in case you’re not making an HDMI connection) and an analogue 3.5mm input. There’s also a USB slot here, but it’s for updates only. Wireless connectivity extends to Bluetooth 5.0, with SBC and AAC codec compatibility.

There are some touch controls on top, and it comes with a remote – but it also takes HDMI control input, so you can just use your TV and never worry about the soundbar's own control unless you want to change modes.

Yamaha's Clear Voice technology is designed to enhance dialogue, while the Adaptive Low Volume system adjusts the frequency expression, so that it still sounds fulsome even at lower volumes.

• Features score: 3.5/5

Yamaha SR-C30A review: Sound quality

• Full-figured, quite forceful presentation
• Detailed and revealing listen
• Sub and soundbar not always on the same page

No matter how compact or affordable your soundbar is, it has one fundamental job: to make the TV that it's accompanying sound a bit feeble. And the Yamaha passes this initial test in refined style. In fact, given that it will happily accompany the smallest TVs, it will probably represent quite a significant upgrade.

It doesn't deliver the most expansive sound I've ever heard from the best soundbars, it's true. But it's an altogether more informative listen than most affordable TVs it's likely to accompany. Detail levels are high, and the SR-C30A can retain and transmit even a soundtrack's finest or most fleeting elements. 

It reaches impressively high up the frequency range for a speaker with no dedicated tweeters and creates crisp, fairly powerful treble sounds. At the opposite end, the wireless subwoofer hits with depth and determination, generating low-frequency sounds that are straight-edged, decently detailed and controlled enough not to fall to pieces when the musical elements of a soundtrack are to the fore. 

And in between, the Yamaha communicates freely through the midrange and the SR-C30A projects dialogue well. Those impressive levels of detail are useful here, and the sensation of a soundstage is such that the speech is delivered with positivity.

There's reasonable dynamic headroom available too, so in the few moments where this soundtrack gets lively, the Yamaha has scale and drive in reserve. It organizes its soundstage well enough to let every element do its thing without being crowded by the others – and even though it's not an especially big listen, it creates a convincing impression of space. 

The main problems arise in the relationship between the soundbar and the subwoofer. Switching off the subwoofer makes it apparent that the soundbar doesn't extend far down the frequency range, leaving the subwoofer with plenty of work to get through once the mid-range modulates into the upper low-frequency range – which is fine. But the handover between the two isn't the smoothest you've ever heard, and while they're both quite detailed and positive speakers, the soundbar and the subwoofer don't share an awful lot in common where tonality is concerned. Balancing the subwoofer's output against the soundbar's is easily done using the remote control or the app, but the point at which one takes over from the other is always pretty obvious.

This is obviously a bit of an irritant to us AV fanatics – it will be less of an issue to people who just want more sound for a small TV, though.

It's a similar story should you stream some music to the SR-C30A. The Yamaha's never less than upfront and engaging. Still, the variance between soundbar and subwoofer is made even more apparent by music than it is by a movie soundtrack – and while the subwoofer's authority is such that it can do a decent job in expressing rhythms, the low frequencies sound just slightly estranged from the rest of the frequency information. 

• Audio performance: 4/5

Yamaha SR-C30A review: Design

• Separate soundbar and subwoofer components
• Soundbar very compact
• Fabric covering is nice and discreet

The Yamaha SR-C30A looks like a soundbar but much, much smaller. At a mere 600mm (23.5 inches) wide, it’ll fit happily beneath small TVs or gaming monitors, and its light weight means you could take it from room to room if you want without much hassle. The wireless subwoofer accompanying it is a little more regular in its dimensions, but it, too, is discreet enough to do its thing without drawing attention to itself. Not visually, anyhow.

Build quality is standard Yamaha, which is to say it’s flawless. Given the asking price, it would be optimistic to expect particularly indulgent materials. Sure enough, the soundbar is made up of a combination of ordinary-feeling plastic and a quantity of acoustic cloth. The subwoofer, meanwhile, is big on vinyl-wrapped chipboard, with just the face and the side-firing bass driver enjoying a touch of acoustic material. There’s also a front-facing reflex port here, and it’s trimmed in glossy plastic that adds just a hint of visual pizazz. 

The subwoofer’s rear has a connection for power and two tiny LEDs indicating ‘standby’ and ‘wirelessly paired’. There’s an equally small ‘pairing’ button for use if the soundbar and subwoofer don’t get acquainted automatically. Look at the soundbar's rear; this is where you’ll find keyhole fixing points in case you wish to wall-mount your SR-C30A.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Yamaha SR-C30A review: Usability and setup

You’ve got several options when it comes to controlling the SR-C30A. You can use your TV’s remote control to deal with volume (if you’ve made an HDMI ARC connection), but the Yamaha ships with a full-function remote control of its own. It’s small and plasticky, sure, but it gets the job done – here’s where you can turn the power ‘on’ or ‘off’, select the input you wish to use, and adjust the subwoofer’s volume as well as the overall system output. 

The control marked ‘clear voice’ pushes the midrange forward, while ‘bass ext’ does the same for the low frequencies. There’s a ‘mute’ button and a button for each SR-C30A’s EQ settings (‘stereo’, ‘standard’, ‘3D movie’ and ‘game’). There’s a button to dim the little LED tell-tale lights on the front of the soundbar and a button labelled ‘info’ that I couldn’t get to do anything obvious, no matter how often I pressed it.

There are a few capacitive touch-controls on the top of the soundbar, covering ‘input selection’, ‘volume up/down’ and ‘power on/off’. Or you may decide to use Yamaha’s ‘Sound Bar Remote’ control app – it’s just a single page, but it covers all the functions included on the physical remote control and is as stable and usable as these things ever get.

Everything worked perfectly out of the box – the soundbar and sub paired wirelessly without issues, and connecting the HDMI cable got me sound without any further fuss required.

• Usability and setup score: 4.5/5

Yamaha SR-C30A review: Value

For this price, you can do a little better on sound for movies, particularly from the Sony HT-G700 – but it's a pretty small list of soundbars that match it. And the Yamaha is better with music than the Sony (which is not good for tunes at all), so it's swings and roundabouts anyway.

And while it's not exactly packed with features, soundbars at this price rarely are – it's got enough going on to satisfy us, and it's all so easy to set up, and overall satisfying to listen to (especially compared to the built-in sound).

• Value score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Yamaha SR-C30A?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Yamaha SR-C30A review: Also consider