Today’s post is about bringing a broken Blue Yeti microphone back to life. My brother, who runs a page dedicated to old-timer cars, recently decided to expand into video content for YouTube. Naturally, he wanted to invest in a good microphone, specifically the iconic Blue Yeti.

Yeti and Me

The Blue Yeti has been around forever, it was released in 2009 and still kicking in 2024. Although the Blue brand was phased out by Logitech in 2023, modernized, Blue branded Yeti mics remain available in stores.

Why am I telling you this? Well, back in middle school, my buddies and I were into making videos. While most kids stuck to PowerPoint presentations, we’d submit video projects. Teachers liked them too, even tough we smuggled a lotta jokes and sketches into them.

Back then, the Blue Yeti was the gold standard for recording voiceovers, but being a middle schooler I couldn’t afford one. All the popular YouTubers used it then, and still many use it today. The best I could manage back then was a Trust Starzz mic for around 40zł (~$11 in 2015), and even that felt like a serious investment. Fast forward to today, after all those years, I finally…

I Bought a Blue Yeti

Well, sorta… I bought it for my brother… and I bought it broken…

The issue? A damaged mini USB-B port, a common problem for these mics. Usually, the solder joints break, causing intermittent connection or total failure. Here’s a closer look:

The Repair

The fix was straightforward: open the mic, desolder the damaged port, and replace it with a new one. Luckily, there are plenty of guides on how to do this.

This repair gave me a chance to finally use the hot-air gun on my soldering station. Since the port sits at the edge of the board with minimal surrounding components, it was a low-risk way to practice.

Here’s the process:

Note: The new port only has two support legs. I used a port from a PS3 controller since the pinout matches.

The Result

Success! The microphone is back in action, and after some testing, it’s now with my brother.

Was it worth it?

The cheapest new Blue-branded Yeti I could find was 492zł (~$121) on Amazon. Used, (seemingly) working ones can be found for 200zł (~$49).

Here’s the breakdown of what I spent:

• 190zł for the broken mic
• 2.9zł + 5,8zł shipping for the replacement port

That’s around 199zł (~$49), so it’s almost the same price of a working used Yeti. At the time of purchase, though, working ones were going for over 300zł. I’d still call it a win as even ones sold as working, are rather closer than further to developing port issues, and that’s now taken care of. Giving 40% of the MSRP for now fully functional semi-professional mic is a good deal in my opinion.

If you’re wondering, my brother paid for the mic and the port, but I did the repair for free. It was my idea to go for a used one to save him some cash. I remember the struggle of being a student. Money and students rarely get along! 😄