Blue Yeti Nano Headphone Direct Monitoring Not Working Fix

Author: Tosh Lubek Published: 16th May 2023

Some people think of the Blue Yeti Nano USB microphone as a cut-down version of the Blue Yeti, and I do get it. The Nano is smaller, it uses the same microphone capsules (but only two), and it costs less than the original Blue Yeti.

But the Yeti Nano’s polar pattern selection button also includes a neat feature. At least it’s a neat feature if you know about it. As well as letting you toggle between Cardioid and Omnidirectional polar patterns it also allows you to turn Direct Monitoring On or Off.

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Fixing not hearing yourself on the Blue Yeti Nano    

The Blue Yeti Nano has two controls on it. There’s a headphone volume control on the front that can also mute the microphone. On the rear, there’s a polar pattern select button.

If you press it the microphone will change from its current polar pattern setting to the other available pattern. In the case of the Nano, that’s either Cardioid or Omnidirectional polar patterns. But the button has one more function, it can also control whether Direct Monitoring is on or off. In other words, it allows you to change between zero latency monitoring and computer playback monitoring.

It is quite easy to accidentally turn off Direct Monitoring on the Blue Yeti Nano while reaching around to the back of the microphone to switch between polar patterns.

After inadvertently turning off Direct Monitoring you could end up believing that the microphone or the headphone socket is faulty. Or you might realize you have done something but are frustrated over not knowing how you did it and how to fix it.

So, this is what you need to do to fix not hearing yourself through your headphones when using the Yeti Nano.

The Blue Yeti Nano’s Direct Monitoring can be turned on or off by pressing and holding the pattern select button for 2sec. When Direct Monitoring is turned on/off you will see the green light ring around the headphone volume dial flash to confirm the change to the state of the Direct Monitoring.

The solution is simple and does not require you to go into any software settings, as some people have posted to the internet.

The solution is simple and does not require you to go into any software settings, as some people have posted to the internet.

Like so many things, the solution is simple if you know how what’s going on and how to put it right. But if you don’t know, it can be a big issue. I had a similar experience when using a Yamaha digital audio mixing desk. I repeatedly managed to reset the mode without knowing what I had done. So, if your headphone feed using the Yeti Nano seems to have cut for no apparent reason, I know how you feel.

Is turning off Direct Monitoring the same as Muting?

Turning Direct Monitoring on or off on the Blue Yeti Nano is not the same as muting the microphone.

When you turn Direct Monitoring off the microphone still produces an output signal, you just can’t hear yourself in your headphones plugged into the Nano. When the microphone is muted, the microphone does not produce an output signal and therefore you cannot be heard.

To mute the Blue Yeti Nano, press the headphone volume dial on the front of the microphone. The green light around the dial will change from green to red, indicating the microphone has been muted.

Summary

As we’ve seen, it is easy to turn the Direct Monitoring on and off on the Yeti Nano microphone. You just need to perform a long press of the pattern select button on the rear of the mic. To mute the microphone you press the headphone volume button on the front of the microphone.

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