Waddya Think?

[Re-Lapse]

Well, I figured I might as well ask if I wasted my money or not. I don't have a whole lot of hardware, nor the money at the time to spend on hardware and accessories, so I worked with the money that I had and searched and I decided on the "Samson C01U". Did I waste my money? Should I return it?

The reason I chose the Samson C01U, is because of the great reviews it had, and the fact that it was Direct USB, and it was condenser. So, that' is my reasoning... I know, terrible. But, tell me if I made a bad choice, or a decent one. My fund was 100 or less and it had to be USB, because I dont' have any other way of using any other mic, at this point and time. I also don't know very much about the connections, so.. Let me know.. Thanks in advance.

 

[scrubs]

Well, you've already bought it, so you'll have to tell us if you think you made a good choice or not.

Personally, regardless of price or quality, I think any USB mic has very limited functionality. As soon as you decide to buy a real preamp/mixer and mic, the USB mic will be totally useless, as you cannot connect the USB mic to a regular microphone preamp, nor can you use more than one USB mic on the same computer. Latency and direct monitoring have been sketchy with some USB mics. Samson is also not a name I associate with good sounding equipment. YMMV.

 

[travelin travis]

I feel the same way as Scrubs. Personally, I wouldn't have went with a usb mic.

On the other hand, I've heard a homespun acoustic blues cd that was recorded with the mic in question. I didn't hear anything in the recording that made me cringe. It actually didn't sound too shabby at all.

 

[Re-Lapse]

Well, you've already bought it, so you'll have to tell us if you think you made a good choice or not.

Personally, regardless of price or quality, I think any USB mic has very limited functionality. As soon as you decide to buy a real preamp/mixer and mic, the USB mic will be totally useless, as you cannot connect the USB mic to a regular microphone preamp, nor can you use more than one USB mic on the same computer. Latency and direct monitoring have been sketchy with some USB mics. Samson is also not a name I associate with good sounding equipment. YMMV.

Much appreciated for the comment, I figured as much being on a budget makes things hard. I'll let you all know how it works. Do you have any brands I should look into? I was considering the Shure M80 (I believe is the model number) I'm not sure, maybe it's m95.. it's the M Series, anyway. But, I wanted to test out this USB Mic, if it's not worth it, I'll send it back and get my refund and look out for a good deal on a hot mic that's recommended by the peoples here.


Let me know, Thanks again...

 

[Re-Lapse]

I feel the same way as Scrubs. Personally, I wouldn't have went with a usb mic.

On the other hand, I've heard a homespun acoustic blues cd that was recorded with the mic in question. I didn't hear anything in the recording that made me cringe. It actually didn't sound too shabby at all.

Well, I hope it works just as well, for me.

 

[hungovermorning]

I've heard a Samson condeser plugged into a USB on a laptop for a live recording, that set up is everything negative I'vce ever heard about digital (i.e. cold, no depth). It of course matters what you're doing with it, but I think you could probably do better for $100 in my opinion. A pre amp is so vital to achieveing a tone that you enjoy. Get an old analog wedge mixer and a ES-57. Then it'd be less than $100 and you could expand on it if you enjoyed recording. Something I've come to live by is "Buy cheap, buy twice."

 

[Re-Lapse]

Well.....

I got the Mic in the mail, I wasn't quite in the recording mood, but I had to play with it to see what it was like. A. It stopped the "POPPING" from my $5.00 microphone, came out with a clearer tone in my voice, and enhanced the recordings by about 30%. Was it worth it? I think so..

I don't have any proof yet, as I said I wasn't in the mood for recording, so I didn't save any of my work. But, I will upload some to my website and re-do the ones on my MySpace, as the week goes on.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Robert D]

As soon as you decide to buy a real preamp/mixer and mic, the USB mic will be totally useless, as you cannot connect the USB mic to a regular microphone preamp, nor can you use more than one USB mic on the same computer. YMMV.

I'm replacing all the XLRs on my console with USB jacks.

 

[Mindset]

I also say that it was a bad idea.... even a 990 & a art preamp might have worked better for that price range of $100. Then again, personally I wouldn't use anything that is really low in the chain. Personally I also think that using a USB mic, won't give you the sound that analog gear colors, or the sound of great digital hardware either. Your going to be very limited in use. HOWEVER, for it being in that particular price range, your not going to be able to get much of anything else that will allow for a decent sound anyways. The buy imo, is neither positive or negative for $100 price range. You might be able to get a clearer sound with that, compared to a cheapy $50 dollar berry mixer & a radio shack mic you know what i'm saying? IDK how the 990 sounds vs that particular mic, but it is cheaper & grabbing a cheap art preamp might give you better sound vs usb.

 

[Mindset]

I got the Mic in the mail, I wasn't quite in the recording mood, but I had to play with it to see what it was like. A. It stopped the "POPPING" from my $5.00 microphone, came out with a clearer tone in my voice, and enhanced the recordings by about 30%. Was it worth it? I think so..

I don't have any proof yet, as I said I wasn't in the mood for recording, so I didn't save any of my work. But, I will upload some to my website and re-do the ones on my MySpace, as the week goes on.

Thanks for the advice.

From a $5 mic, going from that, to anything will give you a big boost in quality lol

 

[Re-Lapse]

From a $5 mic, going from that, to anything will give you a big boost in quality lol

Precisely, but it's not good enough. I need more equipment, more experience, and more talent. I love this business, I love learning. Knowledge is addicting.

 

[hungovermorning]

From a $5 mic, going from that, to anything will give you a big boost in quality lol

Matters what you paid $5 for I have some amazing $5 mics, of course they're old Shure or EVs I picked up used and cheap...

 

[Re-Lapse]

Matters what you paid $5 for I have some amazing $5 mics, of course they're old Shure or EVs I picked up used and cheap...

That's true, but Shure is about a billion times better than any Microsoft / Logitech microphone that you can pick up at your local Target store.

That's what I had, it was a Microsoft one, that like clipped on the top of your monitor. Pathetic, I know.

But, I wasn't into recording back then, just podcasting and radio'dj. So yeah, I got a new one. It works wonderful, compared to the previous one, I'm still getting use to adjusting the level of my voice to it, and adjusting volumes, inputs, outputs, enhancements. Etc.

I'll get it, by golly!

Thanks!

 

[rory]

I also say that it was a bad idea.... even a 990 & a art preamp might have worked better for that price range of $100. Then again, personally I wouldn't use anything that is really low in the chain. Personally I also think that using a USB mic, won't give you the sound that analog gear colors, or the sound of great digital hardware either. Your going to be very limited in use. HOWEVER, for it being in that particular price range, your not going to be able to get much of anything else that will allow for a decent sound anyways. The buy imo, is neither positive or negative for $100 price range. You might be able to get a clearer sound with that, compared to a cheapy $50 dollar berry mixer & a radio shack mic you know what i'm saying? IDK how the 990 sounds vs that particular mic, but it is cheaper & grabbing a cheap art preamp might give you better sound vs usb.

You don't use 57s or 58s?