Customer Reviews

Q1U USB Dynamic Recording Mic

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you do a modest amount of voice work on your computer but don't have a full-blown "home studio"--and if you're less than satisfied with the input quality of your sound card circuitry--this is the microphone for you. With frequency range only slightly narrower than the EV RE-20, the Q1U is a great home solution for most broadcast uses; and since it has a USB interface, it completely bypasses your consumer-grade sound card. Just plug in, and use with your audio recording software. I manage a radio station, and occasionally do voice work from home with the Q1U, and it is virtually indistinguishable from work done in-studio.

This mic is an unique value, because it is an inexpensive, dynamic USB mic. My experience, as a singer, is that it captured either highs, or lows, but not both simultaneously. Required a lot of air volume to capture the lows. Weak singing mic.

I believe this would be a valuable podcasting mic. It picks up voice just fine, and because it's a dynamic USB mic, it plugs right into your PC to use easily.

If you want professional grade audio equipment for computer Recording, whether Vocal, acoustic instrument,or PodCasting, then this is the Mic for you. These mics are NOT 'toys', but Samson Audio's high quality professional equipment uniquely adapted to plug directly into any Computer with a USB 1.x OR 2.x port. The mics have a built in preamp that is powered by your USB buss, thus removing the necessity for impedance matching or inline mixers. Very easy to set up and use.
I have used my Q1U Super Cardioid Dynamic mic for several Podcasts,now, and I could not be more satisfied with the voice quality. As far as I am concerned, Samson USBs are the biggest bang for the Buck you are going to find! Samson Audio USB Mics have my strongest recommendation.
-Ed Littlefox-
WNDN Net Radio

I just bought both this mic and the Samson C03U, another Samson USB mic. Both can be made to work for podcasting with GarageBand and recording voiceovers in iMovie, but both have some quirks. The Q1U handheld is a substantial mic, and once I got it working, it gets even better quality than I expected at this price point. However, it's not an extremely sensitive mic. I thought it was defective at first, but learned that I have to turn the input volume very high in both the Sound prefs in the OS AND in the audio input level in GarageBand. Once I turned everything way up, it works fine. However, it's going to have trouble recording input that is from a very quiet source, and forget picking up voice from more than a few inches away.

On the other hand, in a noisy room with HVAC and even a noisy server cabinet, it still gets amazingly good audio--it simply doesn't pick up much of the room noise!

The Samson software that allows more adjustments has not been updated for OSX 10.5, so I didn't even bother downloading that. Once it's updated, it may help some. So, good quality sound, but minus a star for the limitations.

The large diaphram C03U is even better. For about twice the money you get even better sound quality, and a more sensitive mic. However, it's a bit quirky with GarageBand--it isn't always immediately recognized by GB. I think there may be a trick--I'm still experimenting with various combinations of starting GB, then plugging in the mic, plugging in the mic first, etc., so once I find the sequence, I think it will be fine. However, when you DO get it working, making input volume changes sometimes causes the mic to distort. So, again, excellent quality sound, but with a few quirks.

Both mics come with a simple drawstring nylon bag, and a tiny (but very useable) desktop mic stand.

As a USB powered mic, there is no need for a preamp. It is a simple plugin install and you are off recording. It is perfect for podcasts.

Very easy to use. Just plug and play. Decent quality for mid, low pitch, but not so good for high pitch. The software to adjust the mic can be downloaded in the company's website. However, it's not compatible with my MediaCenter version of XP. Overall, a pretty good mic for the money.

I purchased the Q1U to use in recording audio books for LibriVox.org. I am completely satisfied with the quality of sound that it produces. Actually I have not even tried the software, because the mic works so well with my Audacity software, which I love. The price and the promptness of delivery of the mic couldn't be beat. I have been using it daily with results that I am proud of.

I'm most pleased with this microphone. For so inexpensive an instrument, it offers remarkable clarity and versatility.

The Samson microphone is fine. There was a little mixup about the software not running on Mac OS 10.5 but it is not a big deal.

This mic has excellent sound quality for recording and is easily recognized by Windows. The Cakewalk software that comes with it, however, is unbelievably complicated. I also have Acid Pro by Sony and it is easy to operate and gets excellent results. I use the mic every day, but I removed the Cakewalk software.