Customer Reviews

Samson C01U USB Studio Condenser Microphone with Cakewalk Sonar LE

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Length:: 2:26 Mins

Small video to demonstrate the audio quality. The video was shot in iMovie and I didn't really care about the quality of the video (since it didn't matter). I was about two feet away from the microphone the entire time, talking at normal volume.

If you use GarageBand or Logic (Mac OS), the audio options for vocal enhancement will make the mic sound even louder when recording podcasts or music. Audacity also has such options, but if you're a Mac user stick with GarageBand/Logic. There is very little white noise or static when recording with the mic. A really good use for the mic is podcasting, as your voice is projected quite clearly to the audience. Since it's USB powered you can use it anywhere, for anything, but I don't find it to be all that portable (i.e. for remote webcam); for me not a big deal. But if you're at home and want a better audio alternative for voice chat or Skype, this mic is excellent.

Overall I'm quite satisfied. Well worth the money.

I am just starting to provide voice overs for tutorials and needed a convenient way to record audio on my PC. At first, I tried the classic headset/mic combo using my on board PC audio. This was unbearable to listen to.

I then purchased a Sony F-V220 Uni-Directional Vocal Microphone with Extended Frequency Response microphone. This was a distinct step up with vast improvements in sound quality. The remaining issue was hum introduced by the PC motherboard audio. I considered competing products for about 2 weeks until I settled upon the C01UCW.

The C01UCW promised great results with the ease of a single USB plug. I purchased one and would highly recommend it to others in my situation. The voice quality is great and the hiss/hum is virtually eliminated. The program I am using has an automatic filter to zero the levels between the actual speaking parts so when in actual use, the very little hiss that can be heard with windows sound recorder is completely lost when speaking normally.

The real test has been the positive responses from the people listening to the final results.

In summary, super simple USB installation (no drivers needed in WXP), very low noise, and great sound quality for a reasonable price.

The only niggles that I have with the C01UCW are:

The power light on the mic I received does not come on even though the mic works flawlessly. I am using a USB1.0 port while the device is USB2.0. The manual does not indicate that this should be normal.

The cardioid pattern was supposed to reject sounds from off-direction sources. It might be better than a unidirectional mic but with the sensitivity of this mic, any noise that has direct line of sight to the front of the mic is likely to be picked up. I can tell that those sounds from behind the mic are distinctly reduced.

I did not use the Cakewalk software. The stand works but only accepts the heavy mic in very limited stances. The heavy mic puts the center of gravity very high and the short stand legs have a difficult time compensating. I also purchased the isolation shockmount further raising the CG exacerbating the problem. To be sure, the stand works and I use the stand. I just use the stand in one position with the weight supported over one leg of the stand as the only viable option. It is definitely better to have the stand than not. It saved quite a bit of hassle and money to get the stand as a bundle.

i use this mic for recording music with garageband on my mac. i don't have much of a recording studio setup, so i always end up with fuzz, but this mic made a significant improvement on that, as well as just working a whole lot better than the built in mic on the computetr. I feel it was well worth the money and would recommend the mic for a beginner musician like me, it may or may not be professional quality, i just don't know. but it works well for both guitar and singing.

This was a very simple install but be sure to go to web site and download the software for adjusting the mike. The software disc sent with the mike is not intuitive at all and useless for my purposes. I am very happy with my purchase.

cuando pensé en comprar un micrófono para grabarme cantando con pistas, me informe por diferentes medios como youtube y en Amazon.com , así que después de un un tiempo tome la desicion de comprar este producto Samson co1u que viene con un programa muy bueno que es todo lo que realmente necesitaba ademas que el la grabación es muy buena, estoy muy satisfecho con mi compra y estoy pensando adaptarle el shockmount y el pop filter, para hacerlo mas profesional, aunque no he tenido problema asta el momento porque el micrófono viene con un tripod que es muy útil y fácil de instalar y fácil de guardar sin des ensamblarlo del micrófono, bueno en realidad se los recomiendo 100%

Don't let my title completely fool you.
This microphone has so much to offer! It worked right upon plugging in (to windows XP sp2). It has more gain than I'd personally ever need. It is definitely a "flat" coloring when recording. Its simply amazing for recording vocals, acoustic guitar, guitar amps, or even small percussion instruments. I do some mixing here at home for fun, not a true studio by any means, but its perfect for home recording, and certainly will deliver EP quality recordings. It has a very small sort of noise that is produced from the mic itself, possibly from the electronics or my computer, not sure which. Its relatively easy to tune out with a good equalizer.
My only peeve is that I live near an interstate highway, and this thing picks it up clear as day (older mics I have don't). It in a sense has revealed how noisy my environment really is.

This mic is amazing. It came pretty quick and on time. The recording quality is amazing.it picks up every little noise, you might have to turn down the recording level cause it picks up everything.It is really just like a proffesional mic.just throw on a pop filter and its even better.

I bought the microphone during Christmas break. When I first opened the box, I was so excited. It looked as though I had purchased a product worth SOOO much more than what I paid. My excitement quickly turned into fear when I skimmed through the manual and couldn't find installation instructions for anything later than WINDOWS XP. It's 2012 (Dec 27th, 2011 when I got the product), Windows XP is extremely outdated. Most windows users have the Windows 7 or Vista operating system now. I didn't know this product was not updating its drivers to maximize compatibility with modern users. Putting that aside, the microphone still works instantly (though apparently not perfectly--read more to see why) on the newer operating systems.

Once I plugged the microphone into my laptop (Gateway NV55C, Windows 7), I came across another problem. The microphone was EXTREMELY quiet. I had to scream (over exaggerating a bit here). I had to be under six inches from the microphone in order for it to pick up my voice clearly. Any farther and my voice would come off as a barely audible whisper. I had already set the microphone levels to 100. I spent about 5-7 hours looking up possible solutions to my problem and found out that other Windows 7 users were having the same problem. It appears users with both XP and W7 tested the microphone, and it worked fine on the XP. The only known fix is to buy a usbhub. I don't know the technicalities of it, but I never bothered to buy one. I just put up with the inconvenience, because the mic is still a huge step up from my integrated laptop mic.

After the break, I took the microphone with me to the dorms. I didn't plan on using the microphone much fearing some immoral person would steal it. When I finally did, I was surprised to find out that the microphone picks up sound extremely well. I can be 5 feet away from the mic, and it will still pick up my voice. The only difference from before is the surge protector (I think it's a surge protector) my laptop is plugged into here at the university. I also plugged in my laptop into the outlet on the wall here, and it works the same... I don't know what it is.

The microphone works and is indeed great for singing (that's why I bought it), but it has background noise. From my own speculation, it may be an internal noise, not actual environmental noise. Don't quote me on that though, I haven't tested the mic in a completely soundproof room. The noise is no where near as bad as it is on my laptop mic.

I'll end my review of the microphone with a summary and a bit more speculation----
Pros:
-Good material
-Good for singing
-Easy usage/no complicated install process
-Better than integrated microphone (It better be)

Cons:
-May have compatibility issues with Windows operating systems later than XP
-Heavy, comes with tiny bag to carry mic in, but doesn't fit USB chord
-Stand is small and a bit unstable.

Overall, I'm somewhat disappointed by my experience with the mic, but I'm not terribly angry.

I love this mic. Before with my old mic it sounded like there was a helicopter in the background. this mic captures crisp tones and my bassy voice. the only real con is it is a studio condenser so you can hear someone fart across the room if you are not in a "studio" setting.

when i received this item, I quickly opened it to test it out. When I connected it to my laptop, my computer said the microphone was malfunctioning. Therefore, I looked on google to see if i could fix the problem, i discovered that my windows 7 laptop did not supply enough power. so now i have to buy a external usb to give it more power but im not so sure because i got it working one time and the mic was either too low or it was just not functioning. so i disconnected it again then reconnected it. my computer again same problem, was unable to pick it up or in other words identify what it was, install the mic for use. so i still have not tested it for quality which is bull.