Samson C01U

For about $100, this is an excellent condenser mic (I got lucky and got mine on sale for $50).

It is easy to use - just plug it into your computer and play - and accurately reproduces acoustic guitar very well (and vocals - when used with music playing through headphones, in an environment isolated from noise to avoid also recording such unwanted background noise).

I do not have any special soundcard, just the one supplied with the computer, and I usually forget all about the EQ software that I have downloaded from Samson and it still sounds great.

This is a condenser mic that plugs into a USB port.

Mine was dropped from about 3 feet once with no ill effect (well, no ill effect on the mic at least ... I did get stinking mad at my child).

I have been using mine for 2 to 3 years now and have had no complaints at all.

I place it about 1 - 3 feet away from the the front of the guitar's soundhole - depending on how aggressively I will be playing (i.e. just make sure you don't overpower it or your recording will blow).

I use the same procedure for vocals, while listening to the music through headphones.

I would recommend this mic for it's ease of use, great sound on acoustic guitar, and reasonable price.

I have heard good things about the MXL 990 as a comparison - although I don't know if they make a USB plug-in model (which I find very handy on this one).

I've been playing music since 6th grade band (I'm currently a freshman in college now), and since 8th grade I have been playing bass and guitar. During high school, I became interested in home digital (via computer) recording, but I've never really had the money to buy quality equipment. Currently, I am in a band, and I am attending Middle Tennessee State University, where I major in Recording Industry Production and Technology.

When I do record, I normally use a line out from a PA into the computer's microphone input, and record using Magix 6.0. As many of you probably could have figured, this has basically fried my mic input. I have recently updated to Cakewalk Sonar 4.0 and now have purchased the Samson C01U. I'm making slow but sure progress in quality recording.

Specifications from manual:
Frequency Response: 20-18,000 Hz
Polar Pattern: Hyper-cardiod
Element type: Back condenser type
Diaphragm Thickness: 3 microns
Sensitivity: -33 db/Pa
SPL: 136 dB (which I thought was pretty good)
Weight: 1.06 lbs (.48 kg)
Height: 7" (18 cm)
Width: 2.125" (5.4 cm)
Depth: 2.125" (5.4 cm)

I have recorded acoustic guitars and my vocals on it so far, and it sounds exceptional with both. However, I will warn you that the microphone isn't as plug-and-chug as the box makes it out to be. Without the use of the Samson SoftPre (free download from samsontech.com) software, the microphone will be a very low volume and be very bassy. The software includes volume control, a high-pass filter, phase switch, dB meter, and a cut light (which will continue to flash until you click on it).

It definitely excels in sound quality, especially for the price. With spoken word recordings however, it is very slightly noisy, but the noise is minor and most people will probably not be able to tell. If you're recording vocals with music, the noise will disappear in the mix anyways. And as I mentioned before, without the software, the response can be quite bass-heavy, espcially with acoustic guitars.

As for cosmetic aspects, it comes built ready for a shockmount, and comes with a standard microphone stand clip (Euro adapter included), mic bag, and USB cable. My only complaint is that it does not feature a standard XLR output as well, which makes it strictly a computer recording microphone.

It's an excellent mic in my opinion, especially for the money. A definite buy if you're interested in a computer digital studio.

I've been playing drums since I was 9 yrs old (going on 37). My first recordings are of my drumkit using headphones as mics on a old tube taperecorder with reals. My specialism is probably recording drums. If have recorded hours and hours of music (tape-cassette quality) in the 90's with a friend to get through highschool. Then came the 4-track and later the 8-track cassette recorders I used extensively. After that I joined a band and have been in and out of studio's on several occasions and observing their techniques.

My standard gear is a rig build around a MOTU 828 mkII. To have more then just two mic pre-amps I hooked a behringer ADA8000 up on the Adat-opticals (i/o) and to be able to work with more musicians at once I got Samson S-Phone headphone amp. I use MOTU DP 4.6 on a 1 gigHz powerbook (with a replaced hard-drive for more tracks) as my DAW.
Monitoring : Alesis One mkII (active) and Beyer Dynamics DT770 headphones.

type: large capsule condenser mic with build-in pre-amp and usb interface. Cardioid pick-up. Basically a Samson C1 with integrated I/O-> USB.

Application & sound: great for the price: it cost less then a sm57, does not require anything except a usb-port. Ideal for on-site, instant laptop recordings. It's recommended for 'pod-casting' which I'm sure will do nicely. I tried it on a guitar cabinet and next to a SP C1, B1 and the sm57. It was the mic with the least crisp-high. For this mega-heavy guitar-sound it was very suitable. I have to admit that it low and mid frequencies sound very straight and neat.
I use it a lot on my kids (4 jrs. & 2 jrs.) because it's set up in a jiffy. Made a lot of happy grand parents.

Con: it's a little noisy. When you record drums & guitars that's not a problem but on spoken-text it's becomes a serious issue. Make sure you use the 'Samson C01U' -tool properly to increase the gain on build-in pre-amp for low level stuff. You might think "Duhhh! ". Just don't think the normalization will take care of the gain later.
It will give you noise. (other microphones & digital interfaces WILL let you get away with normalization later)

I've been a musician for over 30 years, with experience in analog and digital recording. I now use Logic Pro 7 as my primary DAW, especially for the excellent softsynths and effects included with it. I monitor with a Blue Sky Media Desk 2.1 system.

This is the first microphone I've used that connects directly to a computer via USB. The C01U is a cardioid condenser microphone with the same element (and similar sound) as Samson's popular C01, the difference being the USB connector.

I have used a variety of USB/Firewire interface/mic preamps with a variety of analog microphones and I think the idea of a direct digital connection from the mic to the computer is appealing. Not only do I have less equipment to carry around, but there is less signal degradation than with the analog mic to digital interface to computer method. This mic is great for use with a notebook computer for mobile recording. I use it with my Apple iBook. Samson currently provides a software driver with a fader, phase switch and low-cut control that is only available for free download for Mac OS X. A Windows version will be ready soon. The mic is class-compliant and doesn't need the software on either Mac or Windows, but it's nice to use anyway.

My only concern is that the C01U is slightly noisy (more like a tube mic), just as the C01 is. This is not something that is a real problem, however, and the recordings I've made with it sound very good. It has a very open and pleasing sound and I think it is well worth $80.