Samson R11

I run a DJ/Karaoke business. I bought two three packs of these mics a couple years ago. It is a good thing they come with a lifetime warranty. I have had to replace the mics several times thus far. They are not very durable at all.

Two years ago I formed a hobby band (classic rock/southern rock, blues). I'm the leader and the sound man. I needed a sound set up for our large studio. I'm new to the whole sound scene and I didn't want to invest a fortune on mics not knowing how the jamming/band thing would work out.

I bought all the sound gear new in one shot after reading reviews and doing my research. Decided on a Soundcraft Gigrack 1000 PA, Peavey PRS 15 (mains) and Peavey PRS 12 (monitors) and a 3 pack of Samson R11 Mics which cost about $25 each brand new.

At the time I was choosing between the Samson R11 and the Shure SM58 and the user reviews for the R11 seemed as good and the mic was much less expensive. Two years later I'm still learning the craft of being a good sound man but so far I'm very pleased with the quality and sound of the R11s. A guest singer plugged in an SM58 during one of our jams and it seemed just a bit hotter and might have had a slightly better sound but all in all the R11 is a well made mic and great sounding mic for the money.

Saw a singer performing with a Sennheiser e845 and loved the way that mic sounded and it's not a proximity mic so I'm going to spend significantly more money to buy a Sennhieser and see how I like it compared to the R11s.

The R11 is a cardoid proximity mic which means you have to be right on top of it for the mic to pick up vocals. This helps eliminate feedback problems because the mic doesn't pick up as much ambient noise (instruments) as non-proximity (condensor) mics. My mics are used for lead vocals and back up vocals and they are on old school mic stands. The on/off switch is a nice feature. I find these mics to be

I've been playing music for over 40 years (sounds like a lot). I've had a home recording studio for about 15 years, and before that did a lot of it many years ago, with a less-developed level of technology. I now record to digital multitracks now (have 2 of them and an old Tascam cassette system).

The Samson R11 is meant to perform in the manner of the Shure SM58, certainly. I had my doubts about them when I purchased them, but this mic does its job so well that there is absolutely NO reason to spend more money, unless you MUST have the Shure brand for purely image (yours) reasons. As many others have said, these micropohones are an unbelievable deal of the kind not commonly found, and have been for quite a while. Highly recommended.

I have been performing live since 1974. I have had many hours recoring in studio situations, primarily analog as I prefer it to digital, but I am learning...This was purchased because I needed a replacement fast, and the specs looked good

This is a dynamic hypercardioid mic that I bought as a quick cheap replacement for a Shure SM58. I had been using the shure for several years, and at the time I purchased it, I had to pay $189.00 for it. Boy, did I get ripped off! The Samson is hotter yet rejects background noise the same or better than the Shure. My Shure always required a lot of projection from me to pick up properly (we play loud classic rock). This thing simply amazed me. No longer did I have to scream, it picks up soft passages, and I no longer need to use a compressor. Need one? I have yet to find any shorcomings with this mic. I am always wary of imported items, especially live sound items, but this is one really pleasant experience. You will NOT be disappointed, And no, I do not work for them.

I've been involved with music all my life. I have a degree in broadcasting and have a good engineering background. I'm very familar with everything analog and digital out there.

This is basically a shure 58 copy. I've used though all my life and found this as good as if not better for some applications. I bought it as I wanted something I could not be so gentle with or worry about the way I do with shure. I have recorded with this both on tape and digitally using a ART OPL MP and Levelar and I was very pleased. I also used it with my presonus compressor. Sounds great for vocals and it does not pickup anything you don't want it to. It's a little breathy and bassy. Intimate in a good way. If I could afford to I would buy shure but I would record or perform with this and feel safe to say it would give me everything a shure 58 would. They are very quiet mics and no noticeable handling noise. I use this to test equipment alot. I love it and would buy another in a heart beat. I would not pay over $20 for one. I think it's more a performance than a recording mic but I've a/b it with a shure 57 thought it did great. I've heard of people recording drums and guitar amps with it. I think this is one awesome mic. I bought this NIB (new in box) on ebay one afternoon for $5.50. I think they sell for about $25 new.