SAMSON C02 Pencil Condenser Microphones

Yes, I know that this mic is intended for choir or instrument mic'ing. But read on. I sing bass in a quartet, and the mic I had used for awhile seemed to be not sounding as good as it used to. I started searching on the internet to see what bass singers were using. There were 4 or 5 mics that kept coming up as being excellent for that application, but they were all very expensive mics. I'm just an amateur, so I didn't want to spend several hundred dollars. I ran across a forum where a guy mentioned this mic. He said someone told him about it, so he tried it, and was tremendously impressed. Then I found another forum where a guy was raving about it. So I thought what the heck; for that price, I'll give it a try. Let me interject this....the discussions I found on the forums mentioned a problem with the wind screen that comes with it. This is a condenser mic, so it must have phantom power. And like condenser mics, it's extremely sensitive. Using it as a handheld, you must use a windscreen because it's so sensitive it pics up every p-pop and breathing noise. I put the windscreen on, but immediately noticed that it muffled the mic. After inspecting it, I found that it has an inner layer of felt type material behind the foam. I reached in with needle nose pliers and pulled that out. That fixed the problem! With that layer gone, the wind screen did it's job without excessive muffling. With that modification done...WOW!! I did an A/B comparison, and couldn't believe the difference I was hearing. So I called my wife down to the studio to get her opinion. She had the same wow factor I did. This $55 mic (the come in a 2-pack for about $110) made the $200 dynamic mic I had been using, as well as the other mics I have, sound like crap in comparison. So sensitive, so clear, unbelievably rich! When the guys came over to practice, they couldn't believe their ears either. It should work equally good for any vocal range. It's truly one of the great deals in pro audio!

These mics work perfectly and capture amazing audio of choirs, drum sets, bands, and anything in a theater. They even work really well for my studio TV show where we use the mics above our talent as dialog mics. To hear examples of how these sound, check out Powered By Rainbows on YouTube because we’ve used these in every video with exceptional sound quality.

I was looking for a good pair of condensers to record guitar and cymbals without having to spend too much money right away, so I ordered these. They seemed like exactly what I needed. Eager to try them out, I first set them up to record my acoustic guitar. One aimed at the fingerboard, one aimed at the soundhole, I recorded in stereo and was amazed at the sound I got without even having to experiment any with my mic positioning. If you want to hear an example, search Robert Bassett Acoustic Guitar Recording Example on SoundCloud. I can't link to it in a review, but you should be able to find it easily. That recording I got is exactly the signal I got coming in, without doing any EQing or anything. The excess noise is due to the environment I recorded in, me breathing, and my laptop's crappy soundcard, not the microphones. You can hear the full range it picks up, and even the decent bass response. The closer I positioned the mic to the soundhole, the greater the bass response. I tried drums a few weeks later, and that was when I really fell in love. I had these guys set up over the drums to capture the cymbals and whole kit, as well as mics on the hi-hat, snare, and kick drum. After listening back to the sound I got, I realized how well the Samson's were picking up the kit on their own, so I ended up pulling out the mics on the hi-hat and snare, and just using a mic for the bass drum and the Samsons for the rest of the kit. The kit we recorded with didn't have the greatest cymbals on it but you couldn't tell that from the recordings we got. The Samson's made them sound crystal clear. Another few weeks later, I tried capturing a baby grand. I positioned the pair about 5 inches back from the hammers and 5 inches up from the strings, one aimed at the lower strings, one aimed at the higher strings recording in stereo again. The recordings I got were awesome, and their wide frequency response picked up each note beautifully throughout the full range of the piano. I just used another condenser five feet or so back from the piano to capture the room sound, and a little reverb of course, and I was more than pleased with the recordings I got from such an affordably priced pair of mics. I would have payed much much more for these. So basically, if you're looking for a matched pair of condensers for recording stereo, you really shouldn't look any further than these. For a little over a hundred bucks, they really took my recordings to the next level. Their wide frequency response makes them excellent for use in any application. And the carrying case they come in is really handy too. I didn't think I'd use it since I already have a case for my mics, but I ended up using it anyways since they fit so nice in it. Oh and no i'm not affiliated with Samson in any way, I just fell in love with these mics haha. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions, i'm not an expert or anything but i'll do my best to tell you my experiences i've had with them.

Great mics. Used these for dialog on a film shoot recently on indoor audio. The shoot was for a 48 hour film contest. So not much time to study a script and know who's line is next. These have a nice wide pickup pattern so it made it easier to follow dialog without knowing exactly where you need to be. I wouldn't recommend them for outdoor use as they'll pick up a lot of sound you don't want. The DP on the shoot came with some gear too and let me use a $2000 shoeps mic for outdoor use. I can say these little samson mics don't sound bad. Even next to one of the best mics in the business. Are they as good? NO. They do very well though. You could tell the audio from the shoeps was very rich and warm. These weren't the same but certainly not bad mics. Certainly worth the money they want for them. And hell, you get 2 of them. I'll be using them more for years to come I'm sure.

Sadly the seller sent me the single microphone kit instead of the pair kit as advertised... so I had to return, but I wanted to leave a review on this product anyway as the microphones themselves are good at what they do. (I had to re-order from B&H Photo because I no longer trust this seller after them leaving me in the lurch) We use these microphones for our Youtube Livecast... as a live cast on set, proximity microphone they work great. We have three hosts on our live cast... so a Shotgun Mic just won't do the trick, we needed more "spread" in our pickup range. We place them just above our heads, just out of frame and they pick up really nice without picking up a lot of ambient room noise. They have pretty good sound for the price point... there are better microphones out there for four times the price, so consider these a really GREAT entry level-mid level microphone... bang for your buck is high... As far as sound quality... I would put these on par with our label mics.... not amazing sound, but still good clean audio, and we don't have any noise movement rustling sounds that we were dealing with from the Lavalier mics, and no cords to trip over and get tangled up in... which is really the best part...we have freedom of movement with a microphone that is worry free... and by having two of them we can better capture our set sound regardless of who is talking. If you're looking for a good boom mic, especially for a Livecast, or an interview mic that is lightweight, affordably priced, with decent sound... you've found it... you just might want to consider another seller.

OK... I rarely (if ever) give a 5 star review because they are often "faked" or the people writing them are "starry-eyed" (Ooh... Shiny!) ... In this case, however, I will make an exception. (OK... If I could give them 4.5, I would, just to stick with my "no 5-star reviews" rule.) ... But I digress. Back to the mics, for the money, I just don't think you can beat them, at least for the application for which I am using them. I bought them because I wanted to get high-quality acoustic guitar recordings in my home studio. I have a fairly nice on-stage microphone (a Sennheiser 835S). It does a fine job on-stage but as a recording mic it is "meh". (This should come as no surprise because it's fundamentally not a "recording mic".) My "Cordoba GK Pro Negra" guitar also has a very good quality Fishman built-in pickup and pre-amp which also is fine on stage but likewise suffers from "the meh factor" when trying to get a good quality "studio" recording. By "studio", I mean in my home studio, feeding inputs into a Presonus AudioBox 22VSL interface... and then into my laptop. (Don't even THINK about trying to run inputs directly into your computer, if you want any kind of quality recording onto your laptop... but that is a topic for another day.) Anyway, I decided most likely the only way I could get the sound quality I wanted was to buy a couple of dedicated mics to use in my studio. Like many of you out there, I didn't (don't) have an unlimited budget, so I decided to give these a try. To get right to the point, I simply could not be more pleased with them... especially at the (approximate) US$100 price for two. My first impression when pulling them from their handy little travel box was the "sturdy" feel they seem to have. I plugged them into my interface, pushed the "phantom power" button, and they sprang to life. (Yes, they require "phantom power" to give them the juice they need to operate. No phantom power = no sound.) Just a word about "phantom power" and the cables you use... a laptop cannot provide that extra 48 volt shot that these mics require. You will absolutely need some kind of audio interface. As I mentioned above, I use a "Presonus AudioBox 22VSL interface". This little box can accept either 1/4 inch "guitar cables" or "XLR" cables. I cannot speak toward other interfaces, but with this particular interface, 1/4 inch cables CANNOT receive phantom power. I absolutely MUST use XLR cables to get that 48 volt phantom power that the mics need. Other interfaces might work the same way, so be sure to check. In other words, if you are using these mics with an interface and you are not getting the phantom power you need, check to make sure you are using XLR cables, not 1/4 inch cables. Just be warned. But back to my review... They are VERY sensitive... but that is what I wanted. It will take some time to find the exact "sweet spots" to position them, but that too is OK, as I appreciate the subtle differences in their tone when I move them around. The "cardioid pattern" of sound pickup is exactly what I was looking for. Due to their sensitivity, I found I had to be careful not to look down at my hands while playing my guitar , as doing so turns my head (and breathing) toward them, resulting in their picking up wind noise as I breathe. Certainly I could eliminate most of this by using the little wind screens that are included, but I don't want to use anything that will cut off any of the natural frequencies. I now have a couple of disk-shaped pop-filters I position between my mouth and the mics. That eliminated the problem. (Until I bought the pop-filters, my quick-n-dirty solution was simply to wear a "pollution mask" when I played! It worked perfectly as a means of eliminating the "puffs and rumbles" of my own breathing but was not a good long term solution. Hence, I bought the pop-filters.) Now if I could just eliminate the sound of my blinking eyelids... Ha ha! ... Just a joke... They are not quite THAT sensitive. Also because of this very predictable "cardioid pattern", my studio (with some ambient noise coming from outside) does not need to be absolutely silent. My neighborhood can be a bit noisy, but always making sure the mics are pointed away from the window seems to eliminate any but the sharpest of background noises.The heavy window drapes I have also help. One last thing... as I mentioned above, the two mics came packed in a handy little hard-shell travel case. Nice! So to rap it up, I hope my review does not seem "overly gushy", as I really have put them to a pretty comprehensive set of tests in my home studio. Your mileage may vary in other situations and applications but as acoustic guitar recording mics in a home studio ... and especially considering their bargain price, one simply cannot go wrong with these mics when using a similar application as mine.

These were recommended to me by someone who has been doing professional AV work for decades. He uses them for outdoor venues because if something bad happens (rain, snow, dirt, drops etc) he is only out $50 for one mic. For a lot more money you can buy better condenser mics but for the money they simply cannot be beat. I tested them with a spectrum analyzer and was amazed at their audio range and sensitivity. Better than the advertised specs. For more money you would buy a bit less distortion but these sound really good and unless your speakers are top-class (ie expensive) you will not notice the difference. NOTE - Like all other condenser (as opposed to dynamic) microphones these require 48V phantom power in order to work. If you do not understand this warning do not buy these microphones.

These things are an insane value. I use them in a podcast setting. I have two of the Rode NTG1s and two of these. Honestly, you won't be able to tell the difference between the brands. I'm sure some audiophile snobs could, but 99% of the population can't tell the difference. If I'm wearing my studio headphones, and I have the Rode and Samson in front of me and I quickly switch back and forth (with no EQing), I can just barely hear the ever so slight difference in tone. The Samson has a little less bass, little more treble. It's very hard to notice. And with my videos having background music/sound effects plus other people talking, you absolutely can't tell who is using the Samsons. I will point out that they're probably 3 or 4 times heavier than the Rode mics. This doesn't bother me, as I have them on arms mounted on the wall, but if someone was using this for a mobile setup, it may make a big difference.

In terms of value in relation to quality, these mics are hard to impossible to beat; for the price you get two condenser mics with fairly good quality wind covers, mic holders with 3/8th/1/2inch threads and a decent carry case. Add to that, the very good construction and materials of the mics - solid, heavy - really good feel to them. I don't know about professional use, but these are the best microphones that I have and they are capable of producing clean sound, so great for audio, music recording and video. Having two mics means that you can record stereo sounds or two actors for video recording. In the sound test that I conducted, I used two prosumer recorders, a decent field recorder with XLR connectors and a reasonably good quality pocket sized recorder with a 3.5 inch jack input; this particular model is no renowned for its 3.5 jack sockets, it has to be said. In sound editing, I normalised each take to -12db. There is a noticeable drop in sound quality in the second recording, which may have something to do with the recorder's ability to properly power the mic which does need phantom power, something that the field recorder has. I tried another pocket recorder, but without any form of phantom power, the performance proved unusable - so take note; ensure your recorder has phantom power or you will be disappointed. In both tests I turned up the gain to just below audibility in my headphones; I could have added more gain probably without much adverse effect, but it is better to be sure. In both recordings, there is some sibilance, but that is more about my voice, I think, than anything the mic is producing and I could try using a pop filter. Overall, I am satisfied that these Samson mics are good to use and capable of producing good sound quality in voice recording.

Allora, premetto che il mio lavoro è la musica, passo metà della vita in vari studi a registrare me stesso e gli altri....ma ho anche uno studietto casalingo dove uso un po' di microfoni senza pretese.....voglio una coppia di condensatori per riprendere un po' di tutto.....bene, non voglio spendere 1000 euro...cosa faccio cerco qualcosa sui 250 300 euro?....no non serve a niente, con 88 euro spedizione compresa posso registrare dignitosamente il mio pianoforte o mettere i panoramici alla batteria...se volete fare sul serio allora è un'altro discorso.....non spendete soldi per vie di mezzo, non ne vale la pena, questi Samson sono davvero incredibili per il loro prezzo....consiglio davvero....basta non aspettarsi la qualità di una coppia di microfoni seri....per quelli bisogna aggiungere uno zero a quel 88 Euro...almeno...ciao a tutti...ah dimenticavo mi è pure arrivato un buono da 10 sterline per acquisti cari...fai te!

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I’ve had these for a few weeks. I’ve used them as drum overheads and room mic’s. You will not buy better mic’s for the price. Can’t wait to use them on the acoustic. I’ve used 500$ rodes and agks. These sound pretty much as good.