Product Description

The Samson C01U lets you record studio quality audio directly into your computer¿s USB input and digital recording software! Some very clever Samson engineers managed to build the entire USB audio interface into the barrel of their best selling C01 Studio Condenser mic so high-quality vocals and acoustic instruments can be recorded directly into ANY USB equipped computer with just a USB cable (and Samson even supplies a 10ft USB cable with the mic). Mac driver software is a free download at Samson's website. PCs recognize the mic with no additional driver necessary. The C01U USB Studio Condenser Mic is the first affordable studio condenser mic with a direct USB output. For the first time ever, musicians who record music on computers have a simple, affordable way to capture high-quality vocal and acoustic instrument performances. Seamless integration was the idea, and it was obtained by creating a studio condenser microphone that can be plugged into any computer with no in/out boxes, no expensive computer pre-amps, just a USB cable. The C01U condenser microphone is based on our wildly successful C01. It features a 19mm internal shock mounted diaphragm with a cardioid pick up pattern ensuring pristine studio quality recordings. The C01U works perfectly on any computer, Mac or PC, and with any DAW software program. It immediately solves a huge problem for users of many laptops, many of which have no other input method for audio devices. Its price is also well within the price range of DAW hobbyists and beginners. It¿s a must for any musician on the road or in the project studio, but the C01U is going to offer solutions to more than just musicians. The mic opens up possibilities for anyone who records audio¿from Podcasters, journalists, students, and business people adding audio files to websites and multimedia presentations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1253 in Musical Instruments
• Brand: Samson
• Model: SAM C01UCW RS
• Released on: 2008-05-09
• Dimensions: 5.80" h x 8.00" w x 8.30" l, 3.00 pounds

Features

• Item Package Contents: The CO1U Microphone; Cakewalk Sonar LE software; A Mic Clip; USB Cable; A Carry Pouch; A Small desktop tripod Mic Stand

Customer Reviews

Good Solid Performance at a resonable price
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.

good mic
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.

Great tool
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.