PodSqod 7

As promised, I demo these great mics outside of the studio and with absolutely no processing, mixer or pre-amp. What you hear are the mics themselves.

The Samson C01U
This mic has all the heft, fit and finish of a great studio mic. Take a look where you would normally plug in your XLR pro connector and you’ll find a USB port. Simply plug the supplied cable into your PC or Mac and seconds later, you’re recording. Samson provides a great little applet that displays a meter with clipping indicator, a pro-looking fader, a bass roll-off knob and a phase inverter. The Samson has a solid feel and the audio sounded great, even out of the studio. Have a listen for yourself.

The MXL Desktop Recording Kit took a slightly different approach. This mic comes in a nice “briefcase-style” case with a foam inset. The mic itself looked a lot like my old MXL V57 with a white paint job. Inside the case lies the mic, 2 white cables (one is pro XLR on both ends, the other is pro XLR on the mic-end and a standard 1/8″ mini plug on the other) a small tripod-type desktop mic stand and a 9-volt battery. Unscrew the bottom of the mic and the sleeve slides down to reveal the amplifier circuitry and a 9-volt battery case. Simply put the battery in, slide the sleeve back on, screw the bottom part on, and you are ready to go. There is an on/off switch for the battery in back of the mic so that you can use internal power or plug this mic into a pro mixer and get phantom power there.

Of course, the great part about both of these mics are that they provide the first practical studio condenser sound that will simply plug into your computer. …great for remotes or casters that don’t want to be bothered by all the other hardware that goes along with a good studio mic.

I think both manufacturers have a Home-Run on their hands. Have a listen and decide for yourself.

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