Great review! I frequently use this this mic when I need to reject outside noise. I was under a time constraint, and had to get a project finished, but there was a loud thunderstorm happening. This mic was the perfect solution. My MikTek CV4 tube mic was too sensitive for that situation. The 414 was a little harsh for my taste. So many times this little fellow has bailed me out, and going into a Avalon 737, (bold statement coming), you might be hard pressed to distinguish between a the C01 and a Neumann U87. If I hadn’t changed mics during a commercial product I would have laughed at that statement. But I have seamlessly used a C01 to punch in takes that were made using a U87. If there is a music bed, you would find difficult to distinguish the punch in. Of course time was spent matching the EQ, but I am speaking from experience. I actually have 2 C01s.
Thank for the review . I got this mic probably now for 18 years and everything has been recorded with it . Sure the mic sounding brighter having the blue light in front of face .
Hi. In the past I've owned the more expensive condenser mics such as the Audio Technica AT4040 and also a AT2035. I currently own Samson C01 (XLR version not USB) and have had it for about 2 years. I use a small Wharfadale Connect 502 mixer to power it up and use Reaper to record it. It being a mid size diaphragm mic I wasn't sure what to expect but I did see quite a few favourable reviews on it so bought one. In using it I would say in a blind test this $100 mic sounds a lot more expensive then I first assumed. I did quite a lot of extensive testing on it by getting isolated voice tracks of famous songs from singers such as Freddy Mercury, Lou Graham etc. Once I EQ'ed the vocal track to match the singers I then cleaned up my vocal track and popped it into the instrumental version of some of those singers songs and was very surprised at how good and clear it sounds in the mix. The sound was very professional!! (I know Freddy was using the AKG C414 which is an excellent mic but expensive but I found the C01 when EQ'ed was right up there. I was actually blown away just how good it is!!!). And that's the key......the EQ ing of the mic and matching it to an isolated vocal track (I used the Butch Vig vocal plugin for eq, compression and saturation). Its a bright and open sounding mic but very natural and doesn't color the sound which is great as you have more room to color and give it character in post. And it is not just cardioid but Super Cardioid. This is a very important detail to consider because most of us are recording either in our bedroom or study room which is not the most ideal way. Because it rejects noise both from back and sides more then most condenser mics you get close to no external noise from your room. My office where I record vocals has no treatment except carpet and some curtains but being a mid size condensor and super cardioid it picks up very little around it except the front. Its one of the best mic for noise rejection!! There will be noise floor on the C01 if you turn up the gain on the mixer to a hotter level. However this is not necessary in this day and age of using a digital DAW (back in analog days that was more critical and important). In conclusion in my testing this mic it has a very natural open sound. Crisp but not harsh. In a blind test its on same level with far more expensive mics out there. And it is Super Cardioid which is important because most of us are recording in untreated rooms. 😃👍
S A D since 2001 so you have had it for over 3 years? They may have been making that with better materials then or you got a good one or I got a bad one.
I have this mic I also have 4 other mics and this one is the best. The others cost more. This one performs the best I do have the older model it sounds good as a numan I record rap vocals with it the others are thin when it comes to frequency response so they’re better for rnb vocals
Thanks for sharing with us. Your presentation creates a viewing, listening pleasure. You certainly project confidence about your knowledge within studio recording. It is probably obvious to folks like yourself that the difference in the sound of a $1000 & a $100 condenser microphone is worth it. I have a hard time hearing anywhere close to that much of a difference after editing.
I have been been comparing mics on you tube and I think this is one of the best you tube mics I have seen. I do not think a better mic exists for you tube. I think it has everything you tubers want. I am pretty sure that people want a mic that is colored by the body and off axis blend.
@@Bryan-yp2xy hi yes its very nice. I have recorded a few songs inc my own origianal songs and all came out as good as can be. Im still learning though but I dont think its too bad for an amateur like me. You can go and listen to all my recent songs on my channel and you will hear the quality of the new mic. I have the co3 xlr samson mic. Its affordable and works great.
Love your videos man! Discovered your channel last month and watched a lot of your videos since. Anyways, I would want to see a comparison between the at2020 and the c01 from you. Should be awesome coming from you.
Hi!! Really enjoyed watching it!! I purchased it a year ago for Smule singing!! But still could not connect it with iPhone! Would u pls spare some valuable time of urs giving a piece of advice how should I connect this mic with my iPhone for Smule singing n what accessories I actually need. Thanks a bunch!!
Hmmmmmmm. That mic sounds great....was the audio processed/edited?....now I ask, because I have always been encountering negative reviews ... many have complained about self noise .... did you encounter that ?...that's why I asked if you processed the audio, in order to have the mic sounding so good....if you compare your review of this mic with all other reviews here in RU-vid , I'm sure you will understand my reason for asking
The only processing I did was in the “processing test” section of the testing. I mean, there was some self noise. It is at 23.5 dB of self noise compared to the at2020’s 20dB self noise... which is $20-$40 more than this mic... so for the price I didn’t thing the self noise was terrible . I feel like those people expected a bit much out of a $60-$80 mic! I do talk a little loud, so my preamp noise is usually a little bit quieter. If you need the preamp up super loud to get a good signal, it may get noisy due to mic noise floor and some preamp noise, but if you are staying under 50%, like I did, it seems very manageable!
@@AudioHotline hmmmmmmm I see....ok ok, understood......um, how soon would you be ready for me to purchase a condenser from you...been waiting, but you busy dude
My brother please send me through the video camera or your old studio monitors I’m so passionate about music producing but we are so broke here in zimbabwe africa things are so hard down here brother
Dang I want the behinger xm8500 and I know some things about cameras but It is really hard to guess since they are all so good. I think if canon then canon m50, eos R, c200. If sony a6500 or a7r iv. If panasonic g7,gh5,gh85. I think one of those are it.
That is true! Cameras nowadays do look great! You did name the right one! But based off of that hint, guess just one that you think it is! Additional hint: the camera body is over $1,000.
Good job! That is the right answer! It is the EOS R! I actually have the GH5 though and I use the A7iii usually for these vids. Go ahead and shoot me an email or message with your address and I will get the mic sent off to you!
You will need to connect this condensor microphone to audio interface that has 48 volts phantom power. A new Audio interface will have Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) mixing software included.
I always wonder how well any of these "OMG-SO-GREAT" microphones work in a room without acoustic foam. All of these "background noise tests" are run in sound-proof rooms and that's absolutely ridiculous.
When I do my videos, I remove the true treatment (Corning 703) from my walls. That back wall is essentially a decoration with super ineffective THIN foam. The walls I am facing, that sound would be reflecting off of are completely bare. Although, you’re making treatment sound really expensive and difficult. I assume if most people are serious about their recordings, hanging up a $10 moving blanket in front of them wouldn’t be too difficult while recording.
It’s not really good or bad, it is just more of a preference thing. Some people like a boosted high end, other don’t. Some people like the high end to be boosted so they don’t have to do as much EQ in post... BUT not every boosted high end is created equal. Some mics with this attribute can be extremely harsh and sibilant. I personally prefer having a mic that only has a slight boost or none at all, that way I can add some high end in post with EQ. Sorry, it isn’t really a yes or no question, so hopefully this makes sense. Bottom line though, this is a good mic, especially for the price range it fits in. Around 8:14 I talk about this topic a little bit.
One question is that I did buy a Samson co1 for my studio for music and stuff. I plugged it into my audio interface. It didnt turn on. Do I need a power supply for this or not?
Akami it does require phantom power, so if you have a button on your interface or a switch that says “+48v”, that will need to be turned on. A large majority of interfaces have this feature. If your interface doesn’t have it, they do make phantom power supplies.
@@AudioHotline ok cause I have a focusrite scarlett 2i2 solo and does that have that option? If it doesnt what is the best brand you recommend for phantom power
Akami The 2i2 does have phantom power. I believe it is to the left of the big volume knob, toward the top, it says “48v”. Just push that little button in and you should be good to go!
hey can u hlep me, i have the same mic with a steinberg ur22 interface, but to record my voice i have to put the gain nearly to the max and that causes loud white noise. (phantom power is on)
I feel like this is a common issue with this mic. I couple people have mentioned it to me. I wasn’t sent this mic by Samson, so they couldn’t have made sure I got a good one or anything. I guess I was just lucky because I didn’t notice a whole lot of noise in my particular mic. I have been experiencing some quality control issues with a different brand right now. So I definitely understand that not every mic is created equally… Even when it’s from the same manufacturer and it’s the same model. It is definitely frustrating. Has yours always been noisy or has it happened over time?
