Replacement microphone question

aidanbrack · Post by **aidanbrack** » August 23rd, 2012, 8:32 pm

Lately I've been contemplating purchasing another microphone to replace my Logitech USB desk microphone and my hand seems to have been forced in the last couple of days as it can no longer stand upright by itself (left alone the microphone part just collapses down onto the desk) meaning I'm having to hold it as I work.

I have quite a small office space to work in and so I think I have to rule out the microphone stand option, meaning I need a microphone that will sit happily on the desk. My budget is about $70-80 right now which I know will unfortunately limit my options a little.

Among the options I've been looking at are the Samson Meteor Mic USB Studio Microphone (Cardioid) which is retailing at the $70 mark and the Samson C01U mic which is about $10 more. The Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder also seems to be in my budget range right now.

Before I went ahead and made a purchase I wanted to just ask if anyone had any strong opinions about any of those options or if anyone knew of a better product at the same price point that I've failed to consider. Any advice that people can offer really would be appreciated as, when it comes to the technical side of recording, I feel decidedly out of my depth!

Many thanks,
Aidan

catrose · Post by **catrose** » August 23rd, 2012, 8:47 pm

I'd recomend the Samsun Go-Mic. Loads of people here use it. It's good quality and only about $40 (£35) and is very small and incredibly cute (it comes with a travel case, so I keep it in my handbag when I'm at school, just in case

)

Cat

David Richardson · Post by **David Richardson** » August 24th, 2012, 6:07 am

‘BLUE’ make some really good microphones. It might be worth having a look at the Blue Snowball at around $68 as well. Have you had a listen to The Microphone Showdown on LV? http://librivox.org/microphone-showdown-i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud-by-william-wordsworth/

aidanbrack · Post by **aidanbrack** » August 24th, 2012, 8:03 am

David Richardson wrote:‘BLUE’ make some really good microphones. It might be worth having a look at the Blue Snowball at around $68 as well. Have you had a listen to The Microphone Showdown on LV? http://librivox.org/microphone-showdown-i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud-by-william-wordsworth/

Thanks for the recommendation and for including that link! I hadn't seen that but I will definitely listen to each of the clips tonight to get a sense for what they will sound like.

Catrose wrote:I'd recomend the Samsun Go-Mic. Loads of people here use it. It's good quality and only about $40 (£35) and is very small and incredibly cute (it comes with a travel case, so I keep it in my handbag when I'm at school, just in case )

Thanks Cat for the suggestion. It definitely looks cute and compact, which would be definitely be helpful with the space constraints I'm working in. Can I ask, is it well-balanced when using it on the desktop or does it really need to be clipped to a monitor for stability?

catrose · Post by **catrose** » August 24th, 2012, 8:25 am

I think it's fairly well balanced- I've never had to clip it to the monitor

But it looks unbalanced doesn't it? You might want to get a second Go-Mic user's opinion

aidanbrack · Post by **aidanbrack** » August 24th, 2012, 8:54 am

catrose wrote:I think it's fairly well balanced- I've never had to clip it to the monitor But it looks unbalanced doesn't it? You might want to get a second Go-Mic user's opinion

Thanks - I was guessing that probably the base is more solid than the top which would keep it balanced but it's definitely useful to know that it works well on the desktop for you. I will be sure to either get a second opinion or find a store where I can take a proper look at it though before I buy.

- Aidan

Algy Pug · Post by **Algy Pug** » August 30th, 2012, 7:12 am

Hi Aidan

I can definitely recommend the Samson GoMic. It is very compact and the heavy base makes it quite stable. For an inexpensive microphone it has an excellent frequency range and is reasonably quiet. It is also a true plug-and-play for Mac and Windows - no extra software drivers are needed. Furthermore, it provides a healthy amount of gain (amplification) - with some other USB microphones you almost have to shout your head off to produce a reasonable amount of volume. I believe Bob Gonzalez uses this mike for all his recordings, in preference to his previous mike, the Shure SM58.

The Samson Meteor mike is the next step up in the Samson range, and has generally received very good reviews.

In fact all the Samson models can be recommended, except the rather expensive G-Track which is surprisingly noisy.

Behringer also makes an inexpensive USB mike (model no C-1U) which is said to produce a very nice sound, but many users have complained about the low amplification. Here is the link for Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-Studio-Condenser-Microphone-C-1U/dp/B001QXCYZY

Have fun shopping!

Cheers

Algy Pug