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Tube of delight!

#1 2006-01-19 17:00:05

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

New USB Microphone from Samson...

I wouldn't usually post something "tech" here, but this mic really caught my eye. I'm probably going to get one in the next couple of months.

It's the new USB Mic from Samson...it's a Studio Condenser with a USB out, rather than an XLR. If you're looking to record Shakuhachi into your computer easily, this is the Mic for you. You don't have to deal with pre-amps, external boxes, anything. Now I just can't wait until they make a multi-mic driver for it. Soon.

Enjoy!

-Eddie

http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod … ;brandID=2


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#2 2006-01-24 20:03:44

Yu-Jin
Member
From: San Diego
Registered: 2005-11-30
Posts: 108

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

Thanks Eddie,
I did some research on the internet and read reviews. There are some pros and cons, however the price is right, so I ordered one for myself. I will share my experience after using it for a while.
Eugene

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#3 2006-01-25 01:06:24

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

Great! Can't wait to hear what you think. It looks like it's real limitation currently is using them in stereo pairs, but I think they'll figure that bug out soon enough.

Let us all know!

-E


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#4 2006-04-19 02:36:23

Yu-Jin
Member
From: San Diego
Registered: 2005-11-30
Posts: 108

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

Hi Eddie,
As I promissed, this is what I think so far. This is a nice mic, but it does record mono. I did not figure out the way to get a playback in both earphones except to run my recording through the software to add stereo in it artificially. The quality is nice as far as I can tell.

Does anybody have anything to add?

Eugene

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#5 2006-04-19 19:50:13

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

Well, most mics are mono. A good stereo mic isn't too cheap.

How's the sound overall?

-E


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#6 2006-04-19 20:39:07

evan kubota
Member
Registered: 2006-04-10
Posts: 136

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

Is stereo a big issue for shakuhachi? Seems to me like you can treat the flute basically as a point source... I don't think there would be a big difference if you recorded with a stereo mic or even an XY placement of mono mics.

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#7 2006-04-19 22:12:28

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

I've always liked using one-two mics for point (that is, if there's no phasing problem), one near the bottom, and one near the top. 2 more further away from the player, to pick up the ambience/reverb, works well. Then you can mix all these together, finding just the right balance, and you should get a nice, full, live sound.

Of course, it's been said that, since most classic Japanese architecture is fairly "dead", sound-wise (a lot of sound-absorbing materials), so you wouldn't have ever gotten much in the way of reverb back then, anyway. Back in the day, you probably would need a place with glass, or tile, or a cave, in order to get the kind of reverb we're used to now.

Someday, I'm going to try and record some stuff in this underground resevoir I know of up North a bit. It's got about a 45-second natural reverb, and it'd be great for some ambient recordings; I really wanna take my 3.8 bastard flute with me, thats for sure. I'd also really want one of those Sony stereo Flash Recorders, but they're around $1,000 +. Too rich for my blood.

-E


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#8 2006-04-19 22:24:57

evan kubota
Member
Registered: 2006-04-10
Posts: 136

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

"Back in the day, you probably would need a place with glass, or tile, or a cave"

Didn't all ancient Zen masters play in enormous caves? wink

Seriously, I've been to a ruined mountainside temple in the Kansai area (pretty obscure, not on any tour guides) that is set back in a large natural cave of sorts. Lots of reverb there.

I have a Marantz PMD660 flash recorder that I plan on using to record my playing, eventually.

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#9 2006-04-20 01:25:28

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

Hey Evan...how are you liking that recorder? I've always liked the idea of having a recorder like that, but I got tired of tape when I was younger. I always dreamed of a digital solution like this. Even though I'll be recording into my Mac later in the year (I'm geting a new place with more space for some gear), I've wondered if I should get this for when I might want to record a live show or me playing in a cave somewhere, although I'll admit it doesn't happen much. I guess the price of this would have to come down a bit for me.

Can it record using both sets of inputs, the XLR ins and the built-in stereo mics? What about playing back audio; can it play mp3s that you put on a Flash drive?

Thanks for any info.

-E


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#10 2006-04-20 20:05:58

evan kubota
Member
Registered: 2006-04-10
Posts: 136

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

I like it a lot - I have a computer recording setup also but I never use it because my G5 is fairly noisy. IMO a separate recorder is more convenient...

Are you asking if it can record from the XLR inputs and the internal mics at the same time? The answer is no, you have to pick either the mic inputs, line input, or built-in mics. Theoretically it should be able to play back MP3s, but it may require them to be listed on the EDL file that it generates as you make new tracks recorded in-unit. It's definitely not a good substitute for an iPod or anything like that, but you can easily play back tracks recorded on the machine.

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#11 2006-04-20 21:58:02

kyoreiflutes
Member
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 364
Website

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

Yeah, I thought I'd see how multi-tasking it could be, lol.

Well, the reviews about it make it look worth buying. I like the phantom powered mics inputs. Makes me want one...drool...

-E


"The Universe does not play favorites, and is not fair by its very Nature; Humans, however, are uniquely capable of making the world they live in fair to all."    - D.E. Lloyd

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."    -John Donne

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#12 2006-04-21 10:12:04

mrosenlof
Member
From: Louisville Colorado USA
Registered: 2006-03-01
Posts: 82

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

I also have a PMD-660. I got one of the early ones, so you can hope they have made it better in the last year.  Its microphone preamps are not very good.  They clip easily and are hissy.  I also have a 660 modified by Doug Oade (www.oade.com) which I like *very* much.  He mods the mic preamp for both of those issues and I'm very happy with it.

The built in mics on the first unit I had are not very good - or the machine adds a whine to the recording.  The modified version disables the built in mics in favor of a cleaner signal path.

I would not buy this with the idea of playing mp3 files.  I think Evan is correct about this in his description.  It would be a hassle to get them to play at the very least.

Edirol and M-Audio both make competing machines, each has some plusses over the other. There doesn't seem to be a clear winner overall, but different priorities tend to make the choice pretty clear.  The market in $400 to $1500 digital recorders has been pretty lively lately with several interesting options floating around.


Mike Rosenlof

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#13 2006-04-21 10:50:44

evan kubota
Member
Registered: 2006-04-10
Posts: 136

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

Actually, I've found the preamps to be OK. They are a little on the noisy side (as are all Marantz preamps in this price range) but use it with a relatively hot mic and it's OK.

I don't recommend the built-in mics in general.

For recording shakuhachi the Edirol or M-Audio might be better - I mostly use the Marantz for film audio recording so I needed XLR inputs and better meters.

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#14 2006-05-15 18:24:49

ima_hima
Member
From: Brooklyn, NY
Registered: 2005-11-16
Posts: 30

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

Keep in mind, I'm not a recording engineer, by any stretch, but I bought one of these Samson USB mics and I really like it. Of course, I'm just recording song ideas in Garage Band (and sometimes Logic), not trying to tape performances professionally.

As for the stereo/mono thing, it never really bothered me; I just tell the software to record in stereo (I know, it just doubles the mono track). At the same time, you should definitely go to Samson's site and download the separate app for the mic, which allows you to adjust the input level. The mic was kind of worthless without it. (If memory serves, for some reason it didn't come in the package.)

Note, too, that Samson have now come out with two higher-end USB mics, the CO3U and the Q1U.

Also, I have to menthion: regarding stereo mics, I bought a little portable set that I can pipe into my MD player and I LOVE it. It's a handmade mic/preamp combo I got off of eBay:

http://www.visivoxtechnologies.com/products.htm

I think the combo I have is SCM-PRE-AMP and SCM-PRO. At least for a while he was selling them as a package deal, but there were none on eBay just now when I checked.

Eric

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#15 2006-08-13 06:37:05

graham in oz
Member
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 27

Re: New USB Microphone from Samson...

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