Samson C03U Multi-Pattern USB Mic Review / Test
Buy the C03u (Affiliate Link)
Global: https://geni.us/c03u
Today I am testing out another Multi-Pattern USB Mic. Today I am testing out the Samson C03u Multi-Pattern USB Microphone.
If you are interested in this microphone, it will set you back $90 on Amazon
What's In the Box
Microphone
USB Cable
Microphone Stand Mount
5/8" to 3/8" Mic Stand Adapter
Microphone Stand
Carrying Pouch
Cakewalk Sonar LE
Documentation
1-Year Warranty
Performance / Features
The build quality is pretty good. It has an all metal body and a metal grill, and it has some nice weight to it. The USB Cable is just your standard rubber USB cable, so nothing special there. The mic mount is cheap plastic, which doesn't seem too well built, so I doubt it will last as long as the mic. The stand feels decent, but provides no shock absorption, so your microphone will pick up every bump of the desk. Lastly, the pouch will provide 0 protection of the microphone, except from dust.
The front of the microphone has a light to indicate that it is getting power, a switch that activates a low cut EQ, which rolls of the low end of the frequency response to help with rumble or overly boomy sounds, and lastly a -10dB pad to help if the sound source you're recording is causing clipping.
On the back there is a single 3-way switch that allows you to switch between all three polar patterns:
Bi-directional: picks up audio in front, and behind the microphone, which would be good for an interview situation.
Hyper/Super-Cardioid: picks up audio in front of the microphone. Good for podcasting, solo vocals, etc.
Omni-directional: picks up audio all the way around the microphone. Good for meetings.
This microphone has a 18mm condenser microphone capsule and provides a frequency response of 20Hz - 18kHz. It provided a decent sound in every situation we put it through; vocals, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar. There weren't any frequencies that stuck out as harsh, and it didn't sound like any freq's were missing.
Every polar pattern on this microphone actually sounded pretty nice. There were some minor differences in frequency response as we moved between the different polar patterns, but they all sounded good. The bi-directional and omni settings both picked up a bit of background noise, but that's to be expected with polar patterns that large. On the other hand, the cardioid setting eliminated background noise very well.
Pros
Good sound
Omni-directional setting sounds good
3 Polar Patterns
Plug & Play
Con
Kind of noisy
Difficult to trouble shoot (because it's a USB mic)
Conclusion
This is one of the few multi-pattern microphones that I have encountered that has a useable omni-directional setting, which is awesome. Honestly, the tone and sound on every polar pattern sounds very good. BUT, it is pretty noisy. Once you set your gain to 50% there is quite a bit of hiss and hum being generated. This is not a problem if you will be speaking into the mic from a few inches away, but if you plan on speaking from a distance, you will have to turn up your gain and you will have to deal with some nasty noise. If background hiss is an issue you're worried about, this may not be a microphone for you.
I think that you should only buy this microphone if you desperately need/want 3 different polar patterns in your microphone. If you will only be using one of these settings, invest in a single polar pattern mic that will perform better than this. But if you are looking for a multi-pattern mic for relatively cheap, this is a good entry level option.
If you have any additional questions about this headset, leave them in the comments on this site or on the youtube channel, and I will try to reply ASAP.
Buy it on Amazon (US): http://amzn.to/25ENGHa
Buy it on Amazon (UK): http://amzn.to/1oAn4oV
