www.prosoundnewseurope.com � May 2011technology12

Samson Technologies is renownedfor good quality budget microphonesolutions and has already released anumber of USB microphones aimedat the computer recording market.The company’s latest version is calledThe Meteor Mic and, as you can seefrom the picture, it looks like it justlanded from Mars and is carrying anumber of very small aliens onboard.

USB microphones are a newterritory for me, as they would be formost working audio professionals.What can we expect from a studiocondenser mic with a 1” (25mm)condenser capsule that has a built-inaudio interface and only costs £100?Not a lot, you might think; but I wasvery impressed by its easy-to-usedesign and high-quality sonicsstraight out of the box.

The features you find are cleverindeed and really quite mind-boggling for the mic’s tiny size (seetech spec, right). It fits into the palmof your hand and has three legs thatpop out from the side of themicrophone to form a very neat‘table’ stand – perfect for sitting nextto your laptop or computerkeyboard. It also has a fittingunderneath for use with astandard mic stand. Thisturns it into a studiomicrophone flexibleenough to recordacoustic guitars,vocals and any otherreal instrument youcare to try it on.

My test sessionwith the Meteor went

verysmoothly. It has

a small LED light on thefront that turns blue when

it’s receiving power, redwhen you’re overloading the

input level and yellow when it ismuted (a button on the front

performs this). Around that mute

buttonis a neat,

circular volume controlfor the latency-freeheadphone output of theaudio interface at the back ofthe mic. All of this is easy tooperate and understand with noneed to refer to the manual.

Samson Meteor USB mic

£100 (€115)

Distributed by Korg UK

Phone: +44 (0)1235 851504

Website: www.samsontech.com

Price and AvailabilityThe recorded sound for the

acoustic guitar tracks and the vocaloverdubs had clarity and depth, and the built-in pop shield was alsovery effective for voice recording.The same overdubs recorded using a standard studio (largercapsule) condenser mic had a widerspatial sound compared with theMeteor but other than that, theSamson came through the test withflying colours.

The Meteor mic frequencyresponse is quoted at 20Hz-20kHzand there is pre-set HPF gentlyrolling off from 100Hz and a slightboost around 10kHz to help themicrophone sound pleasingstraight into your computer. Thequality of the 1/8” TRS headphoneoutput is also good with plenty of headroom.

Would I make this my first choiceamong a collection of quality studiocondenser microphones? No. WouldI make this the first choice to take onthe road with me or use in a portablelaptop recording for some quickrecording and overdubs when theideas are flowing quickly? Yes!

The two things that lets it downhere is the lack of USB lead length, anextension would have been handy,and the other big let down is that

there is no XLR standardmicrophone output. This will

make it somewhat limiting withsome computer sequencer and

recording systems. It workedfine with GarageBand on

my MacBook Pro; it alsoworks with Logic,

Cubase, Reason,Ableton, Cakewalk

and Pro Tools 9without anytechnical problems.

But, because theMeteor’s only output

is USB, there will be a conflict withPro Tools versions 8 and older, whichlike to have only one interface to lookat at a time.

I also tested the Meteor for it’s otherdesign intentions – VoIP, web chattingand webcasting. Having struggledthrough a meeting with audioprofessionals and educationalists whereone person was in Finland via Skype andwe, in London, were trying to engage himin the meeting with a fairly regularexternal USB speaker and built-in miccombo, I switched over to the Meteor andfed my own portable speakers from theheadphone output of the Meteorinterface. The difference was remarkable,immediately we had a clearer playbacksound feeding to us from Finland andsuddenly he could hear everyone in ourroom – including those some 10ft ormore from the microphone with muchimproved quality. Job done!

Basically I am converted and willbe seriously considering adding theSamson Meteor to my pool of gadgetsand mic collection. In fact I mayrefuse to send this unit back todistributors Korg UK [Don’t do that,Phil! – Ed]. Q

ProsfEase of use straight out of the boxfExcellent full-range sound for a small capsulefCute looks and revolutionary designfVery affordable

Consf No XLR outputfNo shockmountfNo attenuator padfNo extension USB cable includedfBut what do we expect for 100 quid?

PROS AND CONS

fPolar pattern: cardioidfFrequency response: 20-20,000HzfHeadphone output: 85MW at 16 ohmsfMaximum SPL: 120dBfSize: 1.92” x 3.9” (49mm x 100mm)fWeight: 10.25oz (288g)

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Samson Microphone’s revolutionary new USB condenser mic is aimed at the‘lower budget’ market. Phil Harding finds it has a role for the pros, too

PSNE May P12 Product ReviewJR 5/5/11 12:20 Page 12