Samson CO1U USB Condenser Mic | 
| Brand: Samson
List Price: $234.99
Buy New: $73.99
You Save: $161.00 (69%)
New (8)
Rating:  61 reviews
Sales Rank: 32
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 11.7 x 6 x 3
MPN: C01U
Model: CO1U RS
UPC: 809164005810
EAN: 0809164005810
ASIN: B000AP1RE8
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Industry's first USB studio condenser mic | | • | Plugs directly into any computer with a USB port | | • | Cardioid pickup pattern | | • | Heavy gauge mesh grill | | • | Large 19mm diaphragm |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Marketing description is not available.
Amazon.com
The C01U USB Studio Condenser Mic is the first affordable studio condenser mic with a USB interface. For the first time ever, musicians who record music on computers have a simple, affordable way to capture high-quality vocal and acoustic instrument performances. Seamless integration was the idea, and it was obtained by creating a studio condenser microphone that can be plugged into any computer with no in/out boxes, no expensive computer pre-amps, just a USB cable. The C01U condenser microphone is based on our wildly successful C01. It features a 19mm internal shock mounted diaphragm with a cardioid pick up pattern ensuring pristine studio quality recordings. The C01U works perfectly on any computer, Mac or PC, and with any DAW software program. It immediately solves a huge problem for users of many laptops, many of which have no other input method for audio devices. It's a must for any musician on the road or in the project studio, but the C01U is going to offer solutions to more than just musicians. The mic opens up possibilities for anyone who records audio—from Podcasters, journalists, students, and business people adding audio files to websites and multimedia presentations. Feature List
- Large Diaphragm, 19mm, Studio Condenser with USB Digital Output.
- Compatible with any computer based Digital Audio Workstation.
- The extremely detailed sound reproduction makes it ideal for recording vocals, acoustic instruments and just about any other sound source.
- High Quality AD converter with 16 Bit, 48K sampling rate.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 56 more reviews...
 Not exactly "plug and play" on a Mac August 23, 2005
Nicolas S. Martin (Indianapolis, IN United States)
91 out of 122 found this review helpful
Experimenting with a PowerMac G5 and a Powerbook. my experience with both the mic and tech support have been unsatisfactory.
In every previous instance, when I plugged a mic into a Mac, and it was recognized, the mic was immediately audible through speakers or the headset. Not so with the C01U. It is recognized but produces no sound. The Samson driver software, which is not essential but apparently allows fine-tuning, behaves oddly since it will only show a level when the system Sound preference remains open.
The Samson rep, who clearly had limited Mac experience and mostly offered various Windows-oriented speculations, said that since the C01U is a studio mic it will not produce sound until recording. He said you wouldn't want the mic to pick up sound when you are not recording. Why? Why shouldn't the engineer (computer user) determine via software when the mic is on or off? Since the rep was clearly not sure, he alternately suggested that it may be possible to hear mic output before recording with some applications -- none of which he could name -- or that it is necessary to do a test recording and play it back to listen to levels.
So, despite Samson's instruction that when "setting a good level...your ear is the most sophisticated and calibrated piece of test gear you have," the ear may not hear the mic output so that a satisfying level can be set. The rep's suggestion that sample recordings be done to establish a level is primitive.
The manual says that the mic is "plug and play," and maybe it is in the sense that Windows users understand the term. A Mac user would more likely interpret the phrase to mean that the microphone works immediately upon being plugged into the Mac. And, in my opinion, a mic that "works perfectly" produces audible sound. If there are only certain applications with which the mic works, and with limitations, Samson should identify those applications and limitations.
I asked the Samson rep if the C01U may simply not be fully compatible with OS 10.4.2. He said it had been tested, so this wasn't possible. But Samson's tests didn't discover the strange requirement to keep the Sound pref open when viewing the onscreen level, so the tests were apprently not very rigorous.
I can think of no logical reason why the mic shouldn't be genuinely plug and play, and I'm not about to rely solely on recording samples to set levels, so I'm returning the product. Maybe when the company gets it right and offers the same plug and play functionality as a $10 mic I will give it another try. It would help if they offered support to Mac users by someone sufficiently familiar with Macs, but my impression is that the Mac was an afterthought for Samson.
Update: A product manager at Samson contacted me (without my requesting that, which is a good sign). He said that he discovered by working with a Mac after my call that I was correct: it is not possible to obtain an audible level via the OS. He didn't know that the Mac no longer includes PlayThrough in OS X. (It did previously. Apple?) So, Samson didn't do their homework about the Mac. He also acknowledged that the driver might need an upgrade, and he was not familiar with the Sound pref problem. He was cordial, seemed sincerely concerned, and we had a nice conversation.
You can get an audible level if you use the mic with an app such as Amadeus or Sound Studio, and turn PlayThrough on. There can be a disconcerting delay, depending on what else is happening on your computer and the CPU speed. This is apparently something that cannot be avoided as things stand, according to the product manager. It does not relate to the mic.
 Good Microphone - Bad Mac Software / UPDATED October 8, 2005
Home Studio (Plano, TX USA)
42 out of 58 found this review helpful
Looking at the other reviews on Amazon, it seems that there are two distinct camps: delighted Windows users, and unhappy Mac users.
Sadly, I'm in the latter group. The Mac driver software (which is not included with the mic, but is a free download at Samson's website) simply won't work on my G4 running OS X 10.2.8. The control slider appears for a second, then vanishes - leaving behind an error message.
The microphone itself seems to be good quality for the money - sensitive, clean, and quiet. However, when using the mic with Garageband, there is an annoying latency problem which Samson says is unavoidable - but seems to be worse than other USB mic combinations I've tried.
If Samson retools their Mac driver to get the bugs out, then this could be a heckuva package. Until then, I can't recommend this mic for Mac users (and am still debating whether I'll keep mine or not).
UPDATED: I updated to OS X 10.3.9 and found that the Samson driver worked much better (though their materials didn't indicate that this version of the OS was needed). As such, I'm adding another star to my review (I'm not sure it'll show up - but I now give it "3 stars" - a satisfactory rating for the price)
Bad Software taints a great mic March 5, 2006
kindasorta (earth)
41 out of 42 found this review helpful
The audio quality of the mic is outstanding, worthy of 4 stars on its own. I use it to do production for radio and it sounds nearly as good as the studio mics. The problem lies with the software and the drivers. Mac users aren't the only ones experiencing headaches. If you are going to use this microphone on a Windows PC, I highly recommend using the native Windows drivers instead of the Samson SoftPre drivers, as the XP drivers are much more stable. The SoftPre, for some reason, conflicts with the native XP drivers and is prone to crashing and causing erratic audio performance - such as stuttering, clipping and popping noise, none of which I get using XP's drivers. The Samson drivers also crashed my computer three times in the first couple of days I used it, so now I am using the XP drivers. The Samson drivers aren't fully compliant with Windows XP, and as such you'll get a barrage of warnings when installing them ("Drivers are NOT digitally signed...may cause system instability!"). Its kind of a disappointment, because the SoftPre has some very useful basic features like Gain, LPF and such, but if you know anything about working with DAW's, any capable editing program will have these functions built in anyways. So for the price, I say go for it...just stay FAR away from Samson's software.
*update*
This mic works perfectly with the native OS X Tiger drivers. Its truly plug and play, have been using it in Garage band with no problems. Also, this mic works perfect with Vista...no software needed.
ALSO...I notice alot of people commenting on adjusting the balance when using this microphone. You dont need to do that, because you are forgetting that this is a MONO sound source. In your audio editing program, select the Samson CO1U, and then when you select input, choose "Input 1 MONO" instead of "Input 1-2 Stereo." Stereo is out of balance because again, its a single mono source. Hope this helps.
Samson C01U January 9, 2006
Shani Porter (Brooklyn, NY)
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
The installation sucks because if you do not have the following your screwed. I was just about to re-sell my Mic until i read a few reviews. You really need the aggregate device to use your Mic and hear sound for MAC OS X Logic and Garageband.
Using the Samson C01U with Apple Logic (Mac OS X)
This is the process of setting up the CO1U to work in Logic. This will only work in OSX 10.4 or later.
10.3 and earlier versions don't have this facility.
1. Open Audio MIDI Setup (from the Applications/Utilities folder)
2. Go to the Audio Menu - Open Aggregate Device Editor ⇧⌘A
3. Click on the + button to create a new device
4. It's a good idea to rename it (double click on Aggregate Device in the list and enter the new name eg. CO1U)
5. The list at the bottom of the window will show all the audio devices connected to the computer. Select the ones you want the device to use by checking the "use" button. For instance, if you only have a CO1U connected you will need to check CO1U and Built-in Audio. Check the clock button on one of the devices, not the CO1U.
6. Click Done
And that's it. The device will then appear in Logic under Audio Hardware and Drivers as an available I/O.
Using the Samson C01U with Apple Garage Band (Mac OS X)
1. Plug the Mic into a USB Port
2. Open Garage Band and Go to Preferences ⌘,
3. Click on Audio/Midi
4. Select Samson C01U from the Audio Input drop down list
5. Click on Yes when it asks if you want to Change audio driver
6. One the Driver initializes, close the preferences dialog box and Garage Band will be ready to use the C01U.
Not bad at all! April 11, 2006
Tracy Latham (Nashville, TN USA)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
I have some decent mics in my cabinet, as well as a nice preamp, A/D converter and fire wire interface for my home multitracking setup. I wasn't expecting as good or better quality than I can already get, but I hoped the Samson C01B USB Studio Condenser would at least give me a decent sound. The idea was to have freedom and portablility that my studio set up prohibits. I was not disappointed. Installation was no more complicated that plugging the cable into a USB port on my laptop running XP and the other end into the mic. It is far from the best mic I have, but it is certainly not the worst. I have read reviews that say the recording quality is too thin, but I found that not to be the case. The noise floor when recording with the Samson is a little high, and it is lacking in headroom compared to any traditional mic through my Millenia preamp. I have to record at slightly lower levels than I am used to, but for $79, I am not complaining. There is no significant latency recording 16 bits at 44100hz in Fasoft N-Track Studio. The ability to plug this thing in and record at a whim is quite liberating. Way to go, Samson!
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