Reddit reviews Samson C01UCW Studio USB Mic with Cakewalk Sonar LE (OLD MODEL)
We found 36 Reddit comments about Samson C01UCW Studio USB Mic with Cakewalk Sonar LE (OLD MODEL). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Industry's first USB studio condenser micPlugs directly into any computer with a USB portCardioid pickup patternHeavy gauge mesh grillLarge 19mm diaphragm
TB, Jesse, and Dodger all talked about this in an old episode of the TGS podcast, and they all pretty much said produce, produce, produce. This is paraphrasing, but it amounted to: Find something unique that you can bring to the table - delivery, humour, editing, content, etc., get a decent microphone if you intend to do voice work, and keep making regular content. It takes months and years to find an audience, but as long as you stick to it, you will build one eventually.
It's also what most top youtubers say. If you're interested you should check out partnersproject! The interviews have a lot of little gems of information, and they talk with people like CorridorDigital and Freddiew.
Hope this helped!
If you don't want to pay for anything(Most bolded text should be clickable, otherwise google it):
Recording software: MSI Afterburners Recording feature to record. I suggest looking up youtube guides for it.
Livestreaming: OpenBroadcaster is a fantastic streaming program. Completely free with a lot of features.
Video Editing: Windows movie maker for simple stuff to put stuff and clips together.
-Now for what I use-
My Recording software: Dxtory. I use it because I have a ton more options than Fraps. Not to mention Fraps takes a lot more CPU than Dxtory does. Which for Planetside 2 is a god send. I also use a lagarith Lossless Codec with it. I suggest [THIS] video tutorial to get you a similar setup I have.
Video Editing: I use Sony Vegas Pro 11 because I won a legit copy from TGN ages ago. The latest is Sony vegas 12 (Which I'm sure a lot of people pirated. Which I don't blame em' it's tons of cash). I don't feel like buying the new version since it's practically a "big" patch with each new version.
Microphone: Any "decent" turtle beach microphone will do excellent when starting off. But, I use a C01U USB condenser microphone on a studio arm with a hand made pop filter. Sounds great for my type of voice.
Making videos, depending on what the video is. Takes a looooooong time, or just a few minutes. If you just wanna throw some clips together to show friends your MLG pro skills. My free option will do you nicely.
He (the youtube animator) uses: http://www.amazon.com/Samson-C01UCW-Studio-Cakewalk-Sonar/dp/B000PTF0E2
I asked him.
Mounted on a shock mount. Probably the recommended Samson Spidermount.
I believe they currently use something like the sE2200a which has been discontinued. If I'm not mistaken, Lewis uses the sE2200a II and the same mic was used to record Simon's vocals on Diggy Diggy Hole (based on the live-action video).
I personally use the Badaax UM900 (not to plug, but you can find an example of me using it here) which isn't exactly studio quality, but certainly gets the job done nicely. If you're looking for something that's more entry-level, there's always the Samson CO1U, the Blue Yeti, the Blue Spark Digital, or the Blue Spark.
All of these are very good microphones, and you should be able to find various tests of them on YouTube. Hope this helps. :)
For me at least the sound is way more important than the video quality. Laptop mics have an unfortunate tendency to pick up fan and hard drive noise, especially when you're trying to record something like whispering.
I'd HIGHLY recommend a USB condenser-style mic. You can get a good one for under $100 (right now I see that the classic Samson CO1U is discounted on Amazon, MSRP is over $200, it's listed for $77. Or the CAD U37 is under $50 and comes with a (cheap) mic stand.
Having said all that, I'd say just try it with what you have and see how it sound/looks before spending money.
Do not use that capture device. It's only standard def and will look utter shit or won't run.
For capture devices there's a few options out there some more expensive than others. RT use Black Magic's Intensity Pro which is an actual capture CARD that fits into your PC, it's rather pricey and records uncompressed footage so it's better for advanced users.
I suggest looking at the Hauppauge range of capture devices such as the HD PVR, HD PVR 2 etc. I have the first HD PVR model which is component only but it's worked for me fine for years though to future proof I suggest getting the PVR 2 since it supports HDMI.
Editing software; either Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas on PC and Final Cut Pro 7 on a Mac but seeing as you're on a PC the former applies to you.
Very expensive but there are "ways" to acquire them for "free" if you get my drift...not that I condone such actions ;)
Mic-wise; I use a Samson C01U USB condenser mic but I've heard many good things about the snowball mic. I suggest, though not very necessary to get a pop filter also to stop all the popping sounds or the audio clipping if you accidentally blow into the mic.
Watch a TON of YouTube videos about editing; it's can be a hell of a lot harder than it looks but once you learn your away around the software of your choice; you'll get faster and better each time, the more effort you put in; the better quality your work will be.
This should be said; all the hardware and software in the world can't change a bad commentator; be confident when performing voice over; get used to your own voice, you'll be hearing it a lot and make sure you always have a topic at hand to talk about dead air is the worst and keep all the "erm"s to a minimum!
Hope this helps.
Your first point about getting a good mic is so true! I've seen way too many videos with some low quality, noisy recording and it's just not worth listening to. For my videos I either use my Sennheiser headset mic (although I don't like how loud my breathing sounds with that) or my Samson C01U which sounds fantastic.
I'd also recommend cleaning it up in something like Audacity to remove any static in the background.
Better buy quality than some half-ass bs
http://www.amazon.com/Samson-CO1U-USB-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B000PTF0E2
I did a ton of reading up on this before making the purchase and I'm really happy with it. It's the Samson CO1U and I'd suggest getting a pop filter for it as well. I've never had any complaints about voice quality with it. You can get just the mic for a good bit cheaper, but I think the kit with the shockmount and stand is worth the extra money. Been considering a boom for it just to free up desk space since it has a pretty large footprint, but it's been more than fine without one.
Microphone - Samson C01U
Stand - Scissor Boom Stand
Pop Filter - Samson SAPS01
Shock Mount - Samson SP01
You can get a USB podcast mic on amazon for around £50. I believe the best one is a Samson COU1A or something. I'll look about and try and clarify the name...
EDIT: It's a Samson CO1U
At that price range your options are pretty limited, but I'd say get something along the lines of this USB mic - it comes with a cut-down version of Sonar, which is a reasonable DAW. You'll also be needing a mic stand and a pop shield (by no means forget this - it's cheap but super-important!). If you decide to upgrade your setup after that, or want to wait and expand your budget a bit, feel free to PM me.
I hear the Samson C01U is pretty good for podcasting & broadcasting. A twitch streamer I like uses the Shure SM7B, and I think it sounds pretty good.
Interesting, I'll add it to my shortlist, thanks man
How do you think it would compare to this other Samson?
This is the mic i have, sorry to ask of your time but is this a mic i should change?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000PTF0E2/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1453919775&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX220_SY330_QL65&keywords=samson+microphone&dpPl=1&dpID=31NUojSj73L&ref=plSrch
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000PTF0E2/ref=s9_simh_gw_p267_d2_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=19HWTSDDB2HP3SGPKR1V&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=455344027&pf_rd_i=468294, if you were considering getting a snowball I would just get this instead, its better and cheaper RN.
It's a USB mic, and it has fantastic sound quality. I highly recommend this mic.
http://www.amazon.com/Samson-CO1U-USB-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B000PTF0E2
Blue Snowball (Don't get iCE version)
CAD U37
Samson C01U
Samson Meteor
Audio Technica ATR2500
A cheaper alternative that has worked REALLY well for me (especially if you're not a professional but still want great quality) is the Samson C01U. And it's USB!
The Samson C01U USB Microphone worked very well for me. It will pick up the guitar and vocals or you can record them separately. I also recorded electric guitar and keyboards with it along with some other auxiliary instruments and it came out decent enough.
You might find a used one cheap on eBay or Craigslist.
Shows they are $24.99 for me. Also, not sure they're being honest about the standard price being $69.99: https://www.amazon.com/Samson-C01UCW-Studio-Cakewalk-Sonar/dp/B000PTF0E2
Thanks for the reply, Do you have any knowledge on the AT2020 or the Samson C01UCW I plan to use either of them with a Scissor Stand and a pop filter, just me talking to it to commentary games so I dont want it to pick up my dad talking in his office but I want it about a foot infront of the monitor
I would check Craigslist or eBay for an Audio Technica AT2020 (USB version). You might get lucky. One of the best USB mics out there.
Otherwise, the Samson C01U is a solid mic, but it's definitely not professional-tier sound quality.
We have been using 2 Samson CO1U for 2 years and haven't had any really problems with recording both at the same time. We use an iMac and setup an aggregate audio device with sound flower and this lets us have multiple inputs into Logic Pro. We also made our own pop filters that get the job done and cost around $4 each to make.
Then:
Now:
Get the Samson C01U and this
For audio while recording, I use this condenser mic with a scissor boom.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samson-CO1U-Studio-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B000PTF0E2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466693806&sr=8-1&keywords=samson+cu01
It's omni-directional so should pick you up from a distance and at a different angle but I've not tried this as I only have a small room, not much room to move about.
Samson C01U, which you can get here for cheap right now, but there's only one left in stock. Been using it for an online radio show for about six years with no complaints.
Thanks for the feedback:)
So just to be clear, using something like fraps would get me over 10 fps? Or would that be a case of a better webcam?
As regards the microphone we we're sharing the one on the turtle beach headset. I agree that isnt great, i was thinking of getting something like this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samson-CO1U-Studio-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B000PTF0E2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371470450&sr=8-1&keywords=C01U+-+USB+Studio+Condenser+Microphone
It seems to have good reviews although it is a little pricey but if it was worth it i would purchase it.
Thanks in advance.
I wouldn't call it "studio quality" but here is the link for it. http://www.amazon.com/Samson-C01UCW-Studio-Cakewalk-Sonar/dp/B000PTF0E2/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395250777&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=samsong+mic
essentialy youwant to be able to do the following -
Record localy- despite what everyone may say , recording localy is a HUGE deal. yes it means you need to learn to edit, but say person X screams in the podcast - you can edit it out. say friend y talks over someone a lot? again cut it out. you have WAY more power to do it with. i highly recomend doing it. bonus - you can do it for free. we use a program called "open broadcast studio", which allows you to record incomign sound and outgoing sound. i advise if you are new to editing you start off by recording in and out and seperate them in something like audacity, which il lget into later. but more importantly yeah it will give you all individual files. that way if someone has bad internet it dosent matter. it takes some training but you get it
common problem we found was if people use headsets with a mic and headphones ,they will not be able to record seperately and will have to record them together
next - cloud storage. sounds dumb, but if you are working with people in different places you want a place you can dump stuff you need. take up the google drive 100gb plan. its $2 a month and my god, its just so usefull. we dump EVERYTHING in ours. books we are reading for the show, music for the show, notes, recordings, it makes getting the files so much easier and we dont have to think about ever hitting the limit.
microphones - any podcast with bad audio is not a podcast at all. you need mics, all of you. fortunatly you have options. blue yeti are good but there are pleanty of other options. i advise staying away from headsets with mics as they can cause problems in recording (it registers both the mic and the audio coming in from the headphones as both local audio and audio incoming, so it screws up all your settings) you can fortunatly pick up a cheap microphone. while i have an ok one samson co1u usb studio condenser my friend got this one yesterday for £13 works fine, does the job, audio is good and yeah. there are a bunch of accessories i could recomend but the main one is pop filters, they help out a hell of a lot
Edditing: did you say a joke that fell flat? did someone fart really loud and it was out of place and reduced professionalism? check out audacity. its a free and great starting place for audio edditing.
then you need stuff like logos, ideas,etc. honestly? if you wana have fun and do it quick just do skype recorder and record calls. but despite what it may sound like, podcasts are so much more than just a few friends on a phone call together. i recomend spending a few weeks discussing things and working together on it before you start. we hvae been looking at starting a podcast for about...2 years now, and this current project we are about to launch next month has been worked on for around a month and a half prior.
How do I connect it to a computer? I was thinking about the Shure mic a lot, but it doesn't have the convenience of plug-and-play (plus I definitely can't afford a preamp or interface on top of all this, yikes). Yes, I do want it to record vocals (and all different kinds of instruments, but not at the same time - will that still work?) Some examples of the instruments I want to record are: upright bass, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, mandolin, violin, drum kit (or cajon if that's not possible), etc.
Also, would you mind checking out this mic for me? I'm not sure if it's any good, but it is a lot cheaper than the others I've seen. Thank you so much for your time.
I don't know much about mics, but I just wanted to let you know my experience(s) with the mic I just bought. I picked up a Samson C01U because it's a lot cheaper than the more popular AT2020 and and Blue Yeti condenser mics.
If you're on Windows 8+ like I am, the default USB Audio Device drivers, the one that will be installed when you plug in an USB mic, isn't as good as it was on Windows 7.
My same mic performs better on Windows 7 because of the gain settings. By default the mic is set to around 50% sensitivity level(gain). If you tried speaking into it on Windows 8, you'd have to pretty much put the mic into your mouth before you can hear anything. One Windows 7, it's still pretty soft, but at least you can see something moving on your recording software.
I have mine currently set to around 96% and my voice sounds good, but it also picks up everything else.. On Win7, to have it sound similar, I can leave the levels at around 80%.
What I do to combat that issue--I've tried searching everywhere for driver help, no such luck--I just use the Noise Gate feature on OBS, or any other software that uses that mic.
Anyways, to get back to your question get a condenser mic. The Rode Podcaster is a dynamic mic, which will most likely pick up more sound than a condenser mic. What the condenser mic does is pickup sound from a 'condensed' area, usually right in-front of the mic, not above/behind/next-to it. Keep in mind, if you do decide to go with a Dynamic mic, it isn't as sensitive as a condenser mic, so it might help with the background noise assuming it isn't too loud. Although, you'd probably have to speak louder than usual for it to be clear.
Also, if your computer can handle it, you can use Adobe Audition to de-noise/de-hiss your audio and output it to your stream/chat software. I've yet to try this method, might try it tonight.
Personally I'm not a fan of the modmic at the price. If you have headphones with a single 3.5mm jack for the input, you can go for the boompro, which in my opinion looks cleaner and sounds a little better. However when I still had mine, it would just slightly throw off the balance of the headphones. I'm not sure if it's a common issue, but I haven't seen anyone else complain about it.
If you have some desk space to spare, I also recommend the Samson C01UCW. It's USB so it doesn't need phantom power and it will sound better than the modmic or the boompro. Downside is because it's a condenser, it will pick up a lot of sound and you'll have to play with some settings if you don't want discord, team speak or whatever VOIP program to be activated with background noise.
Honestly the only reason I see anyone getting a modmic is only if they don't have any desk space or they don't have a setup that will work with the boompro. Try to avoid any desk mics that use XLR like the bm800 because those typically need phantom power from an interface. Unless you're doing professional voice work XLR mics are a bit overkill since voice programs and games will compress your voice.
I bought this a long time ago and I'm still using it. It works perfectly nowadays plug n play, so ignore a lot of those reviews.
I'd like to get a boom stand for it one day.
I recommend not getting a headset at all. Buy a studio quality USB mic, you can get a good one for an affordable price.
Then after this you buy a regular pair of headphones. I have some 30€ Sony headphones that have massively better sound quality than any headset I've ever owned. They're also extremely lightweight in comparison.
Microphone audio quality is superb as well.
Combined these will cost you a bit more than a headset, but trust me, the quality difference is insane.
Listening to music was revolutionized by this change from a headset to a decent pair of headphones. The audio quality is just so much better that listening to songs I'd heard a million times before felt like listening to a completely different song.
I am never going to buy another headset again.