TNK / ATK project
Registered User
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: Village-Neuf, France (Dont's search on the map, it's tiny...)
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 Posted: Sat Jul 09 2005 14:26
Could this mic be revolutionary ? |
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Hi Madtrackers,
I don't know how many of us use a microphone - or even several microphones maybe - to record several sources (vocals, instruments,...), but I think we're quite many.
Yesterday evening, I stepped on an interesting article on a french music-producers website (original article (in French) here)
This article deals about what seems to be a revolutionary new and even affordable microphone. I visited the manufacturer's website and found the english description of that microphone here.
The description is quite appealing, here's an excerpt :
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The C01U USB Studio Condenser Mic is the first affordable studio condenser mic with a direct USB output.
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.
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What do you think about that ? I spoke about it with a quite known producer (Paul Glaeser - he had several gold sales) and he told me that if this product is what he expects, it's gonna be a true revolution.
I'ld like the opinion of other madtrackers on this.
Full description of the mic can be found here. |
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Walter Vos
Registered User
Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Groningen, The Netherlands
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Posted: Sat Jul 09 2005 15:39
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I don't think it will be a revolution really, but it does seem really cool. I'm just not convinced of the quality of this microphone. Sticking a pre-amp and a/d converter in a microphone doesn't really seem like a great idea to me. Cool yes, Great no. For high quality recordings you'll still need that akg, shure or neumann mic with an expensive pre amp i think. |
what is hip?
www.waltervos.nl |
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TNK / ATK project
Registered User
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: Village-Neuf, France (Dont's search on the map, it's tiny...)
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Posted: Sat Jul 09 2005 15:45
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| Walter Vos wrote: |
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For high quality recordings you'll still need that akg, shure or neumann mic with an expensive pre amp i think.
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I've got news about it from a singer who saw a demo of it in L.A. : "If the demo wasn't faked, my Neumann is good for the trashcan". |
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Sunbuster
Registered User
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Finland
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Posted: Tue Jul 12 2005 10:18
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Well, one benefit(?) I can see directly would be that the signal gets transformed to the digital domain almost immediately as it's sent by USB. Thus it should be less applicable for noise generated during the transfer. I couldn't find any tech specs for the mic, so I have no idea what kind of ADC it has, which would be pretty important to know (does it sample at 48kHz or more for instance?). As an idea it's good, but I don't see high-end studios transfering to this. Not yet at least... |
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TNK / ATK project
Registered User
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: Village-Neuf, France (Dont's search on the map, it's tiny...)
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Posted: Tue Jul 12 2005 12:20
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I've heard it were the USB version of the Samson C01 mic, which is, according to several testimonials I've read on the internet (about that C01, not that new USB mic), it were a largely successfull mic. Not just as "class" as a Neumann, but definitely comparable to a Shure SM58.
The USB thing adds full compatibility with any computer having an USB port (which is quite common nowadays), skipping the potentially bad audio inputs some cheap soundcards have, especially on Laptops. According to the manufacturer, this was one of the main reason they developped this mic : to allow people to record with high quality on basically any computer, anywhere in the world. |
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Sunbuster
Registered User
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Finland
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Posted: Tue Jul 12 2005 14:48
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Well, I haven't used the C01 so naturally I can't say if it's good or not. I have no doubt though that it can be just as good as anything AKG, Neumann or Shure push out the door. To me it just sounds a bit sketchy that they don't have any tech specs easily available about this new mic, at least I couldn't find any (if you have a link to the data sheet then please post it). But on the other hand, maybe this mic is aimed more at people who don't care what frequency range their mic will work at or what sample rate the AD converter will work at (I'm guessing it has an AD converter, since it's transferring over USB?). Anyway, it sounds like the ideal thing to have on the road, but before I see tech specs for it I wouldn't buy it.. |
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TNK / ATK project
Registered User
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: Village-Neuf, France (Dont's search on the map, it's tiny...)
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Posted: Wed Aug 17 2005 14:35
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Now samson posted the documentation and the tech specifications online. You can grab it here
What do you think about it now that you have those tech specifications Sunbuster asked for ? Is it worth buying it (89 €) ? |
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Sunbuster
Registered User
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Finland
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Posted: Wed Aug 17 2005 18:22
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Built in ADC is at 16bit / 48kHz. Considering todays move towards higher and higher sampling rates I'm surprised it's not at least 24 bit. The frequency response curve suggests that it might be a bit bright in sound. Not quite sure how much the 4dB difference makes in the end though...
I think I'll stick with my previous statement. Looks like a good companion for the road, but I think in a serious studio enviroment I'd rather use a mic that I can hook up to a mixer using XLR and thus use an ADC of my choice. |
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