Lady luck has blessed me with a one-of-a-kind CDR King microphone that takes pretty okay voice recordings. It was just a stroke of luck of course since the 100-peso device was just meant for simple chatting online. But in all fairness to it, I was able to use the thing for a few minor home-produced recording projects (and demos).

But alas, it is time to upgrade. When I saw my younger brother using my beloved mic for teenage-Skyping, I knew I had to say goodbye.

And so I went on to search for a nice USB mic. This time I wanted to get a condenser microphone. Something that will better suit my needs. I visited Audiophile in Festival Supermall Alabang and they let me play with the various USB microphones that they had in stock. For my budget range, I was able to tinker with three Samson microphones: the CU01, the Q1U and the Go Mic.

I decided to go with the Samson Go Mic – Portable USB Condenser Microphone. This nifty little critter won me over because of two basic things: 1) Versatility and 2)Price.

Samson Go Mic

Versatility

The microphone features switchable recording patterns (cardioid and omni polar patterns) that will allow the mic to be useful for a variety of situations.

For example, if I wanted to do a jamming session with my friends, I can simply switch the microphone to the omnidirectional setting so that it can record the whole room. But if I want to do let’s say a podcast or record just me with my guitar, I can switch to the cardioid mode and get a more focused, uni-directional recording. I can even plug in my headphones to the built-in audio jack (in the Go Mic) and get live monitoring. Meaning that I can hear what the mic records in a clearer way. Kind of like, how recording artists wear monitor headphones so they can hear themselves.

Oh and the clip-slash-base of the mic can even be attached to your standard microphone stands/tripods.

Price

I bought the Go Mic for only PHP 2,390. It’s actually a good price for something that does its job really well. The CU01 was priced at PHP 4,300 while the Q1U was PHP 2,700. Mind you, the other high-end USB Condenser Mics like say, Shure microphones can go for as high as PHP12,000!

But again, I didn’t choose the Go Mic just because of the price. It’s actually kind of like a bonus really. The performance and versatility factors made it a clear choice for me.

To prove it, let me share with you a sample of what the Go Mic can do. Here’s a short recording of my voice that I recorded yesterday:

For more information on Samson’s audio equipment, check out their website.

PS: Yeah, I do sideline as a voice talent. If you need me, email me. Haha! )

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