Customer Reviews
Completely Satisfied 
2008-04-26
I'm into making Flash Animation and needed a new mic to record dialogues and voice-overs. Since this microphone is of exceptional high quality and have heard good details of it, I decided to try it out.
Everything came as expected. I did not use the CD for Cakewalk as I heard of the troubles that it causes. Instead, I simply plugged and played into Adobe Audition to start recording. The only bit of trouble I had was for Adobe Audition which would normally work for something in the microphone jack. But since this is a USB plug and play, I had to go into Edit Audio Hardware and change the input.
This is very useful and I look forward to trying my hand with it. The quality is superb.
Noise Susceptible / Bad Windows Software 
2008-02-28
In summary, the product is a great idea but the implementation is lacking. The specific problems are that 60Hz hum level picks up drastically at higher gains and very poor software. See below for more details.
I purchased this microphone recently and I am finding myself VERY unhappy with it. The microphone develops an awful 60Hz hum whenever I boost gain past a certain point.
Also, the driver for Windows is, for starters, not signed so I get those annoying warning dialogs on install if I try to use SoftPre. Then, after all the hassle of unplugging ALL my other USB devices and reinstalling SoftPre, the software only occasionally works. Most of the time it starts ok but does not communicate with the microphone at all.
All I can say is FYSS (fix your stupid software), Samson! You should be ashamed to have software that operates so badly with hardware that might otherwise be pretty good. Can't you spend a little money to get driver developers that actually know what they're doing? One of the primary reasons I bought the mic was because of the low-cut capability and phase inversion, which requires a working SoftPre.
If this is beta software, Samson, tell me and I'll be willing to work with you, but given the fact that SoftPre is version 1.1.0 and hasn't been updated since December 12, 2006, I'm not holding my breath. This product is going back to the store for a refund.
Great Mic 2008-02-20
So from what I gather this is not good for a mac, but for PC it's awesome. I have been using this mic for a year doing podcasts and an online radio show. This mic is also one of the only mics I know for sure is compatible with adobe premiere pro cs3 and that in itself is fantastic. I will say don't bother with the preamp software for this mic its lame. On XP this thing is perfect, but I would advise getting a shock mount and building a sound booth this thing is sensitive to sound and will pick up everything. I have been recording when my roommate is on the phone across the house and her voice is picked up when I can't hear it with my ears. Anyway this thing is sweet for someone who just wants a great mic on there computer, if you plan on doing hardcore recoding get a soundboard and a mic that connects via XLR, cause this mic is limiting live.
I like this product a lot 2008-02-18
I got this mic around a month ago and I like it a lot. It was a little confusing at first for me to get started but once I figured out the few things you have to do, I think it sounds great, and is not difficult to use. Those things are:(after the basic making sure that it is plugged in and the volume is on in the control panel), click the "R" button from the track 1 options (really obvious if you are looking at the software), then go to the left side of the screen and click on the tab that says input, indicating what you want to use to record. You click the "Samson CO1U, 1 in, 1 out" which will bring up either stereo, left, or right, and I was told to do left (1 in, 1 out) and that is what I have done, and it works. After this, you are ready to record. This may seem obvious, but it was not to me: the record button is towards the top of the screen, by the other buttons, like play, etc. It is shaped like a circle, like record usually is. I recommend this product.
Never buy this product !! My experience was a nightmare!! 
2008-01-25
My experience was a total nightmare !! First, let me say I was using Windows XP on a newer computer. I was more excited about getting this Microphone than probably the Birth of my 2 kids, thought I finally discovered a cheap answer to avoiding Studio time. I looked at box, awesome, just plug it in and I'm ready to go, yeah right.I end up trying the software and installing their driver and crashed my computer. Still nothing, the software is NOT user friendly. I have a Masters Degree and couldn't figure even how to TRY to record anything with this SONAR LE software. So I end up, using recovery on XP to get computer back to original place, thinking I'll try it again and believe it or not this time it works, but the sound is just awful! My $5.00 Microphones recorded better. I am considering returning product. I wanted to use Audacity and this Microphone and hoped I would get something at least close to the recording sound of a Studio. I tried switching to Mono as another reviewer suggested. Nothing worked. I do not recommend this Microphone at all !!! Oh and Samson has no tech support, you leave a voicemail and they never return your call .
An outstanding microphone 2008-07-16
I love this microphone, as it is very good quality, but more importantly sets up very easily. I use it with Audacity, a very simple recording program - which is free. Keep it in mind.
I've been using this for about a year and still have no regrets. It is perfect for VO stuff or podcasting.
If you have a Mac you may experience problems because of the software, according to the other reviews. But as someone sick and tired of hearing Mac users drone on about their computers in that tech-porn way they do it, that's a good thing.
simply great! 2008-06-28
I just plugged this mic into my iMac(OSX 10.5.3), opened Garage Band, and it works perfectly! Great sound quality, rugged construction and couldn't be simpler to use. You couldn't ask for more at this price!
Solid Mic at a Great Price 2008-05-27
The mic is fantastic. The value is hard to beat, and quality is unmatched at this price. When you get the mic you are aware that this is studio quality, and the experience you get with is will set you apart from your home recording brothers.
Very Limited Usefulness 2008-04-30
The microphone works through your USB port, but because of that, you can't listen to what you're doing while you're doing it. In other words, you can't set levels at all, or listen to other recordings and put this input in with them; in other words, using it to make multi-track recordings on your computer is out.
ok for people with no good sound card 
2008-04-29
decent quality recording for the price. Not exactly plug and play but you can figure it out easily.
