Product ReviewsMultimedia hardware
Until now, recording acoustic input on your Mac didn't always involve choosing between compromise or expense: sometimes it meant both. However, the arrival of Samson's CO1U marks a watershed for microphones: for once, a good-quality device is available without a matching price tag. The CO1U packs a lot of technology inside its chunky and surprisingly heavy frame, which is topped by a heavy-gauge mesh grill. The microphone's studio-quality features include a 19mm, 3 micron diaphragm alongside an integrated pre-amp and analogue-to-digital converter. This device is one of the first USB condenser microphones. As you would expect from a USB device, setting it up is a trivial affair, especially to anyone who has wrestled with the plethora of wires and devices involved in the usual microphone-to-Mac setup. The microphone's USB cable plugs directly into a spare USB port and - in contrast to most high-end microphones powered by a phantom power supply - the CO1U draws its power straight from the Mac's USB bus. When it's plugged in, a small green LED on the microphone indicates power. The CO1U comes with a reassuringly brief manual and ships without drivers. The microphone is recognised instantly as an audio device in the Sound pane of Mac OS X's System Preferences, and you can adjust its input volume either here or through the audio application with which you're recording. We found the CO1U's audio gain a little low to begin with, and it's certainly worth downloading an OS X-only applet
The Samson's on-board analogue-to-digital converter boasts a 16-bit sample resolution at rates of up to 48kHz. These specifications might not match those offered by high-end sound modules, but they're certainly better than anything else in this microphone's price range. We found Samson's claimed wide-frequency response was backed up in real-world use by excellent sound reproduction, with natural-sounding vocals and very little background pickup. This was no doubt helped by Samson's cardioid pickup pattern, which is designed to reduce reflected sounds and is unusual in such an inexpensive microphone. This means that although finding the optimum recording position takes a bit of getting used to, the microphone is nonetheless ideal for isolating instruments in a band or cutting out background noise when recording a vocal track. One caveat with this microphone - indeed, all USB devices - is the inherent limit to how far you can roam away from the Mac while recording. At least Samson hasn't scrimped: as well as including a swivel-mount adaptor, the CO1U ships with a reasonably generous three-metre USB cord, so you needn't feel too tied to your Mac. This microphone is inexpensive enough to warrant consideration by anyone who needs to get sound into a Mac without native audio input, such as a Mac mini or iBook - especially when you realise that the Samson isn't that much more expensive than the cheapest audio-input devices, such as Griffin's iMic. However, it should also appeal to a far more discerning audience, as the quality it provides puts it in an entirely different league to the iMic. Whether recording podcasts or laying down acoustic tracks in GarageBand, the CO1U is a sound investment in every sense of the word. By Tom Gorham
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