two new condensor mics today....brief review

hotroad · #1 11-28-2018, 03:27 PM

Got two new condensor mics today. AKG P420 and a Samson C01. After using them in a small space to induce feedback, the Samson wins hands down. As far as tone goes, Samson is nearly as good as the AKG. Major diff is that the AKG picks up sound all around and has three nice built in manual control buttons for the user to adjust according to various needs. The Samson has none of that. But I am using the Samson directly in front of a speaker at good strong medium volume and there is no feedback. It seems more suited to gigging and the AKG seems great for studio or a duo or threesome on the same mic. Both can get loud and keep the quality of tone but also sound great at low volumes. Not sure how they compare to higher end condensors but compared to my other dynamic mics, they sound clearer, cleaner and more rounded around the edges. All eq, gain and volume were the same for all mics tested.

MikeBmusic · #2 11-29-2018, 08:06 AM

Doesn't the P420 have switchable pickup patterns?

ljguitar · #3 11-29-2018, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotroad

Got two new condensor mics today. AKG P420 and a Samson C01. After using them in a small space to induce feedback, the Samson wins hands down. As far as tone goes, Samson is nearly as good as the AKG. Major diff is that the AKG picks up sound all around and has three nice built in manual control buttons for the user to adjust according to various needs. The Samson has none of that. But I am using the Samson directly in front of a speaker at good strong medium volume and there is no feedback. It seems more suited to gigging and the AKG seems great for studio or a duo or threesome on the same mic. Both can get loud and keep the quality of tone but also sound great at low volumes. Not sure how they compare to higher end condensors but compared to my other dynamic mics, they sound clearer, cleaner and more rounded around the edges. All eq, gain and volume were the same for all mics tested.

Hi hotroad

You are talking about two very different mic designs.

The AKG is a full 1" (28mm) diaphragm design, with switchable pattern pickup (omni, cardioid, figure 8) and has two 1" diaphragms mounted back to back (plus bass roll-off and level attenuation).

The Samson is a ¾" (19mm) single diaphragm with no ability to roll off the bass on the mic, no attenuation, and no switching of patterns. Despite the advertising copy that calls it a large diaphragm mic, it's actually a medium diaphragm which can be quite flexible.

Each has it's place in an arsenal, but they are very different mics.

hotroad · #4 11-29-2018, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi hotroad

You are talking about two very different mic designs.

The AKG is a full 1" (28mm) diaphragm design, with switchable pattern pickup (omni, cardioid, figure 8) and has two 1" diaphragms mounted back to back (plus bass roll-off and level attenuation).

The Samson is a ¾" (19mm) single diaphragm with no ability to roll off the bass on the mic, no attenuation, and no switching of patterns. Despite the advertising copy that calls it a large diaphragm mic, it's actually a medium diaphragm which can be quite flexible.

Each has it's place in an arsenal, but they are very different mics.

Thanks for that info. They seem quite different but I was not aware of why that is. I like the Samson for solo gigging. Might sell the AKG.