Recording - May 2011 - 40

B Y M I K E M E T L AY

Samson Meteor Mic
A futuristic design hides surprisingly practical desktop-audio features
become the three legs of a built-in tripod mount, complete with shock-resistant foam rubber feet. This tripod system is surprisingly versatile; you can set any of the three legs to any angle and they will hold steady, thanks to a rugged-looking hinge/clutch mechanism that requires a bit of effort to set. It’s too early to tell if these hinges will have a long lifespan and will hold the Meteor Mic as steadily in a few years as they do now, but the presence of user-accessible screws to tighten them is a good sign. The system is trivially simple to use... and you never have to worry about leaving your mic stand behind! The Meteor Mic is a sideaddress mic whose front has a knurled headphone level knob with a microphone mute button inside it, and whose back has connections for a headphone output (1/8" TRS) and USB cable (standard Mini-B). An LED above the level knob lights blue for power/connection, yellow for mute, and red for overload. The bottom of the capsule is threaded for a standard mic mount, too. Sounds The Meteor Mic has a 25mm cardioid condenser capsule that sports a frequency response with a gentle rolloff below about 200 Hz (roughly 3 dB down at 60 Hz, according to the provided chart) and a broad peak above about 6 kHz. This mic blurs the lines between “cheap portable USB mic” and “serious desktop audio device” in a way we haven’t seen very often before; it’s smaller and more portable than the pro-level devices, but offers a cleaner sound with more character than many of the inexpensive USB mics on the market. I tested the Meteor Mic with male and female vocals, string instruments, and hand percussion, as well as voiceovers for an Internet radio show, and found it to have a smooth sound with just enough of a high-end lift to add sparkle without being hashy or spitty. It did better than any other sub-$100 mic I’ve tested in the “key jingle” test, with a decently small amount of transient smear. Off-axis response is fairly smooth, which isn’t surprising since the mic’s polar pattern is not very tight; I’d call it more a subcardioid than a true cardioid pattern, as there’s comparatively little rear rejection. One anomaly to be aware of is the Meteor Mic’s very prominent body resonance, which is heard as a swiftly-decaying but very tonal thump when you touch the mic body or one of the legs, or press the mic mute button on or off. This thump sits at about 72 Hz and has a fair number of higher harmonics, so listen for any emphasis the mic may place on particular notes; in my

“It’s a Dalek cell phone!” That’s what my 10-year-old said when she first saw the new Samson Meteor Mic. If you’re a fan of Doctor Who, then you may well see why this mic elicited the above reaction; whether you are or not, you’ll want to know how it works. Read on. Looks The Meteor Mic is a USB microphone with built-in zero-latency headphone monitoring. It comes boxed with an instruction pamphlet, drawstring pouch, and 6’ USB cable. When you open the box, the mic does in fact give the appearance of a cell phone for robotic aliens, a surprisingly hefty and confidence-inducing metal body partly encased by three curved metal bars. Things get interesting when you fold down said bars and they

40

RECORDING MAY 2011



Recording - May 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2011

Recording - May 2011
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
Phonic S16 Digital Mixer
Lift Your Voice
Chameleon Labs TS-1 MKII Mic
Melodyne In Action
Roland OCTA-CAPTURE
Comparing Auto-Tune and Melodyne editor: A Producer’s Perspective
Samson Meteor Mic
The FATSO Family
Reviewed and Revisited: Antares Auto-Tune 7
Readers’ Tapes
Lauten FC-357 Clarion Mic
It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 14: The Role Of The Producer —Part 2
Game Audio—Your Next Career Move?
sE Electronics Voodoo VR1 Ribbon Mic
Recording’s Bass Column
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - May 2011 - Recording - May 2011
Recording - May 2011 - Cover2
Recording - May 2011 - 1
Recording - May 2011 - 2
Recording - May 2011 - 3
Recording - May 2011 - Fade In
Recording - May 2011 - 5
Recording - May 2011 - Contents
Recording - May 2011 - 7
Recording - May 2011 - Talkback
Recording - May 2011 - 9
Recording - May 2011 - Fast Forward
Recording - May 2011 - 11
Recording - May 2011 - Phonic S16 Digital Mixer
Recording - May 2011 - 13
Recording - May 2011 - Lift Your Voice
Recording - May 2011 - 15
Recording - May 2011 - 16
Recording - May 2011 - 17
Recording - May 2011 - 18
Recording - May 2011 - 19
Recording - May 2011 - 20
Recording - May 2011 - 21
Recording - May 2011 - 22
Recording - May 2011 - 23
Recording - May 2011 - 24
Recording - May 2011 - 25
Recording - May 2011 - Chameleon Labs TS-1 MKII Mic
Recording - May 2011 - 27
Recording - May 2011 - Melodyne In Action
Recording - May 2011 - 29
Recording - May 2011 - 30
Recording - May 2011 - 31
Recording - May 2011 - 32
Recording - May 2011 - 33
Recording - May 2011 - 34
Recording - May 2011 - 35
Recording - May 2011 - Roland OCTA-CAPTURE
Recording - May 2011 - 37
Recording - May 2011 - Comparing Auto-Tune and Melodyne editor: A Producer’s Perspective
Recording - May 2011 - 39
Recording - May 2011 - Samson Meteor Mic
Recording - May 2011 - 41
Recording - May 2011 - The FATSO Family
Recording - May 2011 - 43
Recording - May 2011 - 44
Recording - May 2011 - 45
Recording - May 2011 - Reviewed and Revisited: Antares Auto-Tune 7
Recording - May 2011 - 47
Recording - May 2011 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - May 2011 - 49
Recording - May 2011 - Lauten FC-357 Clarion Mic
Recording - May 2011 - 51
Recording - May 2011 - 52
Recording - May 2011 - 53
Recording - May 2011 - 54
Recording - May 2011 - 55
Recording - May 2011 - It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 14: The Role Of The Producer —Part 2
Recording - May 2011 - 57
Recording - May 2011 - Game Audio—Your Next Career Move?
Recording - May 2011 - 59
Recording - May 2011 - sE Electronics Voodoo VR1 Ribbon Mic
Recording - May 2011 - 61
Recording - May 2011 - Recording’s Bass Column
Recording - May 2011 - 63
Recording - May 2011 - 64
Recording - May 2011 - Advertiser Index
Recording - May 2011 - 66
Recording - May 2011 - 67
Recording - May 2011 - 68
Recording - May 2011 - 69
Recording - May 2011 - 70
Recording - May 2011 - 71
Recording - May 2011 - Fade Out
Recording - May 2011 - Cover3
Recording - May 2011 - Cover4
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