SAMSONQ2U USB/XLR Dynamic Microphone Recording and Podcasting Pack (Black)

I'm fairly impressed with this microphone. I plugged it into my laptop (a Macbook Air, but running OpenSUSE Tumbleweed because I really dislike MacOS). It was automatically detected and picked as the default input device. I spent a few minutes trying to figure out why sound wasn't coming out before I realized there's an on/off switch. Sigh. Turning it on didn't work. More sigh. Turns out, it needs to be turned on when it's plugged in, then the on/off switch works as a mute just like you'd expect.I've played with it some both as a digital source and an "analog" mic, and it works, again, exactly like you'd expect. It picks up my voice really well, and doesn't pick up any background noise. I'm just in a cluttered office here, not some professional sound studio. I'm simply using USB, not the XLR cable and a real mixer. And it works exceedingly well. It has some real mass to it, so it feels like it's well made. And the volume up/down buttons Just Work on my Linux machine.The audio monitor output also works well; I plugged in my Sennheiser PXC-550 headphones using their wired connection, and not only does all the background noise I can hear (several computers with fans running, etc) go away, but I get what seems to be zero-latency feedback of my voice. I'm quite happy about that.For the fun of it, I moved over to a Windows machine and tested the same - it works just as well there. But who wants to do anything important with Windows? :)Overall, I'm happy with this. Off to record some training material now, and maybe even start up a podcast!

I’ve had this microphone for 3-4 years and it works perfectly. I only recently purchased another one because of my wife. She has her own PC setup now and she loves the sound and quality of my microphone. It’s better than most other major brands and keeps its quality over time. 3-4 years later and it still sound like I’m in their brains when talking on games and discord. I’d buy another once mine breaks or wears out

Over a year into my podcast with this mic and haven’t had any issues. We’ve been complimented since episode 1 on the exceptional audio quality. I record in a pretty bare bedroom and have no issues with echo or dead sound. Was recording via USB when this pic was taken, but have since purchased and interface and migrated to XLR with no issues.This mic is worth every penny and I recommend it to everyone. Buy it. Add to cart. You won’t regret it.

I love this microphone, but I encountered some issues when connecting it to my computer via USB. I tested it on two different high-end laptops, carefully following all the steps to ensure it would work, including adjusting the audio and mic settings. However, the microphone’s sound quality during recording was disappointingly poor—it sounded like a phone call. I even tried connecting it through an adapter to another port on my laptops, but that didn’t solve the issue. The sound remained terrible. Surprisingly, when I connected the microphone to my iPhone 11 via an adapter, it worked perfectly with no issues at all. While the microphone is lovely and delivers outstanding audio quality, I wish it were easier to use directly with my computer. To work around this, I connected the mic to my phone and installed software that turns my phone into a ‘microphone’. This allowed me to record on my computer using audio routed through my phone (while it was connected to the Q2U) and it worked flawlessly.

I'm in love with my Samson Q2U! It works great for virtual meetings, podcast recording, narration, etc. It's not a professional mic, but it's as close as you can get to one for under $100. The fact that it comes with an XLR cable is just a bonus, the USB connection works waaaaay better than other USB mics I've tried. I recently used a the Fifine Metal Condenser Recording Microphone (best seller on Amazon) and was sadly disappointed. While it worked for audio recordings, it did not work well for live virtual meetings. It kept cutting in and out completely so people only heard half of what I said. I've also used the Mikme silver for recording, which is much more portable and doesn't require any cords. While the Mikme works great for wireless recording to an iPhone, it does not compare to the sound quality of the Samson Q2U and comes at a cost of $300. The only complaint I have with the Samson Q2U is that when I use headphones through the mic to hear my voice and the system audio (other participants, etc.) there is a lot of digital feedback, almost like their is a poor connection. The good news is that none of that sound comes through on the other end (whether you're recording audio or streaming in a live meeting / game). Overall, best mic I've found yet for under a $100.

Buy it. If you're a beginning voice actor, streamer - whatever - this is the perfect starter microphone. In fact, I'd argue that you may get better results with this microphone than a more expensive one if you don't yet have a professional setup. Sound quality is great, it's lightweight, and feels nice to hold.