Samson G-Track Pro - Professional USB Microphone with Audio Interface - Black

Product Information

As for the instrument front-end, my electric guitar was recorded cleanly and without issues, though the recorded waveform suggested that the recorded signal might have been polarity inverted somewhere along the line, as transients always headed downwards rather than upwards. I often refer to the AT2020+ as my top recommendation for anyone who is looking for a cardioid condenser USB microphone simply because of the overall sound quality. If you're a streamer or a podcaster, and you're giving the short shrift to audio quality, you're doing it wrong. The built-in mic on your laptop, or the one on your headset, are fine for gaming or making video calls, but if you're trying to build an audience, you need to up your game, and a good microphone is is one of the most important places to start. Vocals came across in a well-balanced way staying solid without being muddy and clear without sounding glassy or shrill. I couldn’t find a frequency-response curve for this mic, but I suspect its presence peak isn’t too ferocious in the crucial upper mid-range region, and it should suit a wide range of voices.

So, overall, it’s a pretty versatile microphone that is insanely well built and that also sounds surprisingly well! What do you get in the Box? USB microphones are replacing the traditional way of recording more and more thanks to their small and compact form, affordability and ease of use. While the noise level for USB-powered mics can sometimes suffer a little in contrast with their phantom-powered bretheren, I didn’t notice any noise issues working with typical close-miked vocals or instruments, so I don’t think the noise performance is anything to worry about unless recording very quiet or distant sources. That's a fantastic feature for anyone looking to record themselves playing an instrument while singing along. For streamers and podcasters, it's not as useful, although if you have an extra mic laying around with a compatible plug, you could increase your sound quality and toss another mic into the mix without needing to buy a mixer. The extra feature is awesome and has no effect on the price.The USB version of the Audio-Technica AT2020is just as good as the XLR AT2020 with the advantage of being a plug n’ play microphone that works both onWindowsandMac OS without the need of installing any sort of driver. Of all the functions, the monitoring feature is my favorite thing. Other mics require you to turn monitoring on either in software, or they're always on or always off. The ability to toggle it on and off built right into the mic itself is rare and very handy. This means that if you’re just starting out and want to be able to record high quality vocals as well as record your guitar or bass through the instrument input to then add amp simulation to them, you definitely can.

The weight of the stand is more of an issue if you're going to take this on the road, and it's certainly well-equipped enough that you'd want to. But at over 3 lbs with the stand, it weighs more than some laptops. And this is an issue that I had, since it took me over 10 min to get a decent tone out of it, and I still didn’t quite like it. The only thing I don’t like that much is that it can sound a bitcrispyat times, but that isn’t that much of an issue really since you can fix that with just a bit of EQ afterwards.Now, there’s one thing that you should consider before purchasing it, and that is the region of the world/country you’re in.

In cardioid, the mic only records sounds from the front, making it perfect for recording a voice-over, or for recording music (which is what I mostly used the mic for). Other than that, the mic supports line-in instruments to be plugged directly into the mic, and that’s definitely awesome especially if you’re like me and you like to record yourself playing an instrument while singing along. I did test out the mic with a couple of songs on the guitar, and the recording quality is excellent. Personally, I felt the recording was clearer than what we used to get with the Blue Yeti, even before any noise reduction or editing chains were applied on it. Audio quality is exactly what you would expect from a studio microphone. It captures 24-bit/96kHz sound, which is the same bitrate as the Razer Seiren and beats the Blue Yeti's 16-bit. That being said, it's extremely difficult for the average human to tell the difference between something recorded at 24-bit versus 16-bit. You'd basically need to be an audio engineer with an acute ear for nuance in sound. Overall, it's excellent and offers higher quality recording than most people will typically need. At the mic's base, it screws into the desktop mount—this is where the included USB cable connects. While the mic can be removed, there's no included adapter so that it can be screwed into a traditional stand for non-desktop use.

Build quality

Of course, it can be used for recording acoustic and classical guitars as well, which is what I used it for before getting some of the other microphones I own.

One thing to be mindful of is that you can be recording a signal from the instrument input without realizing it—if something's plugged in, the only way to ensure it won't creep into what's meant to be a vocal-only recording is to kill its gain level completely, or simply unplug it. It seems like common sense, but the point is that both inputs are live, always, and need to managed and monitored if your intention is to record only one or the other. There’s a reason why the AT2020 (XLR Version) is part of almost every music studio, and that is because when taking cost-effectiveness into account, there are few microphones that can stand up to it. It records vocals extremely well, and I believe that recording voice-related audio is where this microphone really shines. As far as mic’ing up guitar cabinets, it actually performs a lot better than expected, and even when recording acoustic guitar, it also did a more than decent job. title=More%20Expert%20Tech%20Roundups&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=tech-roundup&count=6&columnCount=6&theme=articleSince the AT2020 is a plug n’ play microphone, you should have absolutely no issues getting it to work; simply connect it and that’s it, you can now record!