I received a few e-mails asking what the mic I'm now using is and figured that some of you might be interested as well - after using it for a few weeks I could not recommend any of this kit more. I love it.
So the mic is a Samson CO1U. It cost around £70 with postage (it's heavy) and it was a tough decision choosing this - a USB mic - instead of a powered XLR mic. Obviously for the best audio recording you don't want to be able to hear computer fan noise in the background, so a USB mic seems like a very poor call. I decided to go for it so I could more easily use it for vlogging, though, and I got a 6m USB cable so that for any proper audio recording I can be very far away from the PC.
It really is a fantastic mic, with a simple switch allowing 3 seperate responses (omni, figure-8 or super-cardioid) and it also has a -10db bass cut switch as well which I used in my review of The Citizen 2 to minimise the fan noise from the PC and it seemed to work splendidly.
I mount the mic on a SAMSON SP01 suspension mount. It's compact, easy to position and works exactly as it should. It's also made very solidly. I feel like I could throw it against a wall and the wall would come out of it worse off. It set me back about £35.
I was originally going to buy a very cheap pop shield, but decided that since I'm spending so much on the rest, I don't want to cheap-out on something which could potentially ruin the whole ensemble, so rather than the fragile plastic alternative, I went for the metal-bodied SAMSON PS01. Nice naming technique, huh? It's pretty much identical to the suspension mount. Anyway, as with the rest this seems fantastic. The metal frame is tough and solid feeling, and the neck is very flexible allowing it to be positioned exceptionally easily. It cost me around £15.
All of this is mounted on Tiger Stands generic "Microphone Stand Boom" which... Well, it's a stand. It works nicely. £15.
It all feels great to use and I've already received plenty of positive feedback about the improvement, so I'm really glad I splashed out on this and if any of you are planning to do the same, I hope you get some benefit from this review.
