Q2U

The Samson Q2U Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone is a fantastic and versatile mic, especially for beginners or anyone building a home setup. I love that it offers both USB and XLR options, giving you flexibility whether you want simple plug-and-play or a more professional recording chain. The sound quality is clear, warm, and does a good job of minimizing background noise. This is a great option for podcasts, voiceovers, streaming, or basic music recording. It also feels solid and well-made. One thing to keep in mind, you do need to connect it to a computer, and you will need a recording app to use it properly. That’s not a downside for me, but it’s worth noting if you are expecting a standalone setup. Overall, it’s an excellent microphone with great value for the price. Highly recommended!

This mic works as advertised, good clear sound, easy setup. What more could you ask for?

WOW! This mic is amazing. Literally plug and play, runs off laptop power (no external power required), and the audio quality is FANTASTIC compared to other offerings out there. I also own a $100 Blue Yeti mic and the sound quality is comparabale/the yeti is actually a little bit more annoying to use compared to this mic. Absolutely blown away by the quality for price (paid $70 for this one) -- you can set up filters on your end like compressor, noise suppression, EQ3 etc. to get the best bang for your buck, but this is seriously so high quality and such a good deal for the price. Not sure how it performs for singing but I am extremely satisfied for podcasting/gaming commentary/overall quality. Recently purchased a $26 Bluetooth lav mic set which had absolutely meh sound quality -- spending $44 more on this one was so worth it. The sound quality difference is just so insane. Not as portable as a lav but anywhere you can take your laptop you can take this mic and have wonderful quality audio wherever you need. Highly recommend, especially if you are considering shelling out more for the Yeti. Pick this one instead.

TL;DR: Excellent sound quality, requires some additional peripherals and you may need to adjust your speaking habits. You may experience a hardware quirk. Research how you plan to use it before buying. ** Note 1/31/2021 ** Amazon deprecated the review commenting functionality and there were a lot useful comments/responses on this review: In short, there is a firmware update on the Samson website that corrects the issue I noted at the bottom of my review. An alternative solution to the firmware is using hardware (a usb HUB with physical switches). Note that their website 'samsontech' lacks an SSL certificate so its still not HTTPS--in 2021; as a result, Chrome users will get a not secure indication at the top of the page. It's also a very quick and dirty MFC app that updates the firmware--you'll see what I mean when/if you decide to use it. The microphone itself is of excellent value. When I compare the sound quality from my current recordings to past recordings with alternative microphones I've used, the Samson Q2U definitely sounds the most "professional" while being in the same price range as my two other microphones (the Blue Snowball and Antlion ModMic 5). By "professional", I describe this as my voice sounds very clear, natural and detailed (voice sounds fuller and doesn't seem like I'm speaking through a tin can), and there is virtually no background noise. My setup for the Samson Q2U is the microphone along with a 'NEEWER Adjustable Boom Arm' to hold the mic. The Q2U sports a 3.5mm audio port on the bottom. The port is a nice touch since I have two wide monitors and my desktop itself sits on the right side, while my main monitor (along with the Mic) is on the left side. It saves me the trouble of dealing with an additional long headphone cable on top of a long USB cable (for the mic). The Q2U is a dynamic microphone so it typically only picks up loud noises. Regardless, I still run it with low gain to further reduce background noise (such as mechanical keyboard pummeling and furious mouse clicking). This requires me to speak directly into the microphone in order to be picked up clearly--as a person who is naturally soft spoken and moves around a lot, I needed to project my voice more and be diligent at staying centered in front of the mic. In terms of sound quality, the Snowball and Q2U were the closest, however the Snowball, in contrast to the Q2U, is a condenser microphone and picked up a lot more background noise. Reducing the gain on the Snowball required me to move closer to it (the stand it comes with is short so I had to lean into it), and doing so also meant I had to get a pop filter. The Snowball is also heavier than the Q2U (and is top heavy because of its form factor). Placing it in front of my keyboard/mouse meant accidentally knocking it over at times. I could have use the Snowball along with a boom arm, but its form factor along with the pop filter made it a little bit too obtrusive for my taste. The Q2U also comes with a stand but is not top heavy so it is more stable. The Antlion ModMic is probably my favorite because it doesn't require a boom arm or a microphone stand that may get in your way. Unfortunately the sound quality of the modmic is marginally better than microphones you'd find on gaming headsets (I've used the Razer Carcharias and Steel Series Siberia V2). Headset microphones typically make your voice sound tinny and almost 'phone like'. My only gripe with the Samson Q2U is that there is a strange problem with the device (otherwise I'd get five stars): Upon booting up my computer, the microphone's power indicator flashes red and green rapidly and will continue doing so indefinitely. While it is flashing, the microphone is unusable--the microphone will output static. In order to address this, I have to unplug and reinsert the USB cable every time I power cycle my computer. This is a known issue with the microphone and appears to have been reported in other reviews and forum posts on the internet as well, but does not appear to have an official solution. Do note, however, that the issue seems to be present on other USB microphones as well. For reference my motherboard is an ASRock AB350 ITX motherboard.

It has good quality for such a low price for a mic I love it

Pues no soy nada experto en audio y uso de micrófonos, es muy bueno para aislar ruidos del ambiente, buena calidad, robusto, tu voz suena bien , aunque no me gusta escucharme pero cumple con las reseñas que ustedes ven en tutoriales o reviews en Youtube, un producto que de calidad Samson es una marca reconocida. Es un micrófono versátil, con sus 3 salidas XLR, usb y jack 3.5 mm , cable usb para rápido instalación sin problemas y su tripie, todo muy bien. Si vas empezar con tu primer micrófono, no gastes en productos mas baratos este es tu punto de partida, ahorra y no te arrepentirás, nada de productos chinos BM-800 que terminas gastando mas a la larga porque es un producto modular incompleto.

Wszystko zgodne z opisem. Świetna jakość za przystępną cenę

This guy is almost unconditionally one of the best beginner podcasting microphones out there, its cost effective (when it's correctly priced), has usb for absolute beginners and XLR for nerds and more advanced users who choose to hook it up with their audio interfaces and get excellent results, bear in mind however, the xlr sound is better than usb because of obvious reasons of better preamps in some of the dedicated audio interfaces, however this does not in anyway hamper its usb usability, its really really good. Its worth mentioning here that this microphone still outshines sound wise, its newer counterpart the Q9U which is an absolutely terrible sounding microphone without the mid boost being engaged, its primarily attracting only those who clearly want to buy a microphone for a certain look, otherwise the Q2U is an all rounder genius that holds its ground really firmly and even gives its immediate competition like the ATR-2100x fom Audio Technica a run for its money. Also this comes along with its accessories, the desktop stand is not a very good one but it does the job if you absolutely don't have the resources to spend more on anything else, however any of those cheap spring boom arms can handle this microphone just fine, do remember that this microphone is really bad in the plosives department, so u will need a foam windscreen with it, which is also included in the package and is a huge help. Overall this is a great microphone and can cater to all needs of a beginner or even an advanced user if they are looking for good sound specifically and not the looks, personally I don't see any problem in the looks department too but people find the broadcast looking microphones a bit more attractive, however they compromise with the sound big time. Happy Recording!

I first came across these from the Podcastage YouTube channel (sorry man I didn't use your affiliate link if it exists). Work as advertised and realised my voice wasn't as terrible sounding as coming out from a cheap set of XTUGA. To be fair, the XTUGA is a tenth of the q2u. Now I enjoy using it more on discord, VRchat and the occasional voice line mimicries and singing attempts. (Boom arm in video sold separately from IKEA)