The use of USB microphones is gradually becoming more popular. It still arouses a certain hesitation among a large number of audiophiles who often ask themselves this crucial question: can a USB microphone really and qualitatively clean signal even if it does not use a sound card with pre- amp or an external digital converter upstream of the computer?
Aware of this reluctance, manufacturers are constantly improving their products to make them more efficient . The Chinese company Meteor, which wants to be reassuring about the quality of the equipment it produces. Its Samson Meteor microphone features a whole range of very practical features resulting from recent innovations in audio technology. The brand also focuses on the design of the equipment which has been carefully worked to attract customers. The Samson Meteor test will tell us more about the specific features and the real advantages (or possible disadvantages) of this USB microphone.
Presentation and unboxing of the Samson Meteor microphone
The Samson Meteor is a product from Samson, one of the best-known Chinese companies in the field of audio equipment . This catchy name denotes a cardioid USB condenser microphone . It is delivered in a very beautiful black box which, judging by its attractive presentation, certainly contains high-performance equipment .
Opening the box, we discover a microphone with a magnificent design and a very elegant silver color . It is delicately placed in a small compartment acting as an anti-shock. We expected equipment with more plastic given its affordable price. But to our great surprise, we discovered an elegant and extremely neat finish in chrome metal which we really liked. Thus, in terms of appearance of the product and its packaging, the Samson Meteor scores valuable points compared to its competitors.
Holding the Samson Meteor in your hand, you immediately realize that it weighs quite heavy for its size. This weight compensates for its reasonable size, which allows you to easily place it on your desk, and use it for your or voice-over recording sessions . For this, there is no need to buy or make a microphone stand or stand.
The Samson Meteor features a foldable tripod system allowing you to place it almost anywhere, eliminating the need to pick up the mic while recording. You can use it to capture sound from a variety of sources , including vocals, bass drums, acoustic guitar, or simply the ambiance around you.
You can even place it in front of an or bass speaker amp to sharpen the sound. If you want to use a stand to better position the Samson Meteor, the adapter located below the mic allows you to mount it on a stand using a standard 5/8″ threaded mount . Therefore, you will be able to use it in your pro studio for vocal track recordings.
The Samson Meteor comes with a mini USB cable, a user manual with classic explanations, and a small carrying case. The latter proves very practical when you move with the device and its cable without wanting to bring the box. Certainly, the microphone can fit in a small bag, and even in your pocket if you can't carry it otherwise.
Samson Meteor Microphone Overview
Compared to the size of other USB microphones like the Blue Yeti Nano , the Rode NT USB, or the Présonus Révélator, the Samson Meteor is relatively small. Its size is 15.2 x 7.6 x 12.7 cm . This small size is however compensated by its weight of 0.3 kg compared to 0.42 kg for the Présonus Révélator. This is part of what allows him to stabilize well when he has to stand on his folding tripod system.
Now, let's take a closer look at the Samson Meteor and discover how the different elements that make it up are arranged. The first element that does not jump out at the eye is certainly its steel shell, below which we can see a two-story metal grille.
The latter serves not only to reduce noise (interference, wind, etc.) during recording, but also to microphone capsule Having a cardioid (unidirectional) polar pattern, the diaphragm of the Samson Meteor measures 25mm.
A tri-color LED just at the bottom of the grille serves as an indicator indicating that the microphone is connected to the USB of your PC or MAC. The blue color indicates that the connection with the computer is established while the orange warns of a disconnection (mute). Red lights up automatically and flashes whenever the system identifies signal peaks during recording.
Below the three-color LED, we see a button used to adjust the output volume for studio headphones . One of the big advantages of the Samson Meteor is that this jack output placed on the rear side of the microphone allows you to listen directly to the sound captured. This is very practical if you want to do real-time monitoring without any latency. Simply plug in stereo headphones and adjust the volume. This output can also be connected to a feedback amplifier with speaker.
Another button near the headset volume controller allows you to deactivate ( mute ) the Samson Meteor. When engaged, it abruptly cuts off signal transfer to the computer and headphone output. Therefore, the orange LED lights up.
At the very bottom of the microphone is its foldable tripod system as well as an adapter (standard 5/8” threaded mount) allowing you to mount the Samson Meteor on a stand which you obviously have to purchase separately.
A mini USB socket is placed below the headphone output. It is through this that the connection of the microphone with the computer is established via a USB cable. To facilitate the use of the Samson Meteor and to provide more flexibility, Samson has provided a 210 cm long USB cable .
Note that to work, the Meteor does not need to be connected to a phantom power source since it does not belong to the category of condenser microphones like the Warm Audio WA-47F . For the Meteor, any of the computer's USB connectors (1.0, 2.0, 3.0) can be used for external power and digital audio data transfer.
Build quality of the Samson Meteor microphone
The Samson Meteor is characterized by exceptionally good build quality . Its weight of 0.3 kg for its small size already says a lot about the robustness of the material with which it is made. Made entirely of metal, this microphone is super durable . Its double layer of metal mesh and thick steel grilles effectively protect the most sensitive elements inside.
The robustness of its tripod system is another strong point of the Samson Meteor. It holds the microphone firmly in place. At the end of each foot is glued a small rubber in the shape of a semi-circle. They serve not only to prevent equipment from sliding, but also to reduce vibrations that can affect recording.
They are very useful for muffling the sounds of handling or tapping on the table where the microphone is placed. We would have liked these rubbers to be embedded and not glued in a very simple way on the feet. They can come loose from being stressed. Fortunately we can glue them easily.
On the design side, as mentioned previously, Samson has worked a lot to make its product a real eye-catcher, starting with the super eye-catching appearance of its box. And what can we say about the super neat finish and the silver chrome color except that they attract all eyes, even the most skeptical.
With the Samson Meteor, the Chinese firm wanted to overcome a point of view according to which the attention is more visually focused on the other elements such as the guitar, the drums, the synthesizer, thus putting the microphone in the background in most cases. With such a sleek look, this microphone deserves its place not only on any desk, but also in a recording studio.
Obviously, appearance is not the only criterion for choosing a good microphone. It is generally the sound quality that takes precedence . When is it that of the Samson Meteor? More details in the next paragraph.
In addition, you can also consult our test guide and review on the Neumann M147 microphone . This guide presents the directivity of this condenser microphone, its areas of application, its electrical characteristics, its sound quality, its technical characteristics, as well as our opinion on the quality of this microphone and some test demos.
Zoom on the sound quality of the Samson Meteor microphone
Now let's answer the question about the sound quality of the Samson Meteor. Without a sound card with preamplifier or without an external converter, can it provide satisfactory sound quality?
The first thing you need to know is that despite its small size, this USB microphone has a high-quality analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog It is not a dynamic microphone since it is supplied with 5V voltage from the computer's USB socket.
However, it should be noted that the Samson Meteor is not an omnidirectional microphone. Therefore, it must be oriented in specific directions. Positions or locations of the source in relation to the microphone are to be favored if you wish to have optimal recording quality .
In principle, this equipment is primarily intended to serve as a desktop microphone since it is equipped with a tripod system designed for this purpose. Each stand can be positioned differently (straighter or more oblique) so that the user can find the right angle or arrangement of the microphone for optimal capture quality.
In addition, the Samson Meteor allows recording an audio signal with a sampling rate of 44100 Hz or 48000 Hz and a depth of 16 bits . These parameters are, admittedly, quite limited compared to those of other USB microphones like the X1 USB from Se Electronics at 24-bit and 192000 Hz .
20Hz to 20kHz frequency response is wide enough to faithfully capture any sound wave, whether high or low frequencies. Additionally, with an 85mW headphone output at 16 ohms , you can benefit from powerful feedback allowing you to listen to the signal in real time without having to go through the entire recording chain.
Samson mentions a signal-to-noise ratio of 96 dB (A) , which is very acceptable. Normally, you should get , clean recorded audio with very low audible noise. It should not pose a problem even if you boost certain high frequency bands while mixing your audio tracks.
Review of the Samson Meteor for recording vocals and acoustic instruments
A professional podcaster agreed to join us in carrying out this test. After connecting the Samson Meteor to our PC, we carried out some essential configurations to get it working following the instructions in the user manual. Note that it was very easy for us to configure the Meteor on the PC, which is a good point in its favor.
Once the mic was plugged in and configured correctly, we asked our podcaster to sit facing a desk table where we placed the Meteor upright, resting on its tripod system.
For this first test, the distance between our man's mouth and the microphone capsule is approximately 45 cm . However, we asked him to move away or closer to + or – 35 cm from the microphone from time to time during the recording. We also asked him to speak as naturally as possible, without shouting or whispering.
The result surprised us and far surpasses that obtained with a wireless lavalier microphone. We obtained very decent sound when our podcaster positioned himself 45 cm from the Samson Meteor (within a few centimeters). The sound was even quite warm. However, when the distance was reduced to 10 cm , the signal had peaks at certain times or distortion due to sound pressure, which caused the blue LED to turn red.
The closer he got to the microphone, the more the low frequencies became stronger, which is typical of the proximity effect. But compared to that obtained with some dynamic microphones , on the Meteor is relatively insignificant.
On the other hand, when our man moved 70 cm away from the microphone , his voice became less warm, but still audible. Our podcaster is also a very talented singer, so we asked him to sing a few notes to find out how the equipment behaves when used as a microphone for singing .
Once again, the sound captured is excellent and very easy to mix . All the frequencies characterizing the singing voice were faithfully captured. Our man, however, had to move a little closer to the microphone when he was singing in a low voice bordering on a whisper, and he had to move a few inches away during crescendos. The use of a pop filter is not essential since to avoid booms, our man just had to slightly avoid the axis of the microphone.
Since the Samson Meteor is not a stereo microphone, the voice it records is automatically placed in the center of the pan . We noticed during this first part of the test the very low level of background noise and the exceptional clarity of the sound when our podcaster was positioned at the right distance from the microphone.
When it comes to musical instruments, our first candidate for registration is the unamplified acoustic guitar. As with the voice, the closer we approached the Samson Meteor instrument, the more we captured the low frequencies. You have to be careful not to get too close or you risk saturating the sound.
Anyway, even in mono, the sound is perfectly clear and pleasant to hear. A more or less equal balance of treble and bass is obtained when we positioned the guitar approximately 15 cm to 30 cm from the microphone.
Next, our guitarist was looking to record an even, full tone. To achieve this, he positioned the Samson Meteor between 8 cm and 15 cm above the center of the bridge . He was able to achieve emphasis on the highest frequencies and was able to faithfully record the attack sound of the fingering. If at times the microphone picked up too many low frequencies, he simply had to move the equipment so as to slightly avoid the axis of the guitar.
Furthermore, after testing the Samson Meteor with the sound recording of an electric guitar and Bass , we realized that this microphone can very well be used for this purpose. As with voice, it is extremely important to position it at the right distance from the source if you want to faithfully capture all the useful frequencies . The sounds of our Stratocaster-type electric guitar and our Bass were reproduced with excellence.
We also tested the Samson Meteor with a drum kit, specifically the bass drum . We had to position it at the right distance from the instrument to get an acceptable sound. Obviously, it is not possible to put this microphone in the bass drum since it was not designed for this purpose.
We certainly captured the low frequencies characteristic of the bass drum sound well. However, our conclusion is that the Meteor is not really the ideal microphone for recording drum sound in general, as it is not omnidirectional.
The main advantages of the Samson Meteor microphone
The first advantage of the Samson Meteor is undoubtedly its very satisfactory quality-price ratio . You must have noticed how difficult it is to find a good quality microphone on the market today at an affordable price for professional use. The Meteor is one of the rare microphones offered at an attractive price while its characteristics have nothing to envy of microphones which are sold significantly more expensive than it.
In terms of audio quality, even if this microphone does not capture sound omnidirectionally, we were personally seduced by its unique sound . Its performance is satisfactory whether for use on the internet (Skype, video-conferencing, etc.) or for recording in the studio or anywhere else (podcast, voice-over, dubbing, etc.). The Samson Meteor's strength lies in its cardioid configuration and wonderfully smooth frequency response that spans a bandwidth of 20Hz – 20kHz .
Another advantage of this directional microphone is its very neat design which gives it a more professional look compared to other equipment in its category. Its robust and very careful manufacturing quality makes it professional equipment that can last for years if it is well maintained and used properly.
In terms of practicality of use, in addition to being easily transportable, the advantage of the Samson Meteor is that you can control it completely without intervening on the computer's audio interface. You can mute the outgoing signal or reduce the noise level by lowering the output pitch using the volume control knob.
In addition, as it is a “ plug and play ” piece of equipment just like the Rode Podcaster USB microphone , you simply plug it into the computer on the appropriate port (USB) to be able to use it. Obviously, you have to adjust some configuration parameters in the PC or MAC, but there is nothing very difficult.
The technical characteristics of the Samson Meteor microphone
- Polar structure: Cardioid
- Capsule: 25 mm diaphragm with condenser
- Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz smooth and flat
- Max SPL level: 120 dB
- Sampling frequency: 44100Hz and 48000Hz
- Bit depth: 16 bits
- Power supply: 5 V, 70 mA (idle), 100 mA (peak)
- Settings: Headphone volume, Mute button
- Output: 3.5mm stereo jack
- Headphone impedance: 16 Ohms
- Headphone output level: 85 mW into 16 Ohms
- DHT: 0.01% open circuit, 0.04% into 32 Ohms
- Headphone frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
- Signal/Noise: 96 dB (A-weighted measurement)
- Dimensions: 49mm x 100mm
- Weight: 0.3 kg
Our Overall Opinion
Overall Sound Quality
Value for money
Global mark
Our opinion on the Samson Meteor microphone
Belonging to the condenser microphone category, the Samson Meteor is an attractive piece of hardware not only due to its eye-catching design and sturdy build quality, but also due to its exceptional sound quality. This recording equipment is suitable for all voice-centric uses such as podcasts, teleconferencing or remote communication, recording of voice-overs or dubbing voices, etc. Being a “plug and play” piece of equipment, it is very easy to use and its portability is very convenient for traveling. There is no need to bring a whole arsenal (external sound card, preamp, converter, etc.), because the Samson Meteor has them integrated into its system.
Also, the Meteor performs very well in recording instruments, except the drums with which it is less efficient. Regardless, its price is undeniably advantageous for its sound qualities and the features it offers. However, we would have appreciated if it was equipped with a direct XLR or Jack output socket allowing it to be connected to a preamplifier or mixing console. A gain control knob and an attenuation pad would also have been elements that would greatly improve the conditions of use of this microphone.
Samson Meteor Microphone Demo
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