Paul White takes Samson's new Neodymium, dynamic hypercardioid vocal mic out on a pub gig to see how it compares to the more traditional choice of live vocal mic.

The choice of high quality, cost-effective vocal mics has never been greater. With breadth of choice, however, comes confusion over what to buy. To avoid having to deal with that confusion, it's usually easier to go out and buy a Shure SM58 because the guy up the road uses one. Without demeaning the Shure SM58 in any way (I have one in my gig bag too), this is not always the right thing to do, simply because every make and model of mic sounds slightly different. A more sensible approach is to try a number of mics in your price range, then pick one that sounds good with your voice. For example, if you have a thin voice, a bright mic may make it seem even thinner, whereas a person with a very middly voice might sound positively dull through a mellow mic. The ideal is a mic that produces a full, clear sound, with both power and clarity of articulation.

ON YOUR MARKS

Samson's Q mic is outwardly conventional, but small evolutionary improvements have been made in the fine detail of the design. In common with many other modern dynamic mics — including Shure's Beta 58 — the Q mic uses a Neodymium magnet. Neodymium produces a stronger magnetic field than conventional ferrite materials, thus permitting the use of a smaller, lighter voice coil — in this case, an aluminium, humbucking coil. The idea behind a humbucking coil is that magnetic interference (such as mains hum) is cancelled out; it doesn't cause a change in sound as it does in guitar pickups. Properly designed, a Neodymium driven microphone has a little more output level and a better high frequency response than a conventionally built mic.

At one time, most vocal mics were cardioid in response, but now there's a tendency towards hypercardioid in order to provide better separation against spill from monitors or other on-stage sounds. The Q mic is a hypercardioid model, and as such you have to bear in mind that the dead area of a hypercardioid is around 45 degrees off the rear axis (see last month's 'Feedback!' for a more detailed explanation).

The vast majority of dynamic vocal mics have a modified frequency response to help them produce a clear sound in a typical gig environment. The Q mic's frequency plot shows a very gentle presence peak around 2kHz, with a second, more pronounced peak at between 6 and 7kHz. At the bass end, the response starts to roll off at around 100Hz to prevent excessive bass emphasis when the mic is used up close. When working in close proximity, bass emphasis is a feature of all cardioid pattern mics.

Professional singers use this to their advantage by moving closer to the mic when they want more depth, and further away when they want a thinner sound. The actual directional characteristic of the mic is determined by porting at the rear of the capsule. In this case, vertical porting has been used, ostensibly to reduce distortion due to standing waves.

"... the mic projects well and exhibits a nice blend of solidarity and clarity."

All hand-held vocal mics are susceptible to handling noise, but this is minimised by flexible capsule mounting systems within the microphone body. The Q mic shockmount allows the capsule to move slightly in any direction, while the internal matching transformer is covered in neoprene to prevent it from translating body vibrations into sound. These measures don't entirely eliminate handling noise — no system does — but they bring it within acceptable limits.

Most vocalists will be familiar with mics that pop on B or P sounds, and they'll also have used mics that exaggerate sibilance on S and T sounds. Short of restricting your choice of lyrics to exclude these consonants, you have to put yourself at the mercy of your mic's windshield — you can use an external pop filter in the studio, but not live. The wire basket that protects the microphone capsule also acts as a pop filter, to some extent, by dissipating blasts of air as turbulence. Because the basket is so close to the capsule, its efficiency in this respect is limited, but the inclusion of two or more layers of mesh still makes a significant improvement to popping. Samson have used a triple plated, multi-stage windscreen with an additional circular filter over the centre section to help reduce sibilance — most mic designs try to reduce popping, but few attempt to tackle sibilance. A tough ring around the basket helps reduce the risk of accidental damage. Gold-plated pins are used on the balanced XLR output to ensure reliable connection. The mic body is cast zinc with an anti-reflection finish and no switches. A stand clip and foam lined carry case complete the package.

DOWN THE PUB

Aesthetically, the Q mic is well balanced, it feels substantial without being unduly heavy, and it looks nicely engineered. It also sits securely in the mic clip provided.

On the sensitivity front, the Q mic produces a comparable output level to other well-specified dynamic vocal mics — there's certainly no shortage of level. The tonality is slightly unusual in that the 2kHz presence rise provides the expected live vocal mic projection, but then the 6-7kHz peak comes in and creates a sense of high frequency spaciousness more reminiscent of a capacitor mic. The HF response isn't so extended or well-defined as you would get from a capacitor mic, but it does create an illusion of openness — a nice contrast to the slightly nasal tonality exhibited by a surprising number of well-regarded dynamic cardioids.

On the spec sheet, the frequency response is quoted as 20Hz to 18.5kHz. However, these numbers are meaningless as it is not specified how many dBs down from the nominal value these figures are. From the frequency graph supplied, the 3dB down points seem to be at around 70Hz and 16kHz, which is pretty much what you'd expect. In any event, with the deliberately tailored response characteristic of a live vocal mic, the figures don't tell you a great deal anyway — all you really have to go on is the subjective sound.

AT THE BAR

In a gig situation, the mic projects well and exhibits a nice blend of solidarity and clarity. Popping and sibilance are kept well under control. Overall, I felt quite comfortable with this mic. Its resistance to feedback was good, although not noticeably different to that of other high quality hypercardioids I compared it with. I also rather liked the physical styling. Definitely a mic to try if you feel you need help maintaining clarity, but you don't want to sacrifice either power or natural tonality.

Samson Q £149 inc VAT.

Sound Technology, (Contact Details).