USB microphones nowadays have to be something a wee bit special to stand out from the crowd.
With a couple of unique tricks up its sleeve, the Samson G-Track Pro aims to provide an all in one solution to Podcasters, YouTube creators and most importantly – home recording musicians.
Does it deliver?
Samson have a great track record when it comes to creating great quality yet affordable recording gear.
Their by now legendary C01 microphone has graced many a beginner’s desktop or microphone stand. The USB variant, the CO1U was the very first ‘proper’ microphone I ever owned.
Things have moved on a bit since then, but so it seems have Samson.
“..the overall sound quality of the G-Track Pro comfortably surpasses any other USB microphone at this price point.”
The G-Track Pro aims to go toe to toe with industry standard microphones from the streaming world, most noticeably the Blue Yeti. The name of the game here is top quality audio via an easy to set up USB connection.
Samson haven’t abandoned their core music making audience however. The G-Track Pro provides a number of unique features like multiple polar patterns and a dedicated instrument input that means you could quite easily use this microphone as your main recording interface.
One of the biggest plus points of Samson’s G-Track Pro is its versatility.
The microphone features dual 1” capsules which allows you to choose between three individual polar patterns.
Omnidirectional, which picks up sounds from all directions, 360 degrees around the microphone. This is great for recording a group of singers gathered around the microphone for example, or for capturing the room during a live performance.
Unidirectional (or cardiod), which captures sound from directly in front of the microphone and rejects sounds from the sides and back. This is the most widely used polar pattern used in a studio environment. If you plan to record a lead vocal, acoustic guitar or an electric guitar through an amplifier for example, then this is the polar pattern to go for.
Bi-Directional or Figure 8 This setting captures sounds from directly in front of and behind the microphone while rejecting sound from the sides. This pattern is great for capturing two musicians at the same time if you place the mic right in between them, or would also work really well in an interview situation.
Most of the time in a traditional home recording situation, you’ll be using the cardioid setting, but it’s great that the figure 8 and omnidirectional options are available here too.
It IS worth noting that those other polar patterns are slightly noisier, likely due to them picking up more room’ noise. The overall sound quality of the G-Track Pro however, comfortably surpasses any other USB microphone at this price point.
“The G-Track Pro aims to go toe to toe with industry standard microphones from the streaming world, most notably, the Blue Yeti.”
The other killer feature here is the 1/4” instrument input.
This works in exactly the way you would expect. It gives you a strong, clear signal to work with. Flipping that Mono/2 track switch to the Mono position will record both the microphone and whatever instrument you have connected to one single track.
Flip that switch to 2 track and both the microphone and instrument will be recorded at the same time again, only this time the G-Track Pro will output them as separate recordings.
This is a fantastic feature and not one i’ve seen on many (if any) other interfaces or microphones.
“I think this would be a great choice for a home recording beginner”
Samson’s G Track Pro. To begin with I wasn’t really convinced that this microphone could actually succeed as the jack of all trades that it sets out to be. But you know what? It’s brilliant.
More than that, I think this would be a great choice for a home recording beginner as the sheer amount of versatility afforded to you would be incredibly useful I think.
Add to that the stellar build quality, great sounding audio and the plug and play nature of a USB microphone like this and you end up with an incredible package and an easy to recommend bit of gear.
