Samson CL5 -handheld condenser Microphone user reviews 

I surfed the net for a decent review before buying this mic, but couldn't find one. So I purchased it hoping it wouldn't suck. Fortunately, it doesn't suck.

The first thing that struck me when I opened the box for the first time was how small it was. The body and ball are quite a bit smaller than something like an SM58. The mic is a true externally biased condenser, not a back electret. Under the ball, which is two layers of steel mesh, no foam, you find what looks like the capsule of a small diaphragm condensor, not unlike a Rode NT5, but made of what looks like brass. Covering the capsule is a small filter made of fine nylon mesh on a small plastic frame, which easily lifts off the capsule. Interestingly, the layer of mesh on top and the layer wrapped around the circumference of the frame do not seal, leaving a 1 or 2 mm gap. This nylon filter could have been useful for keeping contaminants from the capsule - not sure why they didn't seal it.

In use, the mic has low handling noise, which pleasantly surprised me, as I find a lot of 2nd tier mics really suffer in this regard. Also, the high frequency response is extended, but not really hyped. In this regard, the mic really performs more like a studio mic than a live mic, as many live sound mics do have a larger presence-peak.

During performance, if I back off the mic a few cm, it does suffer a little from plosives. If you come up real close and "eat" the mic, the pop filter actually does a better job of diffusing the puff of air, eliminating the pop at the cost of heightened proximity effect.

This mic won't cut through the mix like some more tailored vox mics, like a Beta 58a, but it has good, clean output with relatively low self-noise. And, as advertised, the polar pattern is a nice tight super cardioid and I've had no problems at all with feedback.