Recording Studio Equipment

So admittedly I should have done more research before making this purchase. I found Windows 7 64-bit drivers on M-Audio’s website, so I assumed (and we know what that does, right?!) that they were good drivers. Wrong! Spent a couple days troubleshooting and reading forums before I just decided that the 64-bit drivers were not ready for primetime. Lots of popping, feedback, and latency, which should not have been happening on my quad core system w/4 gigs of RAM.

Fortunately I’m PC savvy and had an extra WinXP license, so I set up my system to dual-boot Win 7 64-bit and Win XP 32-bit. Installed ProTools and the interface on the XP partition, and Voila! Perfection! A little inconvenient to have to reboot when I want to record, but I don’t really multitask while recording anyway, so no big deal.

So now I’m very pleased with the product. My only “criticism”, if you can call it that, is that the software really is pro quality, so the learning curve is substantial for a recording n00b like me, but I’m figuring it out.

I almost sprung for the MK11 version with the phantom power, but for my needs I figured I could get by without any fancy condenser mics for a while, so I save some cash and got the Fast Track USB.

Hope this helps!

My Grandson said this was a fantastic piece of equipment for where he currently is in his music career.

My son’s friend is always buying different gadgets and devices and bringing them over to try them out/show them off. He had a pair of these and was talking about how good they were. I have a pair of Audio Technica ATHM40FS Precision Studio Headphones, some old Koss Pro-4AA Studio Quality Headphones, some Sony MDR-V900HD Studio Monitor Type Headphones HD Driver, some Koss Hi Fi Stereophone with Volume Maximum Durability (158445), and a few others. I’m not going to tell you that these were as good as the A/Ts or the Sonys. I will tell you that I was impressed enough with them to buy some and some for a friend as well. After a few days of break in, they have proven themselves to be comfortable solid performers. I am more than satisfied with the quality for the price.

Not only are these the most handsomely packaged headphones you’re likely to find (gold lettering proclaiming: “Samson Stereo Reference Headphones Dynamic Output Design”; “for Studio Reference”; “Accurate Monitoring”; “Maximum Isolation and Extended Low Frequency Response with Close Ear Design”–all this on a transparent box displaying the phones as well as two gold-plated stereo plugs–full-sized and mini), but once you put them on, they pretty much live up to the production values and hype. One thing’s certain: you’ll never find anything better at this price. I considered this a “justified purchase,” since I work in a studio, where I do public announcing and music broadcasting.

For the record, these compare favorably to the studio’s Sony MDR-7506s, even though the latter are about six times the price. The bass is “extended,” to be sure, but never heavy, boomy or muddy. With all controls on the amp or sound source set “flat,” the treble is a bit soft for my tastes, but nothing that a minor EQ adjustment can’t fix. The all-important middle-range is present, definitive, clear–for both vocals (spoken and sung) and instrumentals. Perhaps compared to the studio Sony phones, these are a trifle bigger, a little bit heavier and slightly more loose-fitting but, as advertised, they’re constructed with a “closed-ear design providing maximum isolation.” Away from the studio I prefer my Sennheiser PX-100s or Koss Portapros, but either of these is too open and lightweight for working close to a microphone. Feedback becomes a problem shortly into a broadcast. Although I’m a fan (apparently, one of the few) of the Koss UR-40s (about twice the cost of the Samsons), the Samson CH700s certainly appear to be better made–rugged, strong and, most likely, more durable than the UR-40s (the Koss webbing broke loose during the first several months of use). Moreover, the Samson CH700s have a generous and relatively thick cable (expecially compared to the thin, short wire of the Koss UR-40s) PLUS single-cord attachment (usually found only on costly phones yet practically mandatory for the sort of scrambling I do while broadcasting and operating as many as 4 decks at the same time).

One more A-B comparison: the Sennheiser Evolution EH-150 full-sized headphones vs. these Samson CH700s. Initially, the EH-150s seemed large to me (especially after the PX-100s), but alongside the Samson CH700s they appear relatively trim. In other words, some individuals may be turned off by the size of the Samson phones; others, most likely, will be drawn to them because of their solid, engulfing appearance. (My guess is that they would not be a big hit with many female listeners or, for that matter, individuals with heads any narrower than mine). As for the sound, the Sennheiser EH-150s are likely to impress many young listeners–instantly. The bass is not merely “extended”: it’s prominent, and it’s punching. For that reason alone, some listeners may judge them worth the price (which is more than twice that of the Samson CH700s). Not this listener, however. The bass from the Samsons is far more “natural,” clearly-defined, and pleasing over the long stretch (it doesn’t take long for the bass from the Sennheiser EH-150s to wear out its welcome, becoming muddy and uninteresting–at least to some experienced ears).

In short, Samson is a good name and can only get better, thanks to the quality and value of products like the CH700s. The company has practically cornered the market with the world’s most popular (not to mention effective and affordable) personal digital audio recorder (Zoom H2), and they’ve impressed the most fastidious critics with a slightly more sophisticated (and expensive) successor (Zoom H4n). They’re currently taking a lot of flak for their latest product, the Zoom Q3 (basically a Flip videocam attached to an H2). They goofed big-time by completely (and inexplicably) ignoring the public’s current obsession with “HD video,” but look for that oversight to be corrected in short order.

Heck, if you decide not to purchase these phones, you could do far worse than invest the money in a share or two of the company’s stock.

For the price, these are pretty amazing headphones. My husband owns some personally, which he uses for simple audio editing and listening to music at the house. Our church also owns a pair for the sound booth in the auditorium. Our church has a full band (drums, guitars, keyboards, vocals, etc.), and the headphones really help isolate the sound for the tech.

- Comfortable (no headaches)
- Structure is durable and hardy
- Adjustable for different size heads
- Good sound quality and dynamic range
- Effective at blocking out external noise (okay, so they’re not Bose, but they’re pretty dang good!)

ONLY CON
Wear and tear on the ear pads – the vinyl fabric covering the ear pads starts cracking and crumbling eventually (takes 2-3 years depending on how much you use them). The bonus is that you can purchase the replacement ear pads for just a few dollars from Full Compass online.

Obviously, you can get much better headphones by paying lots more money, which some people need to do because of their usage needs. However, for this price range, I haven’t found anything better. If they ever break, we’ll be replacing them with the identical pair – they are that good.

I’ve had my hands on a lot of headsets, and this is by far one of the nicest I’ve put on my head. I like the closed-ear phones, and they are studio quality.

They’re EXTREMELY comfortable, and the sound range is fantastic! Picked them up on an Amazon special and boy, what a bargain!

If you want a set of phones with a clean, rich sound, you can’t go wrong with these. They have incredibly clear lows and crisp, clean highs.

I would buy another set of these without even thinking about it.