Samson R21 Cardioid Dynamic Vocal Microphone - 3-pack Reviews

I won't even insult anyone & qualify this product with the affordability aspect of ownership. Let's talk about the warranties, both Shure & Samson 1 year limited liability warranty. Shure will upgrade your warranty for 10 years when you register the product. That says they'll back the product, give you incentive to register. To be candid, a 1 year warranty on a microphone like the R21 or SM58S are, is pretty much basic & standard, would anyone almost expect 1 year warranty. My point is, any of them are going to last 3-5 for materials & workmanship. And the benchmark for low impedance professional grade mics are 50-600 Ohms for Output impedance. The sensitivity of the microphones are identical too.

When you look at the things that result in a dead microphone or lousy performance. First is the fumble that damages the unit. After that for clarity, dust, spit & sweat are going to degrade performance. So put a windscreen on the ice cream cone and keep the dust and moisture out of the microphone. What else can go wrong ? There's always the wiring and the soldering that might either become corroded or come loose. But that's back to keeping the unit in a controlled environment. Are these studio grade mics ? Are they intracoastal park or outdoor stage level products ? They might be both. And we all know an open back cab needs a mic in front & back. A 3 pack makes this possible and still gives you a spare for vocals. I'd really like to see the data on where the Samson falls short of the Shure ? I'm not advocating Shure to manufacture cheaper mics, if their's is that much and away better. But the Samson products are definitely fine for stage, studio, churches and deliver a solid mic for level of performance in any situation. If you're a rock star that likes to destroy equipment, maybe a sturdier build suits you ? Just me, but the rock stars that destroy equipment, they seem to go at it until whatever it is they're trying to break reaches that level of satisfaction for damage. If the microphone is that piece of equipment, it's going to be damaged cosmetically at the very least.

The limitations of the dynamic microphone are common across the board, it's always going to be the potential for feedback, and they all do that. Learn how to use the mic, don't push that threshold for poorer performance.

Forget that you even read any bad reviews on these. How could anyone rate a 3 pack of microphones for under $... anything less than 5 star? Quite honestly... rating mics at this price point is almost pointless. If you expect professional performance out of a mic in this range, you're gonna get a rude awakening. However... someone buying these is likely going to be very happy with the results, given the fact that they only had $... to spend on mics in the first place. These woulda been great back when I was a kid, in a band, with no money. Seriously... how could you go wrong?

I bought theses to use at a wedding. I customized the microphone that the Bride and Groom used to say their vows and at the reception I presented to them as a gift to remember their special moment. Great price!!

Great price and works wonderfully

Thanks hope to still buying from you this was my first buy and feel satisfied, God Bless you

Great!!! Fast Delivery And Great Product Thank You!!

Great Product and value

Great, like always!!

Cheap but really good quality sound. Used it for our home karaoke. Would recommend!

Well made, great price, comes in a case, what more could you ask for.

totally blown away by these. They sound great, they are built well, and they are VERY inexpensive.

Figured I'd give the 3 pack a try as we needed extra mics for large jam sessions..............could not believe the way these mics sounded compared to the high end mics we already had. Try some! You won't be sorry!

My company purchsed the R21 mic package back in 2002 when we first started our gospel group. The first day we use them, we were over whelmed at the by the suburb sound that the R21 produced. We had (5) shure 68 mics before we purchased the R21s and we decided to purchase (6) more R21 mic packages. Wouldn't trade them for nothing. Rating these mics 10+.

Herbert T. Warman Jr.
Victory Harvest Productions

I WISH IT WAS A ON AND OFF BUTTON

For the Price, if you need a good little work horse mic the Samson R21 May Be It. They do not have quite as much range as an SM58 which in every application isnt exactly a bad thing. In live applications this mic works great and the only difference id i dont have to put a low pass cut on it quite as hard as an SM58 and it holds great presence in the mix. I would probably use a Different mic for Recording but for Live Applications I grab one of these out of the bag with no second thoughts. Bang for the Buck, Sound and Quality I give these a 4.5 Star rating.

These mics are a huge bang for the buck. I'm on a limited budget to record drums, and borrowed 3 of these from a friend. I put one inside of the kick, and the other under the ride, and it sounded great! I'm giving them 4.5 stars because honestly they're by no means a great vocal mic and don't deal with proximity well, but they're perfect for a jam session or talkback mics.

I use these mics for a multi-mic podcast. Our main problem was trying to get the sound of the room out of our podcast. This mics are great for what we do and are very focused, and keep the room sound out. I am not sure how "gig-worthy" they are, but I do know for a podcast (especially with folks that do not normally use mics) these are great. Their one main drawback in my opinion is the lack of an on/off switch, however since I am working with people that do not normally use mics, this means I will never have a moment where a person that fidgets turns a mic off during the show, which is a plus for me. So for the price, a fantastic mic.

This an overall great mic for the studio. If you're going to live track, this is a great way to go for vocals. I would even recomend these for condensing. I stuck one over the drums, in-front of my guitar cabinet and one in-front of the bass drum. If mixed properly, they sound fantastic. I've even taken the bottom heads off the toms and stuck a mic inside and they sounded great, no distortion or anything. I haven't tryed out these mics live yet but a mic that's this good in the studio probably wouldn't be the best sounding live. It would probably be better for backing vocals rather than lead vocals. I now have two sets of these (6 mics all together) and they're used everytime my band and I record.

Bought these for the 'Guests" to use.

I like these Samson R21 mics. They sound pretty decent and the price was fair. They are actually not the mics I wanted but the other brand 3-pack was on back order for quite a while. I don't do anything professionally so these will work fine for me. I do wish they had an on-off switch but it is not a problem worth crying over. Over all I feel these mics are a good value for the price. The hard plastic carrying case is a nice bonus as well.

I love the microphones they are perfect

Tried 2 of 3 so far they are great
Couple wks before i bought the 7 pac of piedmont harps by hohner they are great also.
You folks at SWEETWATER , have great music
Equipment.
Ill get more from you as my need grows
Thanks
Yours truly
Leonard I Lehman
MR BLUES MAN

Love them i can get alot of volume out of even the shyest singers that back away from their mics

good mics but don't use as hand held mics but if you have the money get 3 sure sm 58s or 3 sm57 (whats the diffrence?) but overall they are good mics. i use them to mic bass drums, snares, amps and vocals and they sound great and they don't distort when things get rough.

These mics are good for the price. They have a bit of handling noise but with enough experimentation this can be avoided. I would highly recommend them for backing vocals rather than a main singer. They are good if they are held up by a stand rather than held up by a hand.
They also come in a carrying case that is very durable.
If you are on a budget, get these. They are a great deal.

These are well worth the money, but you get a mic that is not as awesome as a more expensive mic....which is the practicality of it! They worked fine for my use...

These are no 58's, but they did get the job done and they were quite inexpensive. They worked well on both amps and vox. Minimal feedback hassles, no stress about energetic musicians knocking over a stand ('cause they were so cheap). These were used all weekend for multiple bands at an outdoor festival with no complaints--although nobody raved about the awesome mics and asked where we got them either.

They are not as robust as other reviews made them sound; they are shorter and lighter than mics pros will be used to, although they are by no means flimsy or cheesy. The clips are inexpensive (think Radio Shack), and the case looks cool in the website images but it's really pretty much just for show--like a tackle box with a foam insert.

Still, they really did sound surprisingly good; they have a nice little high-end bump that give a lot of air without causing too much sibilance. And for fifty clams for THREE of them, I am not concerned about their longevity.

I can recommend them freely, mostly because they are so affordable. I'd rate them higher, but I don't want to mislead someone looking for serious pro gear (which you won't get for this price anywhere).

I used mine for the first time last night. Really had to crank a lot of volume to them to get to match my better mics .

two words: HANDLING NOISE. the handling noise on this mic is somehow AS LOUD and present as the output from singing directly into it. It probably has to do with the fact that there isn't any internal shock mount or even one bit of isolation in the entire microphone design, unlike a sm57 which has decent built-in isolation. Basically, unless you know how to remove 100% of the handling noise either at the source (like hanging it from an overhead stand, out of the way for anyone to touch it) or after the fact, in the mixdown (with de-essers, de-noisers, and good old fashioned back-breaking editing)...

TBH, Samson is one of my favorite budget brands.. their CO2 small condensers are honestly the absolute best SDC mic pair at its price point. but these??.... DO NOT buy these. they give Samson a bad name.
I got them a few years ago so that I could have extra mics for close micing toms or for backup singers... but they were so lousy that I pretty much gave them all away, or intentionally "lost" them. I know its only $ for three mics, but DON'T do it!! save up for a sm58, or go with the PYLE 57. You will only regret buying these microphones.

Even if you don't fully understand how loud handling noise can ruin a perfectly good mic, you will quickly start asking yourself, "why can I hear my hand touching the mic at the same volume as my voice speaking?? is my PA bad? broken cable??" nope. just a bad microphone. I should say that you should never skimp on mics.... but if you gotta do it, just please don't buy these.

These are not good mics. Save your , money. Better to buy a used SM58, 57, EV or AKG for a few dollars more than a sac of these. Even a Behringer XM8500 @ 24 bux retail is better. You find R21s in pawn shops gathering dust for 5 bux and for good reason.
Samson makes some good condensers but their dynamics are pretty poor.

These mics are absolute Crap. You have to get right on it for your voice to be heard. Move any where left, right, or back just a little bit and the volume is gone. I know good mic technique but these do not help. I mean total volume drop.
The reason they give you three is they are very fragile and BREAK. One got knocked over by an enthusiastic fan, hit the stage and exploded! Then, one pin inside the XLR broke. Then the last one took a dive and came a part. Basically, you get what you pay for. Oh and the latch on the cheap plastic box broke too.
Pay the xtra coin and get a shure 58, They sound great and are solid.