You can use this jack to monitor the microphone’s input or to hear audio from your computer. The Rode Podcaster microphone also includes a headphone jack with a dedicated volume knob. But if you want to hear what’s coming from the computer-from a digital audio workstation application such as GarageBand, for example-you can flip another toggle switch on the side of the G-Track to the CPU position. Plugging your headphones into this port allows you to monitor the mic’s input directly, without the latency you’re likely to get from sound going through the G-Track, into a tethered computer, and back out to the laptop or microphone’s headphone jack. The G-Track’s Volume knob controls output volume from the mic’s built-in Headphone jack, also found on the bottom of the mic. To switch between instrument and line-level input, there’s a toggle switch on the left side of the microphone. You use this input for connecting-and, thus, recording-instruments such as an electric guitar, bass, or keyboard, or for recording a line-level input-the output from a tape deck or mixing board, for example. The Inst knob controls the gain for the miniplug input (“In”) port found on the bottom of the microphone. Above the Mic knob you’ll find the Inst and Volume knobs. The G-Track sports two additional knobs, which hints that it’s more than simply a USB microphone.

This is a nice touch as it makes it easy to adjust and test the gain without having to record a long segment, only to realize afterwards that the gain was too hot. The G-Track also includes an LED that glows green until you over-power the mic, at which point the LED turns red. The Samson G-Track offers a gain knob marked Mic once you’ve adjusted the gain to your liking, you press the knob to lock it in position. On the MXL mic, this appears in the form of a three-position switch marked Lo, Med, and Hi. This slider is grayed-out with the MXL and Samson microphones instead, these mics include hardware controls for adjusting gain. The gain of the Podcaster and Snowball microphones can be adjusted via the Input Level slider in the Input tab of Sound preferences. When you plug them into your Mac, they appear as an input option in the Sound pane of System Preferences-identified as either USB Audio Codec (for the MXL and Samson mics) or by the microphone’s actual name. No special drivers are necessary for the microphones to operate. Each microphone includes some variety of mounting hardware: a stand for the MXL, G-Track, and Snowball mics and a stand mount for the Podcaster. The Snowball microphone has an additional omnidirectional mode that, with the flip of a switch, allows the mic to record from all sides. These are directional microphones that pick up sound in front of them in a heart-shaped pattern.

Apple MacBook Pro built-in (3.1MB AIFF)Īll the microphones I tested are of the cardioid condenser type.

Samson sound deck software review