AudioChainsDB

SamsonQ9U

microphone

New retail price (MSRP)

$199

Used market: $155*

Check price at ThomannManufacturer datasheet

Specifications

5 of 9 values have a recorded source
Built-in converter
24-bit, 96 kHz·
Connectors
XLR 3-Pin Male · USB-C · 3.5 mm Headphone Out·
Built-in converter
yes·
Transducer
Dynamic Moving Coil✓
Sensitivity
-57✓
Output impedance
250✓
Phantom power required
no✓
Connection
Hybrid-USB-XLR✓
Indexable Locales
en·

Expert Audio Engineering Commentary

Tonal profile

Cardioid dynamic with a humbucking coil, 50 Hz to 20 kHz, low-cut and mid switches, XLR and USB-C outputs, 24-bit at up to 96 kHz.

Gain staging

Samson publishes two sensitivities that look alike and are not comparable: -57 dBV/Pa for the XLR output and -16 dBFS/Pa for the USB output. Only the first belongs in a gain calculation; the second describes the internal converter's headroom at unity gain. On XLR the Q9U is as hungry as a PodMic - about 60 dB for speech.

Setups using this gear

Samson Q9U: two "Max Sensitivity" lines, −57 dBV/Pa and −16 dBFS/Pa — which one is the microphone?

* Estimated with the depreciation fallback (~78% retained value).