I've been quietly following you for a couple years now and I get all my tech knowledge/advice from your channel. I really appreciate how deep you go down the nerd wormhole for us to turn around and make it easy to understand in layman's terms. I also really dug the Josh Yeo vibes I was getting off of this one. Well done with the parody. I enjoyed it!
The Samson definitely is brighter. I would try adding some high pass to the Deity to knock down some of the muffled bass heaviness, maybe add a little bump to the mid to high end. I tend to like the deeper sound, but the way it's EQ'd it sounds a little dead to my ears.
Yeah, I liked the Deity better, but adding some EQ as @JSW said, would hit the sweet spot in my opinion. Mind you the fact that the Samson is so much cheaper is impressive. As always, great video Gerald.
That's exactely what I thought. I produce music and got really good studio speakers here. So to my ear the Samson: Overall good, a bit flat for his voice with EQ: Little too much bass for me, missing a little mid and the high end doesnt sound that great, but acceptable. (That's just the quality of the mic) Deity: Also too much bass for me, and lacking mid/high as you mentioned
As a producer and mix engineer of 18 years, the Samson with EQ sounds better on your voice, as the Deity was picking up some of those standing waves creating a bit of phase issues, which could probably be somewhat mitigated with different mic placement. On the guitar I preferred the Deity. I actually use the Deity D3 Pro for most my UA-cam stuff myself. Really informative videos man, thanks for all you do.
Here's the thing. On a phone you can't tell the difference unless you really focus. With headphones, I feel my opinion is kind of biased. My ear is accustomed to the Samson being the "gerald undone video" sound. So it felt weird to hear you on the deity. However, the deity sounds more podcast(ish) which has a little more bass to it. I hope that helps haha. Also, amazing b-roll of setting up the mics!
Totally agreed! I have hear this video with my PreSonus Eris 5 and the Sennheiser HD25 headphones through an Audient iD44. I vote for the Deity compare to the Samson EQ out of the box, but I would try to reduce the 200Hz to 600Hz range looking to get rid of the boxed sound, like the sound that the 2S is bringing to the table :) Finally In my opinion about the phone side of sound, we lose all bass frequencies due to the limitations of the speakers, for that I use Exciter plugins to affect only the lowest frequencies with a limit on 150Hz and just a little mix so it is not to much. that way you can get the magic of psychoacoustics and gain more bass on tiny speakers :) (Gerald can you make a video about that??) It would be nice :) Regards from Argentina!
Not being a sound engineer by any means...and I feel sound is primarily subjective to a point. The Deity 2S definitely has more low-end and overall sounds fuller, but the Samson C02 sounds brighter in the higher tones. Particularly while you're speaking or plucking the lower 3 strings on your guitar. Both mics work well for your voice, but in the end it comes down to preference. I personally like your Samson a little better. And FWIW, these outros have got me rolling :lol:
You know it’s serious when Gerald breaks out the PPE. You know, to keep his eyes from being Undone. New intro: “I’m Gerald Undone, and I **am** the God of Hammers.”
I whipped out a guitar in one of my videos too. We should ask Deity to set up a stage next year at NAB with two acoustic guitars 😂 Thanks for the comparison!
When listening to this video on my studio monitors, I find the Deity has a nice sound, but it seems a bit much in the low to lower midrange frequencies. This was my impression in the voice as well as the guitar recording (notes on the 6th string, in particular, were boomier on the Deity). Your EQ of the Samson is well-balanced for your voice, even though that mic lacks some of the Deity's dimension. With a little cut in those low to low mids, I think the Deity would be the winner. And, since it is usually better to cut (rather than boost) frequencies, the Deity might be the more flexible option. Thanks for sharing! Your work is always quite impressive.
I could tell a really slight difference on my studio speakers, but over all both seem like good value. I think at the end of the day just having a video with a consistent decent sound is good enough for youtube and podcasts. Great video...loved the "figuring out how to mount" portion!
Great video Gerald! Both mics are really good. I would say that I like the Deity sound better for your voice. I like the slightly more accentuated lower end on it especially on thinner/smaller speakers such as laptop speakers or smart phone earbuds...
My face preferred the Samson. Maybe something went wrong when you forged the Deity with Thor's hammer in the fires of Helm's Deep? Was a little muddy in comparison after that :)
My professional opinion... The S-Mic 2S is much more detailed but you might might consider rolling off a little more on the low end. Your EQ also introduces a weird and unnatural digital artifact probably around 2.5-3.5K. Listen with headphones and you'll see it. Shouldn't be much to knock that down with a narrow EQ band. Also I don't know if you'd use the S-Mic 2S in the field but if so, you should check out my review of it. I pull no punches in comparing it to the S-Mic 2 in 4 terrible environments and in various configurations.
I own the Samson C02, but I rarely use it. I thought the Deity was better out of the box than the Samson CO2. Your sound treatment of the Samson helped a lot, but I still preferred the Deity.
Hypercardiod mic. Definitely try one. Audio technica makes a reasonably priced one. 90% of the time the shotgun (of any length) is not the right mic. Hypercardiod (and supercardiod) are much more versatile mics and handle the various situations much better than shotguns. Anyone seated in a room should probably have a hypercardiod pointed at them. If you are in a noisy (as in other sounds equal to or greater than your subject) then the shotgun shines. But in the average computer room or home studio, all the off axis lobing caused by the interference tube can act as little unintended shotgun mics to your computer fan or power supply whine. Off axis on a good hypercardiod will just quieter. That doesn’t really happen on a shotgun until you are in $1000+ territory. Off axis on cheaper shotguns will sound filtered, as Curtis demonstrates in the clip you chose. The Deity mics are very good value, I just think people are too hung up on “shotgun” mics
I’m not particularly well versed in the audio world but I can give you an opinion of what I heard based on the audio coming out of my TV. I didn’t watch this video on my PC where I’d have my audio monitors so it was hard to tell the difference, but I guess it’s more of a real world example. When you’re speaking it sounds like the Samson has slightly reduced highs and lows in comparison to the Deity, leading to a flatter sound. The Deity on the other hand sounded like there was more space between the highs and the lows, presumably from both ends being amped more than they are on the Samson. This results in your voice sounding fuller, but as I’m not on my PC with my monitors I can’t tell if the louder highs and lows come with a loss of audio quality. While you were playing the guitar on the other hand it was very difficult to tell the difference on my TV. It sounds like the Samson had the slight edge. Strangely enough it sounded ever so slightly fuller than the Deity, but I’m not sure if that’s because an instrument like a guitar has a fuller sound as opposed to a voice. I’m not audiophile and I was listening on my LGs crappy TV speakers but I hope that’s helpful feedback nonetheless. Keep up the great work, I’ve learned a lot from your channel!
The slightly brighter sound of the Samson makes it better for listening on an iPad’s built-in speakers. Not too bright, just kind of like moving the “clarity” slider up a bit. Same goes for the guitar sound. That means nothing with regard to how the two compare in a better listening environment. Nor does it take into consideration how much of a pain the Samson may be to work with. In this one setting, though, the vote goes to the $50 mic over the $300 example.
That B-roll is pure Yeo! Amazing. I think an EQ'd Deity is the winner. It picked up your mid's and low's much better, but lacked the presence of the Samson. I'm sure that could be adjusted pretty easily in post to give you a great option moving forward. As always, thanks for the vid! "The dislike button's for babies..." I like Gerald off-script!
The Deity sounded much more natural in the upper registers than the Samson. The Deity seems to exaggerate the lower mids a little in a mildly unnatural way but the Samson at the same time just sounded a dull in comparison. Great comparison and subbed!
@@geraldundone I agree with Piston. When listening to the deity, I missed the higher treble when you used the Samson. If you end up with the deity please increase the treble on it. Also, next intro: Hi guys I'm Gerald undone...Or am I?"
Ok. So I've got two different earphones and one pair of reference headphones. I'll test on all three and let you know what do I think. Just MY observations, let's not start a flame war here, please. 1st, IEMs (BIE, Bonus IE): Samson wins for me, it's just got a much fuller sound to it and more detail in the midrange. Just sounds more pleasant out of the box, again, IMO. Annoying is the noise, but removing it is not that hard. 2nd earphones (Monk plus): The detail is still present in the Samson's but the voice is more pleasant on the Deity. The frequency response feels a bit odd on the Deity. Still, this one goes to the Deity. 3rd Closed back Reference headphones (Superlux HD 660): Deity still has the strange frequency response but the sound overall is much better than the Samson's. The bass also has more detail (bass sounded kinda fake/forced on my IEMs despite my IEMs having better bass response than these reference headphones) and body. This round again goes to the Deity, but I *personally* prefer the EQd Samson, cuz it sounds hella smooth. BTW, I'm no audio pro or audiophile, I just like audio. So take everything I say with a grain of salt. I'm done with all the editing and this my final response. :)
I listen the new setup in my studio with the M-Audio BX8 D2 monitor, so , with a good enviroment i can confirm that Deity have more low frequence. For me the Deity is of course better, but if i can suggest one things, for youtube is better to have less low frequency in the voice (also because a lot of peaple watch video on the smartphone). In conclusion, Deity YES, but with the low frequency with a little attenuation. Nice day from Italy, Mike
Here via EposVox. :D Both microphones sound kinda mediocre for you but Samson is much less unpleasant. Some resonance on the S2 somewhere, maybe it can be EQed out. EQed Samson sounds OK. Self-noise of the Samson is what it is, but... does it even matter in an actual room with actual noise sources in it?
I literally lol'd at your B Roll sequence. Love that you're showing us that quirk. And the deity mic was MUCH less noisy. Was surprised how much of a difference even over the youtube pipes. I've been using the D3 pro and have been really happy (actually bought it on your recommendation). Is there a significant difference that you've noticed between this new S mic and that mic with regards to sound quality in your space?
Listening to this on a fairly good audio setup there's quite a difference between the two. But I cannot tell which better reflects your real voice. I'm just used to the Samson. I don't know who's voice is on the other mic :)
I'd love to get my hands on this mic. My recording room is a lt like yours, but even worse for sound. I use a Behringer B5, which is the same style of mic. Great bang for your buck, but it definitely requires some tweaking in post. This sounds like I would be a few steps up.
Deity needs a way control the bass a bit better, it gets spikes in that boomy sound. To my ears the Samson sounds more natural in this recording because of that. Listening on HS8 studio monitors, so it's not the speakers beaing bassy. The high-midrange sounds nicer on the Diety to me though.
Gerald, can you share the exact name of the song on the b-roll? Love it! Awesome video as well, I'm trying to get away with having mics like Sure sm7b really close to my face and get a little bit a space. Thanks
Through my studio monitors I prefer the Deity, but through my iMac speakers I prefer the Samson. I'm not a fan of a heavier bass tone in youtube voice recordings because the audience is more likely to watch on a device with tiny speakers (phone, tablet, computer)... where it can be detrimental to intelligibility and give a boomy character. So overall, I wouldn't choose the Deity. I have access to a lot of good mics and preamps, but for a quick youtube video I plug a Rode NT3 directly into the camera, and clean it up a bit in post .. its plenty good enough. IMO with audio, until you reach a point of significant experience in engineering and post production, there's little point upgrading a budget microphone. The differences are so subtle and subjective as to render them irrelevant.... Heck a $40 (£35) USB microphone can genuinely sound amazing in the right hands. The average UA-camr would, again IMO, be better spending the money on some good audio plugins and learning how to use them.
Just happened to sit in my audio studio while watching this Video :D The Deity S-Mic 2S definitely sounds more natural because of the more low end. I would reccomend to boost the High-End with a Highshelf a little and you could try to boost your voice round about 2,5kHz to 4kHz with a small Bell Band to give your voice some more clearness / speech intelligibility (You have to search a little for the best frequency for this).
Really nice sound out of the box for the Deity! Great low ends and it gives a "radio broadcast" quality! Nice video as always! "Dislike button is for babies..." priceless! HAHAHAHAHA
I liked the Samson better. I also have more bass, deeper voice so I always try to balance it out. I think the Deity has a lot more bass. To me, the Samson seems like we are talking in person, where the Deity seems like you are talking through high-quality PA system.
i’d agree with this. Although the Deity probably had overall better sound quality, it seemed very boomy at the bottom end - maybe too much for Gerald’s natural range? The Samson was definitely thinner sounding, but somehow more natural. The Deity made it very apparent that you are listening to recorded sound.
Deity is surely an upcoming brand to watch out. They're starting to make noise here in Asia. I do have the Lav mic and their D3 Mic Pro really good sound quality. And is cheaper than other known brands! Hope i can also do more videos with these mics soon. Thanks for inspiring!
@@rananapier8424 this one im not sure! But here in Singapore we have a lot of products also coming from China. Huawei is still popular here in SG. But buying items in China this one im not really sure
@@rananapier8424 Yeah, that's true, anything expensive, buy in America. There is a VAT tax here. So almost all electronics are 15-25% more expensive. Where in China you moving to? I'm in Guangzhou.
it’s funny how you can notice in the course of the review what kind of microphone you are used to working with and know its strengths and weaknesses. and so the test is good :)
It was great getting to meet you at Camera Camp. I think I made it pretty weird. Lol sorry about that. Someday I’ll learn how to introduce myself to people.
I prefer the Deity. The lower noise-floor and the richness is an improvement. It does sound a bit boomy in comparison to the Samson. But, the frequency response for the Deity is relatively flat while the Samson has a gentle roll-off starting around 90 Hz and a boost around 8ish kHz. I find I have better results by removing some low end and adding presence to a mic like the Deity, rather than trying to tame harshness in something like the Samson.
The deity has a stronger low end response but it is also muddy on the low end. The Samson is a great mic "for the price" but suffers from a lack of clarity and a somewhat compressed "closed" sound. Both are acceptable on the guitar but both failed to bring any depth of sound. If you are looking for a microphone and have the ability to get test products the AT4041 is around $300 but if your budget can handle another $100 the Earthworks TC20 is simply outstanding.
deity has more proximity effect, wich is good for you: you get more low end to your voice. Maybe a little much, nothing that EQ cannot fix. Further, the china samson has way to much high frequency. the other big difference is the polar patterns... this makes it uneven to compare... two different usecases... I'd stick to the shotgun deity and put it on a good shock mount
So hard to judge without having heard your voice in person but I'll say the Samson sounds brighter, which is often not a positive adjective in audio but in this case it sounds more natural to me. The deity is just a touch heavy handed and seems to pick up more of the room, sounds boxy for the lack of better verbiage. I'd be really curious to hear them both outside with your voice. The difference is very similar to my sennheiser mke600 Vs audio technica AT 4040... I prefer latter for its clarity (slight bump in the upper mids?) But still figuring out how to make it work with my super sibilant voice 😬 Ps standing waves - into audio / home theater?
The audio differences are too minor for me to care, but then I don’t listen to music much and can’t tell the difference between someone singing in tune or not. I have Aspergers and have an autistic response to auditory phenomena. If there was no such thing as music I wouldn’t miss it and the spoken voice is just a means of communicating data so I value about the same as printed text. As long as it can be understood, why worry about fonts and serifs? However I am very much a visual art sort of person and can greatly appreciate the visuals of turning setting up the mic into a mini work of art. Appreciated what you did there.
I'm listening on studio headphones and there really isn't much of a comparison. The Samson is clean and clear with good fidelity. The Diety is less clear and is producing some kind of unpleasant and unnatural tone.
For me the S-Mic 2S sounded too boomy and had a little more room reverb than the C02. That said I think the S-Mix 2S sounded better but not 6x better (it's 6x more expensive, right?). I saw that Diety was supposed to come out with some pencil mics this year, with swappable capsules. That could be the winner in your setup.
Hahaha! Got at least two babies 👶🏾 IMO The Deity certainly has a lower noise floor than the Samson. Sounds much cleaner in that regard. I could hear, however, a low end kind of hum on the deity which could be your EQ pumping that frequency? Unless of course you don’t actually have an EQ applied. It could easily fixed with a tight EQ scoop of that frequency. (Sorry not sure what freq it is exactly.) Hope that’s helpful to you?
I have been watching a lot of your videos Gerald and they are so great!!! I am filming reality TV (think Survivor) running around trying to pick up 2 separate voices at about 3-6 feet away, all outdoors, sometimes these contestants are whispering to each other. I have a Canon xa50 with XLR imputes, what is the best mic to use in this type of application?
For sure the Deity has a smoother top end (high frequency) response, a less “brittle” mid range and a fuller low end than the Samson which, while a cracking mic for the price, reveals its cheapness in its self noise, bass light response and slightly brittle tone. However, together with your room acoustic, voice tone and mic placement the Deity has a slightly unpleasant upper bass “hump” somewhere around 160-240Hz which is slightly distracting and making the top end sound less clear than it naturally is. Rather than boosting 4k and 10k as suggested, I would start with a gentle dip of maybe 2-3db at around 160-240Hz. This should remove the base “hump” and reveal the top end already present. With corrective EQ it’s always better to cut rather than boost - at least at first. Also the human ear is so finely tuned to listening to the human voice that always best do as little as possible to get a good sound in terms of EQ. The phase shifts introduced by EQ are easily noticeable to the listener - who mostly has no idea what’s happening apart from the fact it sounds “odd”. Another great and useful comparison though.
Samson is much nicer, you should go crazy and try out a Scheps anyways though. Ok honestly you should try out the Audio-Technica AT875R, its been one of the best mics I have ever used ever.
The diety (hâte the name) sounds better. But if you get a chance try a Shure ksm 137. That’s what I use for interviews where I can’t use a shotgun. Little boost in the upper high end and it sounds great. Have you tried a hyper-cardioid?
I too think the CO2 is a bit more 'nasal',,,, the Diety is a more rounded sound, due to the low end. It's not 'boomy', but it does have more low end. I would think a touch of EQ would 'fix' if one desires. The Diety also seems more quiet....I just ordered one from Amazon.
Upvoting for delicate hammer technique.
At least it wasn't the Canon Cripple Hammer™
I literally LOL'd.... I LLOL'd.
Hi My name is Gerald Undonde and " IM UP ALL NIGHT TO GET LUCKY!"
Yessss
I've been quietly following you for a couple years now and I get all my tech knowledge/advice from your channel. I really appreciate how deep you go down the nerd wormhole for us to turn around and make it easy to understand in layman's terms. I also really dug the Josh Yeo vibes I was getting off of this one. Well done with the parody. I enjoyed it!
Same here
The Samson definitely is brighter. I would try adding some high pass to the Deity to knock down some of the muffled bass heaviness, maybe add a little bump to the mid to high end. I tend to like the deeper sound, but the way it's EQ'd it sounds a little dead to my ears.
I completely agree.
Yeah, I liked the Deity better, but adding some EQ as @JSW said, would hit the sweet spot in my opinion. Mind you the fact that the Samson is so much cheaper is impressive.
As always, great video Gerald.
That's exactely what I thought. I produce music and got really good studio speakers here.
So to my ear the
Samson: Overall good, a bit flat for his voice
with EQ: Little too much bass for me, missing a little mid and the high end doesnt sound that great, but acceptable. (That's just the quality of the mic)
Deity: Also too much bass for me, and lacking mid/high as you mentioned
As a producer and mix engineer of 18 years, the Samson with EQ sounds better on your voice, as the Deity was picking up some of those standing waves creating a bit of phase issues, which could probably be somewhat mitigated with different mic placement. On the guitar I preferred the Deity. I actually use the Deity D3 Pro for most my UA-cam stuff myself. Really informative videos man, thanks for all you do.
Here's the thing. On a phone you can't tell the difference unless you really focus. With headphones, I feel my opinion is kind of biased. My ear is accustomed to the Samson being the "gerald undone video" sound. So it felt weird to hear you on the deity. However, the deity sounds more podcast(ish) which has a little more bass to it. I hope that helps haha. Also, amazing b-roll of setting up the mics!
Totally agreed! I have hear this video with my PreSonus Eris 5 and the Sennheiser HD25 headphones through an Audient iD44. I vote for the Deity compare to the Samson EQ out of the box, but I would try to reduce the 200Hz to 600Hz range looking to get rid of the boxed sound, like the sound that the 2S is bringing to the table :) Finally In my opinion about the phone side of sound, we lose all bass frequencies due to the limitations of the speakers, for that I use Exciter plugins to affect only the lowest frequencies with a limit on 150Hz and just a little mix so it is not to much. that way you can get the magic of
psychoacoustics and gain more bass on tiny speakers :) (Gerald can you make a video about that??) It would be nice :) Regards from Argentina!
Sweet sequence setting up the mic on the boom arm!
The Deity was definitely better for the guitar, but there was just something about the Samson that was better for your voice.
Not being a sound engineer by any means...and I feel sound is primarily subjective to a point. The Deity 2S definitely has more low-end and overall sounds fuller, but the Samson C02 sounds brighter in the higher tones. Particularly while you're speaking or plucking the lower 3 strings on your guitar. Both mics work well for your voice, but in the end it comes down to preference. I personally like your Samson a little better. And FWIW, these outros have got me rolling :lol:
Mic setup sequence is hilarious 🤣 Thanks for sharing!
You know it’s serious when Gerald breaks out the PPE. You know, to keep his eyes from being Undone.
New intro: “I’m Gerald Undone, and I **am** the God of Hammers.”
Deity sounded better......dislike button is for Babies 🤣🤣🤣 agreed lol
I don't think I have ever seen a mic attachment montage... well played Gerald.
I whipped out a guitar in one of my videos too. We should ask Deity to set up a stage next year at NAB with two acoustic guitars 😂 Thanks for the comparison!
I like it. Sign me up!
Play Wonderwall!
Excellent microphone mounting sequence. I was laughing out loud for that one. ;D
🙏👍🤣
When listening to this video on my studio monitors, I find the Deity has a nice sound, but it seems a bit much in the low to lower midrange frequencies. This was my impression in the voice as well as the guitar recording (notes on the 6th string, in particular, were boomier on the Deity). Your EQ of the Samson is well-balanced for your voice, even though that mic lacks some of the Deity's dimension. With a little cut in those low to low mids, I think the Deity would be the winner. And, since it is usually better to cut (rather than boost) frequencies, the Deity might be the more flexible option. Thanks for sharing! Your work is always quite impressive.
I could tell a really slight difference on my studio speakers, but over all both seem like good value. I think at the end of the day just having a video with a consistent decent sound is good enough for youtube and podcasts. Great video...loved the "figuring out how to mount" portion!
2S looks interesting but I've has such a bad experience with V.Lav that I don't know if I can trust Deity again. V.Lav is just the worst lav ever.
Great video Gerald! Both mics are really good.
I would say that I like the Deity sound better for your voice.
I like the slightly more accentuated lower end on it especially on thinner/smaller speakers such as laptop speakers or smart phone earbuds...
My face preferred the Samson. Maybe something went wrong when you forged the Deity with Thor's hammer in the fires of Helm's Deep? Was a little muddy in comparison after that :)
🤣👍
Whichever you choose will work. Deity has more bass but after listening for ten or fifteen seconds it doesn't matter. Both get the job done.
My professional opinion... The S-Mic 2S is much more detailed but you might might consider rolling off a little more on the low end. Your EQ also introduces a weird and unnatural digital artifact probably around 2.5-3.5K. Listen with headphones and you'll see it. Shouldn't be much to knock that down with a narrow EQ band.
Also I don't know if you'd use the S-Mic 2S in the field but if so, you should check out my review of it. I pull no punches in comparing it to the S-Mic 2 in 4 terrible environments and in various configurations.
Deity sounds better. The mounting bracket sequence was priceless.
When you appky the EQ the Diety definitely sounds better. But, without it both have their weaknesses.
I like the Samson. The Deity sounds more muffled to me.
I own the Samson C02, but I rarely use it. I thought the Deity was better out of the box than the Samson CO2. Your sound treatment of the Samson helped a lot, but I still preferred the Deity.
I prefer the C02. (listening on Grado SR80s)
I prefer the Samson w/o EQs, but they both sound really good so this should really be just a matter of your personal preference.
You’re simply the best!
Hypercardiod mic. Definitely try one. Audio technica makes a reasonably priced one. 90% of the time the shotgun (of any length) is not the right mic. Hypercardiod (and supercardiod) are much more versatile mics and handle the various situations much better than shotguns. Anyone seated in a room should probably have a hypercardiod pointed at them. If you are in a noisy (as in other sounds equal to or greater than your subject) then the shotgun shines. But in the average computer room or home studio, all the off axis lobing caused by the interference tube can act as little unintended shotgun mics to your computer fan or power supply whine. Off axis on a good hypercardiod will just quieter. That doesn’t really happen on a shotgun until you are in $1000+ territory. Off axis on cheaper shotguns will sound filtered, as Curtis demonstrates in the clip you chose. The Deity mics are very good value, I just think people are too hung up on “shotgun” mics
That guitar solo though. Nice!
I’m not particularly well versed in the audio world but I can give you an opinion of what I heard based on the audio coming out of my TV. I didn’t watch this video on my PC where I’d have my audio monitors so it was hard to tell the difference, but I guess it’s more of a real world example.
When you’re speaking it sounds like the Samson has slightly reduced highs and lows in comparison to the Deity, leading to a flatter sound.
The Deity on the other hand sounded like there was more space between the highs and the lows, presumably from both ends being amped more than they are on the Samson. This results in your voice sounding fuller, but as I’m not on my PC with my monitors I can’t tell if the louder highs and lows come with a loss of audio quality.
While you were playing the guitar on the other hand it was very difficult to tell the difference on my TV. It sounds like the Samson had the slight edge. Strangely enough it sounded ever so slightly fuller than the Deity, but I’m not sure if that’s because an instrument like a guitar has a fuller sound as opposed to a voice.
I’m not audiophile and I was listening on my LGs crappy TV speakers but I hope that’s helpful feedback nonetheless.
Keep up the great work, I’ve learned a lot from your channel!
The slightly brighter sound of the Samson makes it better for listening on an iPad’s built-in speakers. Not too bright, just kind of like moving the “clarity” slider up a bit. Same goes for the guitar sound. That means nothing with regard to how the two compare in a better listening environment. Nor does it take into consideration how much of a pain the Samson may be to work with. In this one setting, though, the vote goes to the $50 mic over the $300 example.
Definitely the Deity to My ears, it makes your voice Sound a little more pleasing in My opinion 😎
That B-roll is pure Yeo! Amazing. I think an EQ'd Deity is the winner. It picked up your mid's and low's much better, but lacked the presence of the Samson. I'm sure that could be adjusted pretty easily in post to give you a great option moving forward. As always, thanks for the vid! "The dislike button's for babies..." I like Gerald off-script!
Diety if you want that warm broadcaster type feel. Samson if you want an untouched sound.
Hi, I'm Gerald Undone and I suppose you're all wondering why I've gathered you here.
Love it!
The Deity sounded much more natural in the upper registers than the Samson. The Deity seems to exaggerate the lower mids a little in a mildly unnatural way but the Samson at the same time just sounded a dull in comparison. Great comparison and subbed!
Thank you! Always happy to have a new subscriber. Cheers!
@@geraldundone I agree with Piston. When listening to the deity, I missed the higher treble when you used the Samson. If you end up with the deity please increase the treble on it. Also, next intro: Hi guys I'm Gerald undone...Or am I?"
I'm loving it
I use the S-mic 2. My studio switched from the mkh 416 because it was a better value and we could buy more.
Deity, hmmmm? No worshiping allowed..
The Samson performed better IMO for the guitar piece. Deity all the way for voice.
Ok. So I've got two different earphones and one pair of reference headphones.
I'll test on all three and let you know what do I think. Just MY observations, let's not start a flame war here, please.
1st, IEMs (BIE, Bonus IE): Samson wins for me, it's just got a much fuller sound to it and more detail in the midrange. Just sounds more pleasant out of the box, again, IMO. Annoying is the noise, but removing it is not that hard.
2nd earphones (Monk plus): The detail is still present in the Samson's but the voice is more pleasant on the Deity. The frequency response feels a bit odd on the Deity. Still, this one goes to the Deity.
3rd Closed back Reference headphones (Superlux HD 660): Deity still has the strange frequency response but the sound overall is much better than the Samson's. The bass also has more detail (bass sounded kinda fake/forced on my IEMs despite my IEMs having better bass response than these reference headphones) and body. This round again goes to the Deity, but I *personally* prefer the EQd Samson, cuz it sounds hella smooth.
BTW, I'm no audio pro or audiophile, I just like audio. So take everything I say with a grain of salt.
I'm done with all the editing and this my final response. :)
Thanks for taking the time. I really appreciate it. :)
@@geraldundone anytime dude 😄
And he plays guitar like a boss. Do you sing too, Gerald?! :D
I definitely prefer the Deity mic. I like fullness it adds to your voice.
I listen the new setup in my studio with the M-Audio BX8 D2 monitor, so , with a good enviroment i can confirm that Deity have more low frequence.
For me the Deity is of course better, but if i can suggest one things, for youtube is better to have less low frequency in the voice (also because a lot of peaple watch video on the smartphone).
In conclusion, Deity YES, but with the low frequency with a little attenuation.
Nice day from Italy, Mike
Here via EposVox. :D Both microphones sound kinda mediocre for you but Samson is much less unpleasant. Some resonance on the S2 somewhere, maybe it can be EQed out. EQed Samson sounds OK.
Self-noise of the Samson is what it is, but... does it even matter in an actual room with actual noise sources in it?
I literally lol'd at your B Roll sequence. Love that you're showing us that quirk. And the deity mic was MUCH less noisy. Was surprised how much of a difference even over the youtube pipes. I've been using the D3 pro and have been really happy (actually bought it on your recommendation). Is there a significant difference that you've noticed between this new S mic and that mic with regards to sound quality in your space?
Listening to this on a fairly good audio setup there's quite a difference between the two. But I cannot tell which better reflects your real voice. I'm just used to the Samson. I don't know who's voice is on the other mic :)
Damn! Gerald breaking out the guitar at the end! Badass! I like the Deity, sounds good and relatively affordable.
Cheers, Tyler!
@@geraldundone 🍻🤘 Almost to 100k! Stoked for you man!
I'd love to get my hands on this mic. My recording room is a lt like yours, but even worse for sound. I use a Behringer B5, which is the same style of mic. Great bang for your buck, but it definitely requires some tweaking in post. This sounds like I would be a few steps up.
Deity needs a way control the bass a bit better, it gets spikes in that boomy sound. To my ears the Samson sounds more natural in this recording because of that. Listening on HS8 studio monitors, so it's not the speakers beaing bassy. The high-midrange sounds nicer on the Diety to me though.
Gerald, can you share the exact name of the song on the b-roll? Love it! Awesome video as well, I'm trying to get away with having mics like Sure sm7b really close to my face and get a little bit a space. Thanks
Through my studio monitors I prefer the Deity, but through my iMac speakers I prefer the Samson.
I'm not a fan of a heavier bass tone in youtube voice recordings because the audience is more likely to watch on a device with tiny speakers (phone, tablet, computer)... where it can be detrimental to intelligibility and give a boomy character. So overall, I wouldn't choose the Deity.
I have access to a lot of good mics and preamps, but for a quick youtube video I plug a Rode NT3 directly into the camera, and clean it up a bit in post .. its plenty good enough.
IMO with audio, until you reach a point of significant experience in engineering and post production, there's little point upgrading a budget microphone.
The differences are so subtle and subjective as to render them irrelevant.... Heck a $40 (£35) USB microphone can genuinely sound amazing in the right hands.
The average UA-camr would, again IMO, be better spending the money on some good audio plugins and learning how to use them.
For your voice, I liked the Samson better. For music the Deity 😂. It emphasizes the higher sounds more.
That B-roll LOL.
Just happened to sit in my audio studio while watching this Video :D
The Deity S-Mic 2S definitely sounds more natural because of the more low end. I would reccomend to boost the High-End with a Highshelf a little and you could try to boost your voice round about 2,5kHz to 4kHz with a small Bell Band to give your voice some more clearness / speech intelligibility (You have to search a little for the best frequency for this).
I was thinking the same thing. I'll give that a try today. Appreciate your thoughts! Cheers.
Really nice sound out of the box for the Deity! Great low ends and it gives a "radio broadcast" quality! Nice video as always!
"Dislike button is for babies..." priceless! HAHAHAHAHA
Your videos are so entertaining and such high production quality! You deserve more subs man, I'm sure you'll keep growing 👍
Thanks so much! Appreciate it. Cheers!
I liked the Samson better. I also have more bass, deeper voice so I always try to balance it out. I think the Deity has a lot more bass. To me, the Samson seems like we are talking in person, where the Deity seems like you are talking through high-quality PA system.
i’d agree with this. Although the Deity probably had overall better sound quality, it seemed very boomy at the bottom end - maybe too much for Gerald’s natural range? The Samson was definitely thinner sounding, but somehow more natural. The Deity made it very apparent that you are listening to recorded sound.
I’m on the fence between the 2 vs 2s. They both sound great
Deity is surely an upcoming brand to watch out. They're starting to make noise here in Asia. I do have the Lav mic and their D3 Mic Pro really good sound quality. And is cheaper than other known brands! Hope i can also do more videos with these mics soon. Thanks for inspiring!
Joseph Tagle Asia as in China?
@@rananapier8424 Singapore and in the Pilippines. Good quality mics for the budget. 👌
I was just wondering cause I’m moving to China soon and I’ve been told not to buy any gear while I’m there and to buy it all before I leave America.
@@rananapier8424 this one im not sure! But here in Singapore we have a lot of products also coming from China. Huawei is still popular here in SG. But buying items in China this one im not really sure
@@rananapier8424 Yeah, that's true, anything expensive, buy in America. There is a VAT tax here. So almost all electronics are 15-25% more expensive. Where in China you moving to? I'm in Guangzhou.
it’s funny how you can notice in the course of the review what kind of microphone you are used to working with and know its strengths and weaknesses. and so the test is good :)
I love the Deity s-Mic 2S that sounds like radio DJ quality. Way more fullness.
It was great getting to meet you at Camera Camp. I think I made it pretty weird. Lol sorry about that. Someday I’ll learn how to introduce myself to people.
Pleasure meeting you. Did you have a good time?
Gerald Undone it was amazing, it was a lot to take in in one day. I’m still processing all that happened.
I prefer the Deity. The lower noise-floor and the richness is an improvement. It does sound a bit boomy in comparison to the Samson. But, the frequency response for the Deity is relatively flat while the Samson has a gentle roll-off starting around 90 Hz and a boost around 8ish kHz. I find I have better results by removing some low end and adding presence to a mic like the Deity, rather than trying to tame harshness in something like the Samson.
I think you're probably right. I haven't tried EQ'ing the Deity yet, but I like to work the same way you do.
Gerald Undone Hope you enjoy the mic. Thanks for the video!
Came just because, well, it's a new video by Gerald Undone, stayed for the B-Roll. Amazing video, cheers !
What mic are you using these days?
The deity has a stronger low end response but it is also muddy on the low end. The Samson is a great mic "for the price" but suffers from a lack of clarity and a somewhat compressed "closed" sound. Both are acceptable on the guitar but both failed to bring any depth of sound. If you are looking for a microphone and have the ability to get test products the AT4041 is around $300 but if your budget can handle another $100 the Earthworks TC20 is simply outstanding.
The noise difference isn't bad on the samson at all.
Deity has a low end boom which, personally, I don't like. $300 (no doubt £300 here in UK) is getting near Sennheiser Evolution territory
deity has more proximity effect, wich is good for you: you get more low end to your voice. Maybe a little much, nothing that EQ cannot fix.
Further, the china samson has way to much high frequency.
the other big difference is the polar patterns... this makes it uneven to compare... two different usecases...
I'd stick to the shotgun deity and put it on a good shock mount
I think at first I was used to the Samson and liked it more, but as I warmed up to the Deity, I liked it more.
Samson sounds boxy compared to the Deity, when the EQ is applied. It sounds like the EQ is boosted in a higher low-end range.
So hard to judge without having heard your voice in person but I'll say the Samson sounds brighter, which is often not a positive adjective in audio but in this case it sounds more natural to me. The deity is just a touch heavy handed and seems to pick up more of the room, sounds boxy for the lack of better verbiage. I'd be really curious to hear them both outside with your voice.
The difference is very similar to my sennheiser mke600 Vs audio technica AT 4040... I prefer latter for its clarity (slight bump in the upper mids?) But still figuring out how to make it work with my super sibilant voice 😬
Ps standing waves - into audio / home theater?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Peter! Yeah, I dabble in audio a bit. Not my strongest field, but I try my best.
Man that 2S sounds nice. I would go with it less work and sounds good out the box for your voice.
I think the timber of the samson sits your voice better. Try am audio-technica AT4050
Has that MAKE.ART.NOW vibe ... love it G !
But what about in a public venue like a conference? How do you eliminate the condenser mic picking up everything else around you? Thanks.
Samson definitely
The audio differences are too minor for me to care, but then I don’t listen to music much and can’t tell the difference between someone singing in tune or not. I have Aspergers and have an autistic response to auditory phenomena. If there was no such thing as music I wouldn’t miss it and the spoken voice is just a means of communicating data so I value about the same as printed text. As long as it can be understood, why worry about fonts and serifs? However I am very much a visual art sort of person and can greatly appreciate the visuals of turning setting up the mic into a mini work of art. Appreciated what you did there.
I vote yes S-Mic 2S and Samson C02 as back up if you're not getting rid of it. What was being used on the Stalman podcast?
Thanks Gerald.
Tyler was using three different mics if I remember correctly. A Deity, a Rode, and... I don't remember the 3rd.
@@geraldundone It sounded decent but it was less nasal and deeper than the Samsung.
I think the Deity sounds better..
I'm listening on studio headphones and there really isn't much of a comparison. The Samson is clean and clear with good fidelity. The Diety is less clear and is producing some kind of unpleasant and unnatural tone.
The Samson sounds better. Less boomy.
I can't tell any difference on my cheap Bluetooth earbuds.
For the talking I like the sorry better. For the guitar I like the Samson. Both times the differences are very subtle though
I rather the sound of Samson being a bit clearer. I think the Deity can be eq'ud to sound much better though. definitely a lot of boomy sounds
For me the S-Mic 2S sounded too boomy and had a little more room reverb than the C02. That said I think the S-Mix 2S sounded better but not 6x better (it's 6x more expensive, right?). I saw that Diety was supposed to come out with some pencil mics this year, with swappable capsules. That could be the winner in your setup.
I didn't think I liked the Deity at first, but after all the comparisons, my money is on the Deity for you!!!! and PLEASE PLAY MORE GUITAR!
Hahaha! Got at least two babies 👶🏾
IMO The Deity certainly has a lower noise floor than the Samson. Sounds much cleaner in that regard. I could hear, however, a low end kind of hum on the deity which could be your EQ pumping that frequency? Unless of course you don’t actually have an EQ applied. It could easily fixed with a tight EQ scoop of that frequency. (Sorry not sure what freq it is exactly.) Hope that’s helpful to you?
Overall, I like the sound of the EQ-applied Samson better. The Deity has something wrong in the lower range which could probably be fixed with EQ.
I have been watching a lot of your videos Gerald and they are so great!!! I am filming reality TV (think Survivor) running around trying to pick up 2 separate voices at about 3-6 feet away, all outdoors, sometimes these contestants are whispering to each other. I have a Canon xa50 with XLR imputes, what is the best mic to use in this type of application?
For sure the Deity has a smoother top end (high frequency) response, a less “brittle” mid range and a fuller low end than the Samson which, while a cracking mic for the price, reveals its cheapness in its self noise, bass light response and slightly brittle tone. However, together with your room acoustic, voice tone and mic placement the Deity has a slightly unpleasant upper bass “hump” somewhere around 160-240Hz which is slightly distracting and making the top end sound less clear than it naturally is. Rather than boosting 4k and 10k as suggested, I would start with a gentle dip of maybe 2-3db at around 160-240Hz. This should remove the base “hump” and reveal the top end already present. With corrective EQ it’s always better to cut rather than boost - at least at first. Also the human ear is so finely tuned to listening to the human voice that always best do as little as possible to get a good sound in terms of EQ. The phase shifts introduced by EQ are easily noticeable to the listener - who mostly has no idea what’s happening apart from the fact it sounds “odd”. Another great and useful comparison though.
Samson is much nicer, you should go crazy and try out a Scheps anyways though. Ok honestly you should try out the Audio-Technica AT875R, its been one of the best mics I have ever used ever.
I liked the deity
How does anyone press the dislike button just once??
The diety (hâte the name) sounds better. But if you get a chance try a Shure ksm 137. That’s what I use for interviews where I can’t use a shotgun. Little boost in the upper high end and it sounds great. Have you tried a hyper-cardioid?
I too think the CO2 is a bit more 'nasal',,,, the Diety is a more rounded sound, due to the low end. It's not 'boomy', but it does have more low end. I would think a touch of EQ would 'fix' if one desires. The Diety also seems more quiet....I just ordered one from Amazon.