It takes a real audio geek to immediately zero in on a microphone in a TV episode during a shot where a guy is being tortured. But not surprisingly, that is exactly what I did. During the Nov 2nd episode of the TV show Grimm, on NBC, there was a scene of a computer with footage of a guy being tortured with a hot branding iron. Next to the computer, as big as life, was a rather distinctive looking microphone called the Samson Meteor Mic, a USB studio microphone.
It’s a very distinctive and stylish little mic that is reminiscent of the classic Shure Super-55 “Elvis” type microphone. The Samson Meteor Mic is a compact mic with a folding tripod stand built into it, along with a headphone jacke (1/8th inch) and volume control. Of course being a USB mic, all you have to do is plug it into a computer and start using it. All of those features make it extremely handy and easy to use, as well as being very portable. It costs $55 and is an excellent upgrade from a standard computer mic that you would plug into the sound card of your machine.
The only complaint I’ve seen about these microphones is that there are no rubber tips on the ends of the tripod legs. The reason that is such a big deal is that it makes it easy for vibrations to travel up from the surface the mic is standing on, such as your desk or whatever table the computer happens to be sitting on. This is pretty easily remedied, however. All you have to do to dampen those vibrations is set the mic on something that will absorb the noise, such as a mouse pad or something else made of rubber.
To find out more, or to get one of these little guys for yourself, click here.
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