Recently, our friends at Samson sent over a Samson Go Mic Direct for us to review, and that one turned out to be a surprisingly powerful and equally surprisingly portable system. Its contemporary, the Samson Meteorite, also got sent our way for review. This one is a much different prospect, though not necessarily a better or a worse one.

The Samson Meteorite is a small ball microphone set on top of a stand. The stand is partially magnetized to hold the ball within its confines—though removing the ball requires very little force—and as such the ball can be adjusted in most any angle as is most comfortable for the speaker. It's a simple USB connection, requiring very little in the way of plugging it in and adjusting levels slightly until optimal results are had. It offers a windscreen to reduce the impact of popped P's—which generally happens when you pronounce the letter a little too hard—and a telltale blue/red LED light on the face of the microphone to allow users to see when audio is clipping or sound is running smoothly.

Testing the device took two laptops this time around thanks to an odd hiccup in the system, one that wasn't indicated in the quick start guide. The quick start guide is indeed quick; it's a eight-panel pamphlet providing some very easy instructions, but it still didn't cover the one big issue I had this time around: I'm not convinced this thing works with Windows Vista.

Setting up the device on a Windows Vista laptop turned out to be difficult, and the device just wouldn't work with it. But when I moved it over to a Windows 7 laptop, that did the trick nicely and allowed full range of options. This time around, the farther away I got from the mic itself, the softer the playback was. Sound from across the room came back muffled, while sound within shorter ranges came back sharp and clear. It was enough to make me wonder if perhaps this is less powerful than its contemporary the Go Mic, but after hearing sound quality in shorter-range trials, it seemed clear that this wasn't so much a lesser mic as it was one geared toward short-range operation.

Given that the word "podcast" came up right in the introduction itself, it does suggest a device not so much suited for, say, a VoIP call where the caller might be moving around the room, getting papers or coffee or the like, and rather more for an audio performance of some kind. The sound quality returned certainly  is sharp enough, and it does quite well at even lower levels. Like the Go Mic Direct before it, it came pre-set at a "three" out of a hundred for overall level, but the recorded dialogue even at three was still quite audible. Very soft, yes, but I could make out most every word on the playback. The magnetized base may sound strange and unnecessary, but it actually works quite will to tilt the microphone face in the optimal direction.

Those interested in getting hands on one of these will be happy to note that, while the suggested retail price is $59.99, Amazon and several other retailers are selling it at $39.99. This is a pretty good price, and while it may seem a bit much for a stand-alone mic, it will ultimately deliver some very sound audio quality.

Pros: Easy set up, fine quality at close ranges, easily adjustable

Cons: Terrible with distance recording, may not work with Windows Vista systems