SAMSON AirLine AWX Wind Instrument Wireless Horn Microphone Mic 470494 MHz

I am a big fan of Samson and have used their Airline model for years. I loved having the preamp on the mic so so cable to deal with, which I hate. Ii didn’t like the clip stability on the horn and it would sometimes fall off during a performance. The AAA batteries usually lasted fine but a costly expense over time. The only other problem only happened a couple of times but the lack of multiple channels. The AWX solves those problems with an awesome clip re-design, rechargeable battery, multiple channels, and a better mic design…and even made the receiver stronger. I’m a retired prof. musician and still perform weekly. The companies support staff couldn’t be more helpful. Like I said, The perfect sax mic!

My review is about the comparison of this model vs the previous gen. I’ve had the new one for 2-3 weeks now, I had the old one since 2015. I’m a professional sax player/producer/audio engineer. I play with 2 recording artists, & 3 different groups. I have lots of experience with many products in the pro audio & studio world.First off, what I love most about both models (new & old gen) is that the transceiver does away with cables that get caught up in your sax keys. No more annoyance & bad notes.Everything has been improved in the new model; it’s more robust, audio quality & materials are all better quality, longer range and the option to change channels. It was actually illegal to operate the old model around hospitals, airports, radio stations & military bases. The only con I find with the new model – is that the transmitter is a little too big to let my sax sit straight in my sax stand if I were to take a break during a gig. I have to remove the transmitter to let my sax sit securely. It’s more of an inconvenience if anything.• In the previous model, everything was plastic, so it felt cheap & things did break.• I love the longer neck, it’s actually a gooseneck this time. I felt that the old one was too close to the bell & often got proximity effect. Sometimes the mic picked up the pads closing.• the new model is now using a rechargeable battery, so bye-bye AAA batteries. It lasts about 5 hrs on a full charge. It lasted about the same on batteries. Another little con is that the magnet doesn’t secure the connection that well for recharging. It’s minor though. But I wish it were a little better. But it does charge pretty fast.• Improved audio quality, less piercing hi-mids, nice clarity in the high end and it captures the character better. It seems a little brighter without it coloring your sound. The longer gooseneck eliminates the low end proximity effect without thinning your sound. Pretty good balanced sound.• I love how they include parts to help install into a rack mount. The previous model didn’t have that, it was hard to find a kit for it.• Much better improvement on the receiver, it looks a lot more pro; I love the battery life indicator, the housing is metal instead of plastic, you can install the antennas on either front or back.• I would rank this mic over a Shure BLX14. Very similar audio quality, but this mic feels and looks better quality, or “more pro” than the Shure. AND for a fraction of the cost.In summary, I firmly believe in my 25 yrs of experience with Pro Audio, you get what you pay for. It’s very rare you find a product that over-performs itself – and this mic is one of those instances. Would I compare this mic to a $1000+ mic? Probably not. I know Samson isn’t a brand with a reputation like Shure, JBL, QSC, Mackie, etc. But with this mic, you can throw them into the conversation. They here.

I’ve owned this system for almost 3 years and used this system at close to 200 gigs, both in- and outdoors. It has several great features, but even with proper care and usage (RTFM!), I’m now looking for a replacement system. Here are some key Pros and Cons I’ve experienced:THE GOOSENECKThis thing just doesn’t stay put any more. This absolutely ruined a couple of performances before I realized what was going on – I thought I somehow became very clumsy and kept accidentally knocking the thing out of alignment. I have had to remedy this by using a rubber band and a piece of wire. I even called Samson Customer Support and asked if they had any solutions besides replacing the entire microphone ($50 plus shipping) and they suggested buying their more expensive HM40 instrument mic.BATTERY LIFE AND CHARGING:I always set a timer and charge it for no longer than 60 minutes, or when the LED stops blinking and goes solid. This is because the first one I bought from Samson (and replaced) did not last one week due to having poor overcharge protection. Another down-side is if you need to use this for more than a few hours at a time or don’t have the ability to plug in the charger between every use, you have no options.THE CONNECTORSamson’s “P3” mini XLR connector between the mic and transmitter, according to other reviews, is supposedly incompatible with similar ta3f connectors, so when the battery eventually needs to be replaced, I’ll be stuck with purchasing another Samson transmitter/battery. I don’t have the time or patience to try and verify this, so it looks like I’ll just keep using rubber bands to hold the mic in place until the rest of the components wear out…MUTE BUTTON/LED:The huge button and extremely visible LED that changes color based on muting status are probably the best features of this whole system! The only down-side is that I could never trust the LED to stop blinking when it was fully charged – reconnecting the charger periodically is the only way to really know.VOLUME BUTTONS:meh. If you need to adjust your volume on-the fly, like during a quick instrument change or in the middle of a solo, prepare to spend some time not playing your instrument while you wait.RADIO SCAN:This feature is pretty good, just make sure you memorize the steps and practice doing it before you get to your gig, or you’ll be wasting a lot of time trying to remember and looking for the manual.FINAL THOUGHTS:If you plan on using this microphone a lot, like I have (probably 200 gigs in the last 3 years), prepare to replace it within a year of when the 2-year warranty period ends. My and other reviewers’ experiences should warn you that you have a very high chance of needing to replace this device at least once during the warranty period as well!OTHER OPTIONS?For comparison, my other wireless microphone(That’s a Shure 98H/C in the background of the picture) has had only one issue in the last 15 years (over 1000 gigs!) that was easily fixed by the manufacturer – it’s just too bad that those guys don’t have a better way to attach their bodypack transmitter to a horn…