Samson C-Control Studio Headphone/Monitor Matrix

Feature:
For the price I couldn't want any more. As well as the main mix in there are 3 stereo ins and outs, 3 speaker pair outs, a talkback mic that routes either to the or to one of the 2-trk outs, and a headphone amp. Plus a mute button, a dim button and a mono button.

Quality:
Seems solid and well put together. I hate the wall wart though.

Value:
I think it's priced about right.

Sound:
I've read the two reviews that say the Samson isn't transparent. That is certainly *not* my experience, and I've checked by A/Bing with the C Control in and out of the loop. I can't detect any difference. I monitor on Genelecs so it's not that me speakers are so bad I can't hear the difference.

Support:
No experience.

Feature:
The feature set is just what many project studio owners who primarily use a computer without mixer would need to select different monitors, check mixes in mono, use a built-in talkback mic, dim switch, etc. (that's why I bought it). It's also nice that it only occupies 1/2 rack space. I deduct a point for the TRS/RCA connectors (rather than XLR) and the wall wart power supply.

Quality:
It's actually pretty solid looking, and buttons and knobs look tougher than one would expect for $100. The finish, faceplate, molded feet (removable for use in a rack), are all fine. I give it a "6" because the essential internal components are just not up to par.

Value:
It would be exceedingly reasonable if it sounded good (in fact, probably impossible to achieve).

Desirability:
I think this will be very popular and appealing to a lot of people because of its feature set, size, and price, regardless of it's low sound quality. It also looks cool, and fits in with a family of other Samson "C" series devices (they're even stackable). That's why despite my initial pessimism, I tried it out. Well, you get what you pay for. I'm just really glad that zzounds has a liberal return policy!

Sound:
The C-Control does NOT have a transparent signal path. High frequencies are rolled off somewhere around 10kHz, degrading the transients and making the sound mushy and less clear than the original. Its self-noise isn't as bad as I might have expected at this price point. Anyway, the primary reason I returned it was the signal degradation.

Support:
No experience.

Overall:
It ain't no good to me if I can't use it. For perspective, I monitored off of the digital output of a TASCAM CD player into a Lucid 9624 DAC to the C-Control using short star-quad cables with gold connectors to a pair of Dynaudio BM15A monitors with a BX30 subwoofer. I "A-B'ed" between the direct out of the Lucid and the throughput of the C-Control. If you have low-quality gear to start with, the C-Control will make your gear sound even MORE low quality. This will hinder the process of making accurate judgments about any sound that passes through it.