Oxymoron- Chinese made mics that are good.

[Loren Littlejohn]

Do you know of any? Has anyone heard of (illeagal I think in the states and most of the world) the 797 company? They rip off patents worse than Behringer does and have clones of the 421 and 414 (Sennhieser and AKG respectivly).

Studio projects?
MXL (is the mogami edition made in china?)
SE Electronics Z5600?
Cascade Fathead mics?
Nady Ribbons (I doubt they sound good but eh...)
Superlux?
Audix?
ADK?
M-audio (I hear the Sputnik is made in china)?


These are all companies who have/ have had mics made in china.


Why do I ask? My future father in law goes over there constantly for buisness and I was thinking of getting 1 or 2 if the price is right (and cheaper) than it is in the USA.

 

[Metaltastic]

I've actually heard (from one of the very knowledgeable and experienced Audio Arts teachers at my school) that the Superlux mics are amazing for their price - I may be picking up a pair of CM-H8C's sometime soon. Don't know about the rest, but check it out http://www.superlux.us/

 

[Soundlurker]

I've tried a Superlux drum mic set and they turned out to be decent.

Aren't Audix mics supposed to be made in USA?

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I dunno I was just fallowing an EQ article that I read online, it said that audix was one of the companies that have either had or do have mics made in china.

Anyhow, I think I am just going to have him look at everything.

 

[colonel kurtz]

Cascade Fathead mics?

i think that with the fatheads, and most of cascade's other mics, the components themselves are manufactured in china, but the parts are then sent to their facility here in the USA, where they install the internal parts and tension/tune the ribbons. this is why their ribbon mics end up sounding much better than other brands who are cosmetically identical.

also, re: audix...

Audix, a wholly owned American Corporation, was founded in 1984 in Redwood City, California. Moving to their home base in Oregon in 1991....

At a time when most companies are tending to outsource their labor and manufacturing, Audix built a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with an emphasis on R & D, automation, and CNC machining equipment...

those statements would lead me to believe that their mics are designed and buily entirely in the USA

 

[006]

FWIW I had a Stuidio Projects C1 a long time ago that surprised the hell out of me. It was a great vocal mic, pretty much useless for other things though.

~e.a

 

[VH100R]

what's that MD421 ripoff?

I would love to try that out.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I couldn't find the clone of the 421 .

But I did find the clone of the 414, for the price they want I doubt it's even remotly close to as good.

The company is 797.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

FWIW I had a Stuidio Projects C1 a long time ago that surprised the hell out of me. It was a great vocal mic, pretty much useless for other things though.

~e.a

I've got a piar. I actually like them. I only use them on vox, clean guitar, and overheads though.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

The M-Audio mics are indeed made in China. However they are extremely well built and nicely packaged, and believe it or not, they are really good sounding mics!
The Sputnik, Solaris and Pulsar 2 mics are all really good, I haven't tried the lower priced mics, but the highest priced one is under $600.

ADK has poor quality control from what I've seen. There is also CAD and Samson and Apex mics made in China. The Shure PG series are made in China too.
The cascade fathead and Nady Ribbons are supposed to sound pretty good on electric guitars, maybe not metal guitars though. There is a comparison on the last couple Project Studio Network Podcasts.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Tried a pair of Apex 185's. Nice case, matched, came with omni & cardioid capsules. I really wanted to like these, but alas, they sucked harder than Jenna Jameson. Absolutely fucking useless for overheads. HARSH. Damn. Look to be the same as the Superlux CM-h8k & possibly the Avantone Ck-1. Not sure since the only retailer I can find sells the last one singly for more than a stereo pair of the others. Avoid at all costs. They're just shit.

Guess I'll save my pennies for some Neumanns.

I do have a Studio Projects C1 that gets quite a bit of use, though. Very nice mic, IMHO.

 

[everybody's x]

I'd definitely see what he could get the nady/t-bone ribbons for.
they also have a ribbon that is supposed to be a clone of the royers

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Thanks guys. I will let you know what he finds out for me.

 

[Wolfeman]

I bought one of the 57's clones on ebay once.... made in china most likely... Didn't sound like a 57 as we know, but it wasn't horrible either.... I'd like to try the 421 clone though....

 

[TTOS]

I've got 4 of the Superlux tom/snare mics and 2 of the bass drum mics. For the money (£64 for the lot) they sound fantastic. Great mics for demos. The bass drum mics positioned well give a really nice sound. The tom/snare mics sound good on toms- but not all that great on snares. I've also used them to record a Triple rec through a XXX cab and got some really good results. I'd totally reccomend them to anyone that is just starting out home recording.