Transporting BRAND NEW AKG 414 in a plane

Marais

New member
I don't know if this is the right place to post this.
But as transporting large electronic equipment in a plane just got more complicated I want your advice.
I'm American but live in Paris.
Musician and sound engineer.
I will be acquiring the wonderful AKG 414 thanks to all of your recommandations as well as a Clarett 4 Pre soundcard.

Is it safe well wrapped in bubble wrap to transport these fragile and horribly expensive things in the luggage hold, inside for instance a suitcase full of clothes?

I managed to transport an IMac 12.2 inch in 2011 it arrive unharmed, but that is a little like gambling.

On the other hand with so many countries now on the "no fly list" with computers I'm sure (or am I naive?) that they take extra precautions to not have chimpanzees handle the luggage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

Other choice is to just buy it here, but it is 150 euros more expensive and I am a Yank and prefer to buy in my home country.

Thanks for your collective wisdom.
 
I think I would buy in the country where I would be primarily using it, mostly for reasons of the warranty. If you bought in the states and you encountered a problem in Paris it may make it more difficult to have something repaired under the warranty.
 
Thanks AKG is based in Vienna so unless mistaken even bought in the US if broken would be shipped to Vienna. So I'm closer.
I bought a RME Babyface Pro in NYC as well as a pair of Neumann KM 184 which were before the "no fly" nonsense so I carried them on the plane.
Both of those companies also based in Germany.
So I don't really think this is an issue.

I have an American bank account, declare IRS and the transfer charges, exchange rates and the difference in price from the US to Europe were my main considerations.

But I'm open to easiness, but not if it is hundreds of dollars more expensive.
 
Put it in the suitcase full of clothes, in the middle of the cloths, no problem, buy the way, if the import laws are like Australia, if you unpack it, use it and repack it, it becomes secondhand and the duty taxes are less if they want you to pay anything.

Alan.
 
The guarantee is with the dealer you bought it from - so if you buy in the USA and it's faulty, you would have to ship it to the US dealer (even if they subsequently ship it to Austria).

Personally I would take it, well wrapped, in hand luggage - mainly because I hear so must stuff gets stolen in US airports as it goes through TSA.
 
If the bag holding the mic should get x-rayed at the airport, it will be interesting how long you are detained by security, as the mic would likely cast an interesting and quite questionable image on the monitor :) :) :)
 
As someone who travels for work a lot, I take odd and questionable items through TSA often. Only once did my backpack get a second screening and the TSA agents comment was "it was well-packed". The mics should have flight cases. Keep them packed in those and hand carry them on. Let security inspect them. Shouldn't be any problems.
 
The 414s we used in college with students were amazingly tough. I'd be very surprised if well packed it came to any grief at all in your case - although like John, there's a different risk - but probably ok.

The thing I always remember about shipping delicate products is how they got to the sales destination, before you buy them. A container, humped and bumped by cranes, trucks, potholes, rough seas - you name it. The 414 survives all this with a bit of foam, as do even more delicate ribbons.
 
"We" have guitar amps shipped all around the world with valves in situ. Quite a few years ago we had a small percentage of an odd preamp valve "blown" i.e. gone white but that was put down to crap valves since the problem just stopped and there is, AFAIK, no longer a problem.

The amps are not flown of course but they don't treat containers very gently and the stuff gets "rock n rolled" on and off vans etc!

Dave.
 
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