The 99¢ K-Micro condenser mic. Yep, 99 cents.

TravisinFlorida said:
that's great. i hope it sounds decent. i assume this mic is similar to the tapeop diy mic. omni?
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Doesn't appear so. Cardioid, low output impedance, phantom powered, high SPL handling. Looks like the 1A has started a trend :D

I can understand how a mic can be made that cheap (at least by the Chinese), but I don't understand the marketing. Most items that cheap are sold out of a bin, otherwise the handling costs get too high. If it's too good, it will also cannibalize sales of Karma's other SDCs.

Looks like the mic market is about to get a lot more interesting :)
 
it's a business card

Hi,

In a market saturated with new microphone companies competing at every level a 99 cent mic is a promotional item to get your name out there.

But does Karma really want their valuable trademark associated with a 99 cent mic. No matter how good it is it will still be viewed as cheap.

99 cents is cheap by definition.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
mshilarious said:
Doesn't appear so. Cardioid, low output impedance, phantom powered, high SPL handling. Looks like the 1A has started a trend :D

I can understand how a mic can be made that cheap (at least by the Chinese), but I don't understand the marketing. Most items that cheap are sold out of a bin, otherwise the handling costs get too high. If it's too good, it will also cannibalize sales of Karma's other SDCs.

Looks like the mic market is about to get a lot more interesting :)
Click to expand...

I must have missed the specs. Hmmm.........This has caught my curiosity. Maybe MSH-1A overheads and these $0.99 mics as close mics.
 
Interesting but, I didn't find a link where one might purchase this little gem. :confused:
 
hairylarry said:
Hi,

In a market saturated with new microphone companies competing at every level a 99 cent mic is a promotional item to get your name out there.
Click to expand...

Yes, assuredly. But there is a danger in pushing a loss leader, even if there is no actual loss involved, in that people will only want the loss leader.

I think this illustrates that there is a lot of room for the mic market to come down. When you consider the implications of things like the group buy . . . maybe the manufacturer won't let it happen again, but somebody will be willing to sell at less margin than Nady.

You know what market really strikes me as overpriced? Hearing aids. A capsule with built-in FET, a battery, a cap, a resistor, a piezo buzzer. Can't be more than $10 in parts (that's being generous) and they sell for $400. When my time comes, I'm rolling my own :cool:
 
mshilarious said:
Yes, assuredly. But there is a danger in pushing a loss leader, even if there is no actual loss involved, in that people will only want the loss leader.

I think this illustrates that there is a lot of room for the mic market to come down. When you consider the implications of things like the group buy . . . maybe the manufacturer won't let it happen again, but somebody will be willing to sell at less margin than Nady.

You know what market really strikes me as overpriced? Hearing aids. A capsule with built-in FET, a battery, a cap, a resistor, a piezo buzzer. Can't be more than $10 in parts (that's being generous) and they sell for $400. When my time comes, I'm rolling my own :cool:
Click to expand...

One of my customers (Seimens Hearing) makes hearing aids. If you have seen the process it is really labor intensive. They make an ear mold for every hearing aid, cast the housing in plastic, then insert the components. Now, I'll agree the parts aren't very expensive but making a custom housing for everyone is. $400 doesn't seem that unreasonable to me but what do I know?
 
Micter said:
One of my customers (Seimens Hearing) makes hearing aids. If you have seen the process it is really labor intensive. They make an ear mold for every hearing aid, cast the housing in plastic, then insert the components. Now, I'll agree the parts aren't very expensive but making a custom housing for everyone is. $400 doesn't seem that unreasonable to me but what do I know?
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Generic ear plugs stay in my ears just fine. And kids don't seem to need custom-fit ear buds for their iPods.

I'm sure it's possible to justify the cost of a $400 hearing aid, just like it's possible to justify the cost of a $100,000 Porsche. For the high-end market, that's fine. I just don't see why there shouldn't also be a $20 hearing aid for sale at Radio Shack, that's all.
 
mshilarious said:
Doesn't appear so. Cardioid, low output impedance, phantom powered, high SPL handling. Looks like the 1A has started a trend :D

I can understand how a mic can be made that cheap (at least by the Chinese), but I don't understand the marketing. Most items that cheap are sold out of a bin, otherwise the handling costs get too high. If it's too good, it will also cannibalize sales of Karma's other SDCs.

Looks like the mic market is about to get a lot more interesting :)
Click to expand...

I disagree, no matter how good it is, the market for their "high end" mics will not change, it just never works that way.
 
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How can we buy these K-Micro Mics?? There doesn"t be any info on there site on how to purchase these mics.....

ThanXX
 
mshilarious said:
I'm sure it's possible to justify the cost of a $400 hearing aid, just like it's possible to justify the cost of a $100,000 Porsche. For the high-end market, that's fine. I just don't see why there shouldn't also be a $20 hearing aid for sale at Radio Shack, that's all.
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...well, there is (are)...kinda...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...lifier&kw=hearing+amplifier&parentPage=search
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...lifier&kw=hearing+amplifier&parentPage=search
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...lifier&kw=hearing+amplifier&parentPage=search

...when I worked at RS, many of our hearing-impaired customers preferred these cheapies to their $400-800 in-the-ear hearing aids... :confused:

PS...I'm the guy that gave KARMA their first shot on the BB sites (here and on Gearslutz)...that fiasco surrounding the KARMA/sE heritage was wild...but I know Waylon, and he's anything but predictable (or conventional)...I put my money on KARMA making this work to their advantage...if Marshall can sell $30+ mini half-stack amps:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Marshall-MS-2-G...6QQihZ006QQcategoryZ38075QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
..then why not a $.99 condenser mic?... ;)

Minion said:
How can we buy these K-Micro Mics?? There doesn"t be any info on there site on how to purchase these mics.....
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...just missed this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Karma-K-Micro-M...ryZ15198QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
...I'm sure they will list more shortly...
 
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Seems kinda dumb to me, I guess you could buy a big lot of these and use them for security monitoring, line the walls with 'em. That's the only real practical purpose I can think of. Who's actually going to buy a 1 dollar mic and willingly record with it?? Maybe if they sent 'em out and stocked in say a local guitar center I'd just grab them with the spare change I had after breaking a .. five, and play with them. But for all practical purposes they seem pretty useless.
 
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