Why is chinese a dirty word?

I'll weigh in on my own question. No, the Chinese are making very good mics these days regardless of price. Us fat, rich, over paid Americans benefit from the low cost labor in China. Just stop by Walmart.

This 33 second clip is from a CD I'm finishing up. It's 6 megs and is a snip of a tune at 16bit CD quality. I used a SP B1 to record the guitar and an SP TB1 to record the vocals (which barely make an appearance, but just FYI.) Pream: RNP. Comp: RNC. Program: Tracktion. Plugins: all freebees.

www.dullum.net/77clip.wav
 
Well, I suppose you could say that just because there are a lot of hot chicks in Southern California ... that all chicks in Southern California are hot ? ? ?
 
Sonic Idiot said:
...Are things "low end" by virtue of being made in China?
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To surmise Chess' response, it's a resounding NO. You do have to admit for the most part that products coming out of China are cheaply and poorly made. What do you expect for cheap labor and 12 hour work days? I'm afraid of opening up a political discussion on this, which would be more appropriate in the Dragon Cave.

Sure, there are *some* good mics and other products coming out of china, but with all the inferior products and quality control masking them, it's pretty hard to weed out the good ones! In the future it may be that reputations will help, but it takes time for word to spread. That's why we have these discussions.
 
Yeah, no politics. That's a can of worms.

There's way too much talk and not enough action on the board. I'm posting sound clips and asking for opinions. I challenge anyone to really prove Chinese mics are bad, and not by just blowing hot steam. Put up. Let's hear how awful they sound. The proof is in the sound, not in smug answers based on nothing. If you have nothing to add, don't post. Please. I don't need to see stupid fucking emoticons like this: :rolleyes:

Do not use those to add weight to your supreme wit and hilarious take on the postings, no, because that would be childish and not instructive. Rather, use sound.
 
Sonic Idiot said:
... I challenge anyone to really prove Chinese mics are bad, and not by just blowing hot steam...
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That's just the problem. There ARE bad chinese mics! Behringer B1 comes to mind. (Behringer ALWAYS somes to mind.) I bought one from Onstage to mod that was HORRIBLE until I gutted it and made a tube mic. The Nady SCM920 is crappy too! It's a good thing I like to experiment electronics-wise or I'd be out a lot of money from trial and error.

A list of good mics from China would be advantageous. MXL, ADK and Studio Projects have some decent ones.

What we need is a list of mics to avoid at all cost. That could be a good sticky!
 
Sonic Idiot said:
Yeah, no politics. That's a can of worms.

There's way too much talk and not enough action on the board. I'm posting sound clips and asking for opinions. I challenge anyone to really prove Chinese mics are bad, and not by just blowing hot steam. Put up. Let's hear how awful they sound. The proof is in the sound, not in smug answers based on nothing. If you have nothing to add, don't post. Please. I don't need to see stupid fucking emoticons like this: :rolleyes:

Do not use those to add weight to your supreme wit and hilarious take on the postings, no, because that would be childish and not instructive. Rather, use sound.
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So we can have a debate but only on your terms?

That's really a great idea! Just limit input to only what YOU deem relevent.
 
c7sus said:
So we can have a debate but only on your terms?

That's really a great idea! Just limit input to only what YOU deem relevent.
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Proving a mic's quality through sound clips sounds like a pretty good idea to me. If there's a better way to judge a mic other than listening to actual recorded tracks, I'd like to know what it is.
 
Sonic Idiot said:
I challenge anyone to really prove Chinese mics are bad, and not by just blowing hot steam. Put up. Let's hear how awful they sound. The proof is in the sound, not in smug answers based on nothing.
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Your friend Lexdrummer posted a clip of a pretty bad sounding Chinese mic on another thread. At least, he used it in a way that sounded quite bad. That doesn't condemn the mic to being bad. Nor does one single clip of a mic sounding good mean that it would be good in a variety of circumstances.

There is no way to "prove" to you that a mic is bad anyway. If you think it sounds good, then I guess it's good to you. A few years down the road, when you have more experience, you might think it sounds bad. If you can't hear the difference, what does it matter to you? What's the point in fighting so hard to convince somebody who can tell the difference that there is none, simply because you can't tell the difference?

The real answer is that some Chinese mics are better than others. Some can be quite useful and some are junk. So what?
 
Why the obsession with Chinese mics? They're relatively new to the scene, even if there are many models available. I haven't heard or used 1/10 of them (maybe less). I've heard a few that I liked. Heard some I don't care for. So what? If you like them, that's all that matters, I guess.

The whole Chinese mic thing is quite boring. I mean, what is there to talk about? Three of four different LD capsules, a couple of SD capsules, a few different electronic designs, some tweaked by importers, housed in several mostly similar housings and grill designs. All relatively inexpensive. Some sound horrible, some OK, and some are rather nice. That's all there is to it.

How about talking about German mics? Or Dannish? Or American? Or Japanese? I hear they all make some good ones. Quite a bit of history too.
 
The B1 is just as good as the studio projects C1 in my opinion. They both come from 797 and sound pretty similar. If anything the B1 is more versatile but they both have the same limitations. Anyways chinese mics aren't bad. But there are much better out there and if you don't hear that now you will eventually. I just started hearing it in the last 2 months and it bugs the crap out of me. I think it's partially the way they respond to EQ and majorly the hyped high end... it just irks me and becomes a handicap I have to work around while better, more expensive, well designed mics' characteristics become benefits. But I can guarantee you any nastiness in your or anyone's recordings aren't from their chinese mics... they just aren't using them correctly and any marginally experienced engineer should be able to get a good sound out of the nicer chinese mics.

PhilGood said:
That's just the problem. There ARE bad chinese mics! Behringer B1 comes to mind.
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sdelsolray said:
Why the obsession with Chinese mics? They're relatively new to the scene, even if there are many models available. I haven't heard or used 1/10 of them (maybe less). I've heard a few that I liked. Heard some I don't care for. So what? If you like them, that's all that matters, I guess.

The whole Chinese mic thing is quite boring. I mean, what is there to talk about? Three of four different LD capsules, a couple of SD capsules, a few different electronic designs, some tweaked by importers, housed in several mostly similar housings and grill designs. All relatively inexpensive. Some sound horrible, some OK, and some are rather nice. That's all there is to it.

How about talking about German mics? Or Dannish? Or American? Or Japanese? I hear they all make some good ones. Quite a bit of history too.
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The whole obsession stems from the fact that they are an affordable alternative to those who cannot afford an expensive mic. Each base model is aroud $100-$200 or even less in some cases. We seem to forget that the average home user is looking to improve the quality of their recordings with an alternative that their budget allows. Some are just high school students or folks with really limited income. The chinese mics provide a relative step up from affordable dynamics, but not expensive or midrange price LDC and SDC mics. (Education on product not withstanding, of course.) Still, you CAN get pretty good results. Enough to impress friends, family, other non-skilled musicians, or whatever strokes your ego.

I'm an exception in that I make pretty good bank, but I want/need a lot of mics and can cope with upgrading what I buy. Altough I'm stupid in that if I'd just sock away a few bucks here and there, I'd be able to buy a really good mic. That and I'm impatient and want it NOW! Some don't have the luxury of my situation and/or stupidity. Although I don't think my family would forgive me for plopping down $3000 for a really good mic. They seem to be OK with a few hundred here and there and since I never plan on being a star its within my budget and needs. Its enough to make my bandmates go 'wow, that sounds pretty good!'.

If you're going to spend that kind of money, you need to pretty much guarantee you're going to be a star or produce the next hit record!
 
Strave said:
The B1 is just as good as the studio projects C1 in my opinion. They both come from 797 and sound pretty similar. If anything the B1 is more versatile but they both have the same limitations. Anyways chinese mics aren't bad. But there are much better out there and if you don't hear that now you will eventually. I just started hearing it in the last 2 months and it bugs the crap out of me. I think it's partially the way they respond to EQ and majorly the hyped high end... it just irks me and becomes a handicap I have to work around while better, more expensive, well designed mics' characteristics become benefits. But I can guarantee you any nastiness in your or anyone's recordings aren't from their chinese mics... they just aren't using them correctly and any marginally experienced engineer should be able to get a good sound out of the nicer chinese mics.
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The mention was of a Behringer B1 not the SP B1 being awful. I can't say about the Behringer but I have a Studio Projects B1 and it sounds fine. I loved it at first and then I started to hear some things I didn't like but It's still a good mic. Especially for the price.
 
hueseph said:
The mention was of a Behringer B1 not the SP B1 being awful. I can't say about the Behringer but I have a Studio Projects B1 and it sounds fine. I loved it at first and then I started to hear some things I didn't like but It's still a good mic. Especially for the price.
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Uh, yeah! I'd like to reiterate that I was talking about the Behringer and not the Studio Projects B1. I've heard good clips from that mic! SI's guitar sounds great on it, but that's probably a really good guitar too! That and he obviously knows something about getting a good sound.
 
If anyone took their time to look at the two B1's (SP & Berry) they would find that they are both made in the same factory and basically use the same quality of components.
Anyone stating that one or the other is much better is talking "BOLLOXS" *.

Tony

* Anglo-Saxon for utter Shyte
 
hueseph said:
The mention was of a Behringer B1 not the SP B1 being awful. I can't say about the Behringer but I have a Studio Projects B1 and it sounds fine. I loved it at first and then I started to hear some things I didn't like but It's still a good mic. Especially for the price.
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I am talking about the behringer B1
 
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