Chineese made mic's

  • Thread starter Thread starter DJL
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yea peak audio mics are 797 mics
the 797 logo is a figure8,omni,cardioid design
the large peak mic yall see there is thr SAME as the cr998, its $830 and the 797 mic is $1000
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these are the ones i know of...
MANN, BEHRINGER, JOEMEEK, NADY, ADK, BPM, Marshall Electronics, CARVIN, PEAK AUDIO, Studio Projects
 
Does anyone know what the signficance of the number "797" is? Is it some sort of communist symbol (like "88" for Nazis)?
 
Hey Alan, I have a feeling you best keep a close eye on the BEIJING 797 AUDIO Co. if you know what I mean. Good luck.

And thank you all for adding to this growing list.
 
Middleman, yeah that's a "mic de jour", indeed.

Since the German mics de jour are the same as the American mics de jour, they're no more interesting than the ones you know. Here's a link to an independent German online magazine that published an article on chinese mics a while ago: http://www.memi.com/makers/hwsw/article/vergleichstest_hausmikros.html

The article is in German, though. But it's not exactly accurate, anyway, in that the author thinks the Studio Projects is essentially the same as the Fame mic which, to my knowledge, doesn't even come from the same factory. But information was scarce back then, and the author just didn't know any better. I talked to him about the article on a German board.

Anyway, I happen to own one of those T.bone mics, the ST(C)1000 tube LD. I won it in an online competition, the first time I won anything of any value to speak of. It's a Tenlux mic, in the States they're marketed as "Superlux". It's actually not a bad mic at all, it suits my voice very well. It's transformer ballanced and has no semiconductors in its circuit, it's powered by just one tiny tube. However, like many Chinese/Taiwanese mics, it craps out when you shout.

Alan is right, I think, in that it makes a big difference between custom designs and stock designs. I also own a Studio Projects B1, and it is an entirely different mic than the Behringer B1 although both are made by 797 Audio. IMHO the SP is way supirior. Also the SP is one of the few Chinese mics that does not crap out when you shout. So if I were to buy another condenser I'd go for an MXL or Studio Projects. MXL has no distribution in Germany, though.

@cominginsecond: as far as I know 797 is merely the number of the factory; there's no hidden significance.

About the logo: well, I think it's stol... err inspired by AKG's three cardioids logo: http://www.akg-acoustics.com/
 
Rossi said:

About the logo: well, I think it's stol... err inspired by AKG's three cardioids logo: http://www.akg-acoustics.com/
Click to expand...

The old 797 Audio was the AKG logo with the Cardioid tail in the opposite direction. Since then, they have changed it. Like other manufacturers who sell their own brand, 797 is wanting more recognition. Companies like Feilo, and SoundKing are doing more business than 797, so I can see how they want to expand their own line, but they will see that this only dilutes the sales of all the brands they sell to...custom built or not.

If these companies continue to sell off the shelf mics OEM, they don't make more money, they just spread out the sales to more brand names. This is something that they have to understand before they can make changes.

The mic market is already flooded. Some will get weeded out. I think those will be more off the shelf brands because companies who have R&D and design departments will always make better mics, so those who go after the stock mics will get surpassed.

This will take some time, but it will eventually happen. :)
 
What I wonder is, how long will it be before the chinese rip-off all the designs from all the companies who have R&D and design departments and take over the market?
 
Alan, I agree completely. I think those off the shelf "mics de jour" will disappear eventually. People buy one or two of those, but they won't buy a third identical off the shelf mic. Right now there's still lots of newbies and people upgrading from their SM58 knockoffs. But there'll be more and more wanting to upgrade from their cheap off the shelf LD doorstop mic. And that's where the custom designed mics come in.

Apart from that I foresee a renaissance of dynamic mics and small diaphragm condensers.
 
i just heard 797 make the higher end Se electronics mics too..
 
QUOTE:.................."yea peak audio mics are 797 mics
the 797 logo is a figure8,omni,cardioid design
the large peak mic yall see there is thr SAME as the cr998, its $830 and the 797 mic is $1000"

C9,

I don't know where you are getting your information from, BUT...............according to Peak Audio their mics are coming from Ningbo aka Soundking, along with their brand of amps, etc.

This kind of makes sense when you consider that Peak's parent company, "CMI......Central Musical Instruments" is the Australian distributor for Soundking.

Why the similarities between the Peak and 797 mics? Well knowing how the Chinese like to copy others' designs (they actually regard this habit as a compliment to the original designer regardless of international copyright laws), it is likely that the design has just been "borrowed". Alternatively, the guy I just spoke to at Peak Audio and their supplier data base are all wrong.

Considering how reluctant most of these new breed of mic companies (MANN, Audio Solutions, etc) are to disclose who is manufacturing their mics and how some of them tend to bend the truth, coupled with the almost impossible task of getting reliably accurate information from the Chinese themselves, I am staying open minded about anything I can't substantiate from the companies involved.


:cool:
 
ausrock said:
QUOTE:.................."yea peak audio mics are 797 mics
the 797 logo is a figure8,omni,cardioid design
the large peak mic yall see there is thr SAME as the cr998, its $830 and the 797 mic is $1000"

C9,

I don't know where you are getting your information from, BUT...............according to Peak Audio their mics are coming from Ningbo aka Soundking, along with their brand of amps, etc.

:cool:
Click to expand...

Peak buys from different factories. The Tube mic is a 797, but that is the only mic they sell to peak.
 
alanhyatt said:
Peak buys from different factories. The Tube mic is a 797, but that is the only mic they sell to peak.
Click to expand...

Alan, are there any more companies you forgot to list like Peak Audio, or is that it? Thanks
 
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