SE2200 vs SP B1 please don't hurt me

  • Thread starter Thread starter noisedude
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noisedude

noisedude

New member
ok i've taken the plunge and decided to get ...

a cheap chinese condenser.

i know everything there is to know about the SP B1 but can't listen to it cos i can only get it on mail order. it's 60 + 15 shockmount + p&p.

i went into my local today to get a monitor amp and looked at an SE Electronics SE2200 ldc. it's 100 including shockmount and a reasonable looking flightcase.

so my question is what do i get? i didn't listen to the SE cos i had no reference to compare it to. it felt as sturdy as some very expensive mics i've seen and has a low-cut filter and pad switch on. it's won loads of magazine awards over here but they probably haven't seen the SP yet and anyway the advertisers pay their wages .... so i need you guys to sort this one out for me.

so what do i get. don't kill me for asking about chinese ldcs, i'm aware of the QC issues and all that!

thank you!!
 
Well, they're both cheap Chinese LDC's, but the SP is a known quantity, and has renouned customer service. I'd stick with that.
 
I'm a true believer in auditioning mics before buying them.

I also agree with crazydoc that PMI's customer service is good.
 
noisedude said:
ok i've taken the plunge and decided to get ...

a cheap chinese condenser.

i know everything there is to know about the SP B1 but can't listen to it cos i can only get it on mail order. it's 60 + 15 shockmount + p&p.

i went into my local today to get a monitor amp and looked at an SE Electronics SE2200 ldc. it's 100 including shockmount and a reasonable looking flightcase.

so my question is what do i get? i didn't listen to the SE cos i had no reference to compare it to. it felt as sturdy as some very expensive mics i've seen and has a low-cut filter and pad switch on. it's won loads of magazine awards over here but they probably haven't seen the SP yet and anyway the advertisers pay their wages .... so i need you guys to sort this one out for me.

so what do i get. don't kill me for asking about chinese ldcs, i'm aware of the QC issues and all that!
thank you!!
Click to expand...

The SP is probably the one to get since it has so many rave reviews. It may not sound good on your voice etc. but certainly you can use it for something. Nobody will kill you for asking a simple question. We are here to help you make some kind of decision, right or wrong. Spending $$$ based on recommendations posted here is the "high" associated with our hobby. If it weren't for "buy cheap, buy twice", how the hell would we have any interest in recording? If every piece of equipment we bought were perfect, the hobby would die out.

Every hobby = wasted $$$, I wish plumbing were my hobby as I would always have a toilet to flush my $$$ down handy.
 
out of these 2 i'd get the b1, but SE does have some nice mics.. i've oned the se5000 and it was a real nice sounding mic.. i sold it b/c i got more money than i paid for it..
the se5500 and the one above that one are great overall studio mics for the price.. tracking one of my singers a few weeks ago, she sounded better on the Se Z-3300 vs my neuman TLM193...
 
well naturally in the face of this good advice i went an bought the SE mic :confused:

i did some recordings in the shop with a couple of the SEs, a behringer b-1 and a samson co1. the conditions weren't perfect and neither were the levels (they employ some muppets - one guy told me he'd replaced his neumanns and rodes with all SE mics ............ ??) but to my ears i preferred the sound markedly of the SEs over the others, and both the SEs sounded the same to me.

i'm still gonna get an SP eventually, then whichever i prefer for guitar/overheads i'll get a second for a pair. the problem was with the QC concerns mentioned on this site i didn't want to get a b1 on mail order and then get a duff one. at least now when i get one i'll know if it sounds crap compared to what i've already got.

thanks everyone!
 
noisedude said:
i didn't want to get a b1 on mail order and then get a duff one.
Click to expand...

As far as I know there are no problems with the B1 on arrival, just that it breaks after extensive use? I've not heard of the problems like Oktava have
 
noisedude said:
well naturally in the face of this good advice i went an bought the SE mic
Click to expand...

That's OK - a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
 
As far as I know there are no problems with the B1 on arrival, just that it breaks after extensive use? I've not heard of the problems like Oktava have
Click to expand...

one or two guys have ordered two and then said they sound totally different, sometimes that one is a lot darker or less clear than the other. i just wanted something i knew was better than the samson etc so when i get an SP i can be sure it's the real deal.

also, i don't know if the legendary SP support's gonna be as hot over here cos they're pretty much unknown still. it feels good to be in the know.
 
I have been watching this thread and wish to point out a few things. There is an issue called faults. Every manufacturer has them, and any percentage under 1% is acceptable, but .05% is better.

The B1 has sold some 30,000 or more units in a very short time. That would mean .5% or less would show 70-100 units to have faults. I can tell you we have only had issues with about 55 units worldwide in the field that were actual faults. Most of them were capsules, and not all the fault of the capsule as much as the fault of the user.

Yes in the first batch we replaced about 35 or so that had a capsule isolation issue as a result of a part, but the mic did not fail. We just did a mod so the handling noise would be better and the capsule would not move around as much... They were not broken mikes.

The B1 is quite reliable, and my guess is it has out sold SE mics by 1000 times just on the B1 alone. I know Zou Swei of SE very well, but will not say anything about him, or his mics, but I don't think he has sold 30,000 of anything since SE's conception.

I am saying this because the Studio Project B1 is a very reliable mic. 85% of the faults come from the USA. In the EU we get almost none, so the numbers tell a very different story than HR has to offer.

I would think if you asked Shure, Audio Technica, and any other mic manufacture what their percentages were on 30,000 units of the 4033, you might be surprised to find out it is the same, or they may have had more than we did....

Yes, I am passionate about my mics, and they are very relaible. That is why I always have offered a no questions asked service policy. Many of you know I have fixed mics that were burned up in a car fire, held underwater for a few days due to flooding, or dropped on the floor by the customer.

I never asked who, what or why. I never said, it was your fault you dropped it, or that the flood was not my fault. I simply got the mic back and fixed or replaced it...End of Story.

I believe that my mics are that good, and that is why I service them the way I do. So please, don't mistake quantity of sales for a quality issue. We sell more, so you hear about more issues, but we have no more issues than anyone else.

This is not SPAM as I am not selling. This is a general comment to address an issue that is simply not true. I hope this comment does not cause any problems or lengthy trash wars....


Alan Hyatt
PMI Audio Group
 
posted by alan hyatt:
<<I simply got the mic back and fixed or replaced it...End of Story.>>

posted by DJL:
<<I also agree with crazydoc that PMI's customer service is good.>>



these two agreed on something relating to PMI and SP. i'm gonna go lie down now. :D


wade

PS--IMO, it is their exceptional customer service that sets SP apart from their immediate competitors. they all have some usable mics......not all of them stand behind their gear like this. thumbs up.
 
Amen.

"It ain't braggin' if you can back it up!"

And when it comes to customer service, Alan has backed it up. My only issue with my C1 was a shockmount band breaking. I called PMI to order a new one...it showed up via Priority Mail, no charge. And there was a spare in there, as well.

Compare that to Yamaha. I needed a knob for my CS1x. It cost me $16+shipping, and took 3 weeks to arrive...for a plastic knob!

That's why a pair of B1's are next on the mic docket...
 
alanhyatt said:
I would think if you asked Shure, Audio Technica, and any other mic manufacture what their percentages were on 30,000 units of the 4033, you might be surprised to find out it is the same, or they may have had more than we did....
Click to expand...

If I called Shure and asked them what their percentages were on 30,000 4033's, I'll bet anything it will be 0.0% :D lol.

I do know people who work at their HQ in Evanston, though, so I could probably dig around and find out some figures on their KSM's.

If you're wrong, then you're busted, dude. :D :D Glad to see you not spamming -- seriously, I am. But you could still tone things down when you start throwning things out there about competitors that are either guesses or simply not true. That's kinda' what started the last BBS World War (which I have no interest in rehashing, by the way), if memory serves.
 
QUOTE..................."that are either guesses or simply not true."

Chess, you seemed to conveniently ignore the possibility that he knows the truth but is being prudent enough not to divulge accurate information on other manufacturers, instead it is being left up to anyone curious enough, to find out for themselves.

:cool:
 
i think SP customer service definately is making me want to get an SP mic as my next budget mic.

thanks alan!
 
i don't really care about no (in my best johnny cochrane voice) supposedly spurious information concerning supposed failure rates of supposed manufacturers respective microphonic soundatudinal pickup apparatuseseses...:D.......it's the less than half a percent that impresses me. i certainly never would've guessed that to be the case.

in all honesty, IMO, that kinda makes these "cheap chinese condensers" a little less "cheap" in my book--certainly in contrast to all of the "i searched through 17 oktava 319s at GC today and found 3 that didn't suck, and one was far better than the other two and two others were completely dead" posts we see around here. my guess is that there won't ever be a "Sound Room" type shop for SP mics, and that's refreshing to see at any rate. of course, at least, in terms of the B1.

and yes, i trust alan to play that part straight and be honest about his own facts. some of you may not share in that trust. YMMV.


wade
 
ausrock said:
Chess, you seemed to conveniently ignore the possibility that he knows the truth but is being prudent enough not to divulge accurate information on other manufacturers . . .
Click to expand...

Somehow I don't figure Alan to be the type to snoop around or plant double-agents at his competitor's facilities in order to get QC and return figures. :D Doesn't he have mics to sell and people to sue? I could be wrong, though.
 
So it's cool for you to make the judgement that he is either guessing or lying and basically chastise him for, in your opinion, doing so and then expect people to accept what is essentially a guess on your part regarding what Alan does and doesn't know.

:rolleyes:
 
AN APOLOGY TO ALAN

firstly alan let me say i am very sorry, i wasn't aware of your low return rates.

now let me repeat two things i said before.

i still fully intend to get at least one B1 in the relatively near future. the reason i didn't this time was because i couldn't listen to it. now i have a reference, when i get one of your mics i'll see which i prefer and add a second of that for pairing duties.

i also mentioned your 'legendary customer service'. i don't think you've answered my question on its extension to the UK but i appreciate now that i probably wouldn't need it anyway (unlike with my behringer pieces, which have all been sent back/replaced at some point - you can't blame me for being cautious!).

you seem like a really good guy with a vision and a drive to realize it. i'm not knocking that and you've obviously done great things for home recording. it's just that on this occasion a lack of suppliers in my country acted against you.

i look forward to purchasing a B1 and hopefully enjoying it like so many others have!!

(chess, i'm not sucking up. just being frank like you!)
 
ausrock said:
So it's cool for you to make the judgement that he is either guessing or lying and basically chastise him for, in your opinion, doing so and then expect people to accept what is essentially a guess on your part regarding what Alan does and doesn't know.
Click to expand...

So I'm guessing that you're guessing that I was guessing that Alan was guessing. :D

Seriously, though . . . Didn't Alan basically say that he was guessing? :D Go back and read his post. I believe he used the words "think" and "might." The choice of wording would suggest.

Please, let's not go where I think you're trying to go with this thead. I don't have the energy. I'll drop it if you'll drop it. If you have anything else you're itching to say about it, how about drop me a PM and we'll take it offline? Deal?
 
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