Cheapest Chinese Mics? MXL or something else?

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777funk

Well-known member
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
166
I read here that 2 Chinese factories are making most of the MXL and other mics. My question is this:

Is there a cheaper way to get these mics than MXL? Seems like I've seen group buys before. I'm possibly interested in this. I'd like to find a few mics to mod. I don't have too much cash to sink into mics so this seems like the easiest way.
thanks!
Nick

by the way I'm thinking of a 603, 2001, and maybe a few other MXL mics. I just ordered an SP-1 but I'm thinking maybe there's a cheaper place to find the same stuff than MXL branded mics.
 
These guys are cheap. 

http://www.swellelectronics.cn/en/index.php

The T100  was under $100 before shipping from China.  The PR300 was just over $30!  I discussed pricing as if I were ordering samples.  I didn't order anything because Skylar made such quick progress with his U47 style design.  $30 for a ribbon mic is kinda hard to ignore though.
 
MikoKensington said:
These guys are cheap. 

http://www.swellelectronics.cn/en/index.php

The T100  was under $100 before shipping from China.  The PR300 was just over $30!  I discussed pricing as if I were ordering samples.  I didn't order anything because Skylar made such quick progress with his U47 style design.  $30 for a ribbon mic is kinda hard to ignore though.

What is the Skylar U47?
 
To me it looks like maybe the
A100=MXL 2001
B100=MXL 2001 (Maybe)
C100=MCA SP1 (or Sp-1)
D100=MXL 603


http://www.swellelectronics.cn/en/index.php

I'm guessing since there are only a couple China Mic makers they're probably all the same part just rebranded. Anyone else think maybe my numbers above are correct?
 
777FUNK, I'm fairly certain that you're right based on the appearance and likelyhood.

by the way, I wonder how much that t700 tube mic would cost?  looks pretty cool.

the thing is, I would only want to buy their condensor mics if they have 737 capsules (or whatever that company is) instead of alctron capsules.  I dislike alctron caps in general although there may be exceptions (and I like their ribbon mics) (apex 435,460 for example (harsh/thin) and apex 205 ribbon (amazing)), and I quite like the 737 caps in general (SP B1, cad m177/179, SE mics and so on).

with the mxl mics you can see the frequency response charts on the mxl site corresponding to the capsule/mic manufacturer pretty clearly, harsh bright highs often are alctron, mellow flatter highs are 737.  as noted, there may be exceptions, but historically that's what I've seen happen.  however I only have experience with a narrow selection (maybe 7 or 8) of chinese condensor mics and I don't want to generalize by saying all alctron caps are bad and all 737 caps are good, I don't have nearly enough information or fact to state that.  it's a safety net though to look for 737 caps instead of alctron ones... :)

cheers
Don
 
dkelley said:
777FUNK, I'm fairly certain that you're right based on the appearance and likelyhood.

by the way, I wonder how much that t700 tube mic would cost?  looks pretty cool.

the thing is, I would only want to buy their condensor mics if they have 737 capsules (or whatever that company is) instead of alctron capsules.  I dislike alctron caps in general although there may be exceptions (and I like their ribbon mics) (apex 435,460 for example (harsh/thin) and apex 205 ribbon (amazing)), and I quite like the 737 caps in general (SP B1, cad m177/179, SE mics and so on).

with the mxl mics you can see the frequency response charts on the mxl site corresponding to the capsule/mic manufacturer pretty clearly, harsh bright highs often are alctron, mellow flatter highs are 737.  as noted, there may be exceptions, but historically that's what I've seen happen.  however I only have experience with a narrow selection (maybe 7 or 8) of chinese condensor mics and I don't want to generalize by saying all alctron caps are bad and all 737 caps are good, I don't have nearly enough information or fact to state that.  it's a safety net though to look for 737 caps instead of alctron ones... :)

cheers
Don


OK so which are alcatron and which are the good ones.
 
And take note of the mention of 797 capsules if you are buying Asian. Try for yourself, but I think the most common type Chinese capsules are crap. Even with work (different circuits, including filter compensation). Just my opinion. On the cheap, I'd maybe try an Oktava MK319 for something darker, or a Studio Projects mic for something brighter.
 
Alright, thanks guys. I suppose ears are the judge of what's good and what's not.

Seems like people have had pretty good luck with the MXL mods. I just bought a few for a studio I'm building. But I'd like to try some other stuff as well. I don't want to spend a heap!
 
777funk said:
To me it looks like maybe the
A100=MXL 2001
B100=MXL 2001 (Maybe)
C100=MCA SP1 (or Sp-1)
D100=MXL 603


http://www.swellelectronics.cn/en/index.php

I'm guessing since there are only a couple China Mic makers they're probably all the same part just rebranded. Anyone else think maybe my numbers above are correct?

Did i just see a royer 121 wannabe over there?

anyway, i would love to see a price list from there, many models seem to be great donors to DIY mics.
 
Ya, I was looking at that too. That's pretty funny. I'd love to hear it though.



Did i just see a royer 121 wannabe over there?

anyway, i would love to see a price list from there, many models seem to be great donors to DIY mics.
[/quote]
 
a couple quick examples of 797 capsules that I know for a fact to be true (there are others that from memory I think are 797 too but since I can't say for certain so will note as much here:

cad m177 and m179 (179 is dual)

behringer B2 Pro (other designations of B2 as well??)  it's also a dual I think, probably same cap as m179 but with vastly inferior electronics, case, screen and addons compared to the m179.

I used to hear that the mxl v67g was 797 but apparently (according to someone in the know) it's built by some engineers who left 797 and started their own small capsule manufacturing plant.  the end result is a capsule that's a lot like a 797 capsule, probably costs a little less, but hasn't nearly the testing and q/a gear that 797 audio has (797 audio actually has very good microphone testing equipment, one of the only if not the only chinese microphone company that does).

ones that I "think" are 797 but I might be wrong:  studio projects B-series ldc mics (I owned two of the cardoid ones, B1 maybe but don't recall # for certain, sounded similar to my cad m179s in cardoid mode but not quite as good which could be chalked up to the cad's superior build and electronics, anyway I'm not 100% sure those SP mics are 797 capsules.  Also I believe (but could be wrong) that the SP C-series LDC mics use caps from another manufacturer but again I could be wrong).

the long extinct MXL V77 tube mic I'm pretty sure used a 797 audio capsule.

anyway, there are no doubt other cheapo mics using these great capsules.  I'm trying to avoid listing the more expensive onces (although v77 is getting up there).  for example many companies that use chinese components for their well respected mics use 797 capsules for at least some models, I think ADK might use them for some models but again that's not for certain and I expect they're not used for all models even if at all.

From what I understand, 797 makes only one or two models of LDC capsule and they pretty much have the common sound of being relatively flattish and relatively free of peaks and nasty resonances, they have more air up high without a nasty 5-7khz bump that you get from some other chinese capsules, however the 797 caps also as a result tend to be a little more versatile yet not your traditional "vocal" microphone frequency curve (old school vocal mics do tend to have a mid presence and sometimes a push in the highs, but the better mics like that manage to somehow avoid the nasty harshness one gets from several of the alctron capsules which otherwise on paper might appear to be ideal vocal mic caps).  There are certainly good caps from alctron et al, esp those that do mimick classic german vocal mics, but somehow they always seem to have more phase issues and other problems (also are often mistuned from the factory) and therefore the best cheap bet always seems to be the 797 capsules.

If one wanted to (i've been wanting to for example... ;-) one could make a resonance or similar type of eq circuit for use in a 797 cap based mic and voila, switch it on for vocal use.

by the way, I'm totally not an expert, but I read a LOT about this stuff, have a good memory about dumb anal things like capsules and frequency response curves (but would forget my head if it wasn't screwed on) and I use my own experience from owning many of these types of mics over the years and trying to use them professionally.  I don't build or mod mics extensively myself (but am credited with a bit of work in the classic apex 460 mod pdf that's circulating around...) and although I'm good with electronics and with the math behind acoustics my own mechanical skills are pretty limited.  The real microphone geniuses out there will tell you things I can't and no doubt can/will correct me (please!) when I'm wrong.

I'm fairly certain I'm correct about the contents of this post however.  :)

cheers,
Don
 

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