Are the Lewitt Mics on AliExpress real or counterfeits?

[micolas]

Yes, I figured as much. There's plenty of room inside the AKG mic body for the clip assembly. It does make me wonder if I can rig up some type of shielded external container for the clip. I bet I can. Either way, it will be fun to try.

Some microphones have adjustable Low-Pass, for example some 3U Warbler models, or some of my custom-modded microphones for different clients

http://www.3uaudio.com/cp.asp?id=684

 

[micolas]

Are you talking about Rycote external shock mounts? They are very nice, but I hope to engineer an internal solution for handheld microphones.

And internal too.
The Rode NT1 Black kit has an internal Rycote.

 

[micolas]

Lewitt Mics are produced by Takstar in China. There are many counterfeit Lewitt products in China. Takstar said that Lewitt established the brand in cooperation with AKG. Takstar is not actually a branch in Taiwan. It has only been OEM for many Taiwanese brands, including some Japanese brands. The founder of Takstar is from Shanghai Feilo, China, and it is a brand from mainland China.

IIRC you've made these points in other posts.
Thanks!

 

[soliloqueen]

Lewitt Mics are produced by Takstar in China. There are many counterfeit Lewitt products in China. Takstar said that Lewitt established the brand in cooperation with AKG. Takstar is not actually a branch in Taiwan. It has only been OEM for many Taiwanese brands, including some Japanese brands. The founder of Takstar is from Shanghai Feilo, China, and it is a brand from mainland China.

from what i found, superlux founded takstar as a satellite factory but there was drama in the 90s about taiwanese businesses in the PRC, so they reorganized as a chinese company and now omit that part of their company history for political reasons. you can see this in historical trademark and patent filings if you look deep enough. they registered the takstar name along with the current logo some time in the 90s. at some point i had the original documents saved somewhere, i'll try to find them. i do a lot of market research into the history of chinese microphone companies for obvious reasons.

edit:

you can see here goang fann's (now lapsed for almost 20 years) trademark filing for takstar.
this history is also listed on the taiwanese superlux website:


but is absent from the prc takstar website. some kind of falling out or tension.

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

Some microphones have adjustable Low-Pass, for example some 3U Warbler models, or some of my custom-modded microphones for different clients

http://www.3uaudio.com/cp.asp?id=684

Yes you are correct that what I am proposing is a filter, just with more range than you typically find in microphones with one or two switchable settings. Fun stuff.

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

And internal too.
The Rode NT1 Black kit has an internal Rycote.

Nice. Thank you.

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

from what i found, superlux founded takstar as a satellite factory but there was drama in the 90s about taiwanese businesses in the PRC, so they reorganized as a chinese company and now omit that part of their company history for political reasons. you can see this in historical trademark and patent filings if you look deep enough. they registered the takstar name along with the current logo some time in the 90s. at some point i had the original documents saved somewhere, i'll try to find them. i do a lot of market research into the history of chinese microphone companies for obvious reasons.

edit:
View attachment 147535
you can see here goang fann's (now lapsed for almost 20 years) trademark filing for takstar.
this history is also listed on the taiwanese superlux website:
View attachment 147536

but is absent from the prc takstar website. some kind of falling out or tension.

You are a wealth of fascinating historical knowledge, and I bet you've got some great stories you could tell. I think the Arienne Audio story alone would be interesting to hear you talk about. I can only imagine how many entertaining stories and anecdotes you have based on your own experience in the industry.

 

[Екатерина]

from what i found, superlux founded takstar as a satellite factory but there was drama in the 90s about taiwanese businesses in the PRC, so they reorganized as a chinese company and now omit that part of their company history for political reasons. you can see this in historical trademark and patent filings if you look deep enough. they registered the takstar name along with the current logo some time in the 90s. at some point i had the original documents saved somewhere, i'll try to find them. i do a lot of market research into the history of chinese microphone companies for obvious reasons.

edit:
View attachment 147535
you can see here goang fann's (now lapsed for almost 20 years) trademark filing for takstar.
this history is also listed on the taiwanese superlux website:
View attachment 147536

but is absent from the prc takstar website. some kind of falling out or tension.

They are now a Guangdong company, from the boss to the employees, and they have many branch offices, including Lewitt Huizhou. They all have a boss named Ken Yang, who is currently fully operated by Yang. In addition, many parts of RODE come from Shuaiyin, and almost all McWinds have traces of China

 

[Екатерина]

Hey guys, do you really think Lewitt is great? I think the vast majority of them are very average, and may even be less usable than their imitations

 

[soliloqueen]

They are now a Guangdong company, from the boss to the employees, and they have many branch offices, including Lewitt Huizhou. They all have a boss named Ken Yang, who is currently fully operated by Yang. In addition, many parts of RODE come from Shuaiyin, and almost all McWinds have traces of China

yep, i know what they're organized like now, i was talking 20-30 years ago

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

Hey guys, do you really think Lewitt is great? I think the vast majority of them are very average, and may even be less usable than their imitations

I think they make some quality microphones. The LCT440, 540 and I believe 1040 offer some of the lowest self noise in their class and above. They sound good on my voice and offer a lot for what they charge. They are not alone in this regard to be sure but compare them even to brands like Shure, AKG AND sennheiser and they, depending on the model, offer far better value in both features and sound at least to my ear.

 

[JF]

Hey guys, do you really think Lewitt is great? I think the vast majority of them are very average, and may even be less usable than their imitations

I bought a pair to have a strongly sounded, bright large membrane mic. And they do exactly this with low noise and for a good price.
There is a tool for every usecase - but you don't need all the tools of the world in your pocket. So I really can imagine that many don't have a use for such a mic.

 

[soliloqueen]

I bought a pair to have a strongly sounded, bright large membrane mic. And they do exactly this with low noise and for a good price.
There is a tool for every usecase - but you don't need all the tools of the world in your pocket. So I really can imagine that many don't have a use for such a mic.

sometimes you do want a k67 without high end feedback, especially for stereo at a distance.

 

[Екатерина]

I bought a pair to have a strongly sounded, bright large membrane mic. And they do exactly this with low noise and for a good price.
There is a tool for every usecase - but you don't need all the tools of the world in your pocket. So I really can imagine that many don't have a use for such a mic.

I have used LCT440 before, and it gives me a feeling of being too bright and cold, which makes my voice sharper. This may be the reason why I prefer warm retro style

 

[ZHOUJUN]

from what i found, superlux founded takstar as a satellite factory but there was drama in the 90s about taiwanese businesses in the PRC, so they reorganized as a chinese company and now omit that part of their company history for political reasons. you can see this in historical trademark and patent filings if you look deep enough. they registered the takstar name along with the current logo some time in the 90s. at some point i had the original documents saved somewhere, i'll try to find them. i do a lot of market research into the history of chinese microphone companies for obvious reasons.

edit:
View attachment 147535
you can see here goang fann's (now lapsed for almost 20 years) trademark filing for takstar.
this history is also listed on the taiwanese superlux website:
View attachment 147536

but is absent from the prc takstar website. some kind of falling out or tension.

from what i found, superlux founded takstar as a satellite factory but there was drama in the 90s about taiwanese businesses in the PRC, so they reorganized as a chinese company and now omit that part of their company history for political reasons. you can see this in historical trademark and patent filings if you look deep enough. they registered the takstar name along with the current logo some time in the 90s. at some point i had the original documents saved somewhere, i'll try to find them. i do a lot of market research into the history of chinese microphone companies for obvious reasons.

edit:
View attachment 147535
you can see here goang fann's (now lapsed for almost 20 years) trademark filing for takstar.
this history is also listed on the taiwanese superlux website:
View attachment 147536

but is absent from the prc takstar website. some kind of falling out or tension.

Update,
TAKSTAR was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1995 and was acquired by Yang. It is true that Superlux created TAKSTAR, but apart from retaining the company name, Yang had no affiliation with Superlux after acquiring TAKSTAR.

 

[FetMe?FetU!]

Update,
TAKSTAR was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1995 and was acquired by Yang. It is true that Superlux created TAKSTAR, but apart from retaining the company name, Yang had no affiliation with Superlux after acquiring TAKSTAR.

It would appear that both your timeline histories of the company are aligned. Takstar started as a Taiwanese company and eventually reformed as a Chinese company. It would seem that the motivation for the change in the companies' incorporation differs.

Soliloqueen said, "...there was drama in the 90s about Taiwanese businesses in the PRC, so they reorganized as a Chinese company and now omit that part of their company history for political reasons."

But Zhoujun says, "TAKSTAR was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1995 and was acquired by Yang."

It would appear that any disagreement is about "why" it happened. Both explanations are not mutually exclusive, and they both could be part of the reason for the change in company location and ownership. Takstar could have been seeking a way out of a dire financial situation during a time that there was indeed political pressure from the PRC. Even today, the PRC uses these pressure tactics to get what it wants. The US is doing something similar right now. I'm not endorsing or condemning this behavior or taking a political stand. I'm just stating the facts. Hell, it's not unreasonable to assume that political pressure from the PRC might have contributed to Takstar's financial troubles.

On the other side, Mr. Yang saw an opportunity to make a solid business move, acquired Takstar, and moved the company to mainland China. Also, it's not unusual for the PRC to be directly and indirectly involved in Chinese companies' business. From what I gather around the forum, and I am willing to admit I don't know Sililoqueen personally so I could be wrong (but I don't think so she does a lot of business in China, so I think it's reasonable to accept that she would have solid information regarding the PRC's involvement in the company.

You both are probably right.

 

[micolas]

@soliloqueen and @ZHOUJUN
we thank you for all this interesting information.

I can say that I have great confidence in the knowledge of Ari.
I am absolutely convinced that she studies with great avidity and pleasure the topic of interest.
In everything she does, in addition to great passion, she puts in a lot of work, perseverance and does not let herself be defeated by all the difficulties that arise along the way.
Her wonderful results speak for themselves.
Honestly, we are very lucky to have her here among us, be it in this group.

 

[soliloqueen]

Update,
TAKSTAR was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1995 and was acquired by Yang. It is true that Superlux created TAKSTAR, but apart from retaining the company name, Yang had no affiliation with Superlux after acquiring TAKSTAR.

Interesting, thanks a lot for your Insight. I hope it's clear that I mean no offense here. Whatever went down seems like it was complicated judging from how both companies talk about it.

This explanation doesn't quite make sense as goangfann registered the takstar name in late 1996 in Taiwan and it didn't expire until the mid-2000s? This would only make sense if they worked out an exclusive deal with yang. The timing of the founding of takstar lines up precisely to the month of internal tensions on Taiwanese owned businesses due to the third strait crisis. That being said, it's just a theory. Both businesses are inconsistent about what happened.

 

[ZHOUJUN]

Interesting, thanks a lot for your Insight. I hope it's clear that I mean no offense here. Whatever went down seems like it was complicated judging from how both companies talk about it.

This explanation doesn't quite make sense as goangfann registered the takstar name in late 1996 in Taiwan and it didn't expire until the mid-2000s? This would only make sense if they worked out an exclusive deal with yang. The timing of the founding of takstar lines up precisely to the month of internal tensions on Taiwanese owned businesses due to the third strait crisis. That being said, it's just a theory. Both businesses are inconsistent about what happened.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It is certain that
Takstar was founded by Superlux in Guangdong, China in 1995. It was acquired by Yang not long after it was established. The official introduction of Takstar in China also said so. Anyway, their history is like this.
Lewitt is OEM manufactured by Takstar. Lewitt is a company jointly founded by Yang's son and others. This was told to me by a friend who worked at Takstar in 2002. We knew each other in 2002. Her name is Fenny, and she is responsible for the agency of Lewitt in China, so the information is true and reliable.

 

[soliloqueen]

It was acquired by Yang not long after it was established.

so the official story is that it went bankrupt almost instantly after it was founded (less than 1 month), with over 20,000,000 hkd in capital investment? right in the middle of the third strait crisis. i don't see how our versions of events are at all incompatible. in fact, the two accounts of events match up perfectly, if the reason for the bankruptcy was political tension. the only way a factory like takstar could have gone bankrupt in less than a month with 20,000,000 hkd of capital investment is if the investment was disallowed by the PRC due to its taiwanese origin, which was happening at the time. this would have left takstar completely bankrupt right after founding, which lines up exactly with the version of events stated by Ms Fenny. Only the cause of the bankruptcy is omitted.