China 'KM184'?

[RuudNL]

I see that the Chinese 'friends' now have a 'KM184' in their range.
Does anyone happen to have experience with this?

 

[Tim Campbell]

which company?

 

[RuudNL]

Just look for 'KM184' on Ali...

 

[Tim Campbell]

I am tempted to buy one just to see what is inside. If it is anything like the chinese KMS105 all of the exterior and packaging are correct even stating made in Germany but internally the capsule has no resemblance to a real Neumann capsule. I will say that the fake KMS105s sound decent

 

[TLRT]

I saw one faked km184,it was a standard cheap electret circuit inside,mic was very cheap like 50EUR incl postage. Maybe they have now "better" ones.

 

[RuudNL]

What I have seen from the pictures the PCB is pretty crowded with lots of SMD components.
As far as I have seen there is an oscillator for the polarisation voltage, so apparently the capsule is not an electret type.

 

[pasarski]

As far as I have seen there is an oscillator for the polarisation voltage, so apparently the capsule is not an electret type.

I wouldn't bet on that. Just bought couple of those mini U87's. There's a DC-DC converter board and an electret capsule inside.

 

[Barry Hufker]

I'm not sure a KM184 is a mic to aspire to...

 

[RuudNL]

In the meantime I have had the opportunity to test a friend's 'Chinese' KM184.
Good news and bad news.
The microphone capsules are decent, I don't hear any 'peaks' or 'dips'.
(I have not had the opportunity to take measurements.)
Annoyingly, the electronics have a very high noise level, making the microphone as delivered basically unusable.
A missed opportunity in my opinion, because isn't the microphone capsule the most critical part of a microphone?

 

[Khron]

In the meantime I have had the opportunity to test a friend's 'Chinese' KM184.
Good news and bad news.
The microphone capsules are decent, I don't hear any 'peaks' or 'dips'.
(I have not had the opportunity to take measurements.)
Annoyingly, the electronics have a very high noise level, making the microphone as delivered basically unusable.
A missed opportunity in my opinion, because isn't the microphone capsule the most critical part of a microphone?

Arguably, that's a good thing - the electronics are more easily improved / replaced than the capsules... Right?

 

[k brown]

Just look for 'KM184' on Ali...

Is there any indication that all the results of that search are the same microphone, by the same company?

 

[RuudNL]

The packages look all the same, so I suppose they come from the same manufacturer.
(The prices however are very different, as was to be expected...)

 

[Khron]

What I have seen from the pictures the PCB is pretty crowded with lots of SMD components.
As far as I have seen there is an oscillator for the polarisation voltage, so apparently the capsule is not an electret type.

That looks remarkably identical (?)

 

[OneRoomStudio]

Hmmm...what are the chances that a Bv.107 would fit in there?

 

[RuudNL]

Hmmm...what are the chances that a Bv.107 would fit in there?

Near zero... (Very little space inside)
I offered my friend to replace the original PCB with a Schoeps circuit.
Capsule polarisation voltage from the original PCB is -52 V. (Yes: minus!)
With the Schoeps circuit I can get a little over 42 V, that is less than 2 dB difference in output.
And a LOT less noise!

 

[kingkorg]

Near zero... (Very little space inside)
I offered my friend to replace the original PCB with a Schoeps circuit.
Capsule polarisation voltage from the original PCB is -52 V. (Yes: minus!)
With the Schoeps circuit I can get a little over 42 V, that is less than 2 dB difference in output.
And a LOT less noise!

Any chance you can snap couple of images of the capsule, rear preferably?

 

[thomasdf]

Are we talking about the ~340€ pair ?

 

[RuudNL]

If you buy them, the price is for some reason lower than advertized. (Anyway that is what happened to my friend who bought a pair from 'MADON'.)

 

[RuudNL]

Any chance you can snap couple of images of the capsule, rear preferably?

I already returned the microphones to the owner, but I will try to take some pictures the next time I meet him.

 

[jp8]

Near zero... (Very little space inside)
I offered my friend to replace the original PCB with a Schoeps circuit.
Capsule polarisation voltage from the original PCB is -52 V. (Yes: minus!)
With the Schoeps circuit I can get a little over 42 V, that is less than 2 dB difference in output.
And a LOT less noise!

Are you sure it won't fit in, @RuudNL? AFAIK, the tube diameter of the KM184 is 22mm. Assuming the Chinese made a 1:1 clone, the fake one should have the same diameter. Most, if not all 22mm SDCs, e.g. the Takstars and MXL603S, fit the BV107 clones, such as the Cinemag CM-5722, AMI or ASTDS T8 and 3U GZT-84.

Spending €250 on a single KM184 clone is a bit too much for me, but I'd love to make a PCB for it with one of my improved KM84 style circuits: One is a KM84 circuit with RFI filter and the other is the same circuit, but biased at higher current for lower noise and with CMOS boost converter for higher sensitivity. Both 90% SMT.

If anyone can share the board dimensions, I'm willing to design the board.

Jan