general similarity of tone in all offshore mics??

[dkelley]

This might sound naive, and I know people talk about this often but I suppose I've just had a small revelation or something. I've got a good collection of good mics including many non-chinese mics, and I work in studios that own almost exclusively german and american mics so it isn't like I'm ignorant about this.

It's just a comment, you know it's funny how your ears can play tricks on you sometimes. I just auditioned all of the cheap chinese condensors in my own personal collection (as opposed to non-chinese models and partly-chinese stuff like peluso), m179, b1, 435, 460, 2020,180, and I think there were some other things in there too (I got a little lost in my chinese mic drawer along the way LoL).

I use them all on different sources regularly (well, not both the apex 180s really, but one at a time on hats occasionally, they're oddly frustring mics while sounding so nice at first listen). However just now I listened to each of the listed mics on my own voice (not recorded, which isn't a good indication anyway but I was just having fun quickly), listening for those differences I know there are between these mics.

They all sounded so close it's not even funny, which confirms my belief from experience that it's truly the source material and room and mic placement and preamp and post chain that really make the most difference in a recording. I mean yes, the m179 has more proximity effect, it and the sp b1s sound really really REALLY similar in cardoid otherwise, the 460 (my new experimental one with the reversed capsule and replaced tube that I customized myself to warm it up a speck) sounds really similar too although as I always find with apex 460s it sounds best on vocals right up close to get lots of proximity effect since it's a little lacking in bass, then you get a nice velvety vocal tone, but again, similar highs (nice and sheeny since my mods, similar again to sp b1 and m179), the 2020 sounds similar again to the m179, sligtly less bass and less proximity effect, similar high end though again, it always does remind me of an AT4050 (yet again another mic that fits into this collection well which is why I don't own one), although the m179 might be very very slightly darker than all my others, the apex 180s sounded wacky different from each other (not a matched pair) with their cardoid capsules, I hate those cardoids, so I always use their omni caps... much sweeter, and similar again to the m179.

I of course hear differences and it's those subtle differences that make me choose one over another, the source decides it and the level and the room/pickup pattern/tightness/off axis response, but I just wanted to comment at how similar these mics really are. You can collect a lot and get lots of flavours but they're all really from the same family. I find bigger differences between my mic preamps in overal tone, but that's a different story. Of course there are much bigger differences when including the chinese ribbons and chinese dynamics, both of which are good, but the ribbons are a real standout, great mics. I actually don't have much love for chinese dynamics to be honest, again, another topic.

I find much more difference between the major german manufacturers for example, the neumanns I've used over the years, although widely varied in frequency response they ALL share a common tonality, but they're so different as a manufacturer from the sennheisers I've used, the shure's I've used (talking condensors here), the akgs I've used. They all (well, akg not so much) have a distinct family flavour and those flavours are all really different from manufacturer to manufacturer. akg of them all doesn't really have a distinct family trait to me though, their models vary widely in taste. But I mean, supposedly cad, sp, apex, AT all have different manufacturers in china, but they're all to me like different mics from the same family, almost like from the same larger manufacturer.

Like going to the store and saying, I want to buy a cad model m179 of the chinese mic company please, or an apex 460 model of the chinese mic company please, and maybe two of those mxl pencil models of the chinese mic company please. And they're all by the "chinese mic company", sort of like all being by neumann.

Am I off here or is this something people notice often? I find plenty of great uses for this sound, and there are chinese mics that emulate famous non-chinese mics pretty well but to me they still sound more like a chinese mic than like the famous non-chinese mic in question (SP C1 is one good example, a great mic, but still chinese highs and chinese lack of mojo compared to a U87 (or even a U87ai '''''''''''''shudder) even though the frequency response, and I even venture to say the build quality and design (speaking of the capsule here in particular), are outwardly similar).

I do love many of these cheap mics, but I just don't get why they are all so similar in overall tone when they come from I believe different manufacterers in the orient? (some aren't even in actual china I believe).

Cheers,
Don