Topic: Fake CSB's???

[travelinbeat]

About four or five years ago I bought some Coresound Binaurals... or so I thought.  I've been using the mic's and loving them dearly, but recently the left channel has stopped functioning reliably.  I contacted Len and he asked me to send in the mics + B.Box for a checkup.  I sent them in and now Len is returning them to me without having done any work on them, claiming that they are not CSB's at all.  He claims that they are some other company's mics which are made to look like CSB's and are in fact Cardiods. Since they are not his, he will not fix them.  He is mailing them back and once I get them back I will post detailed photo's of the mic's and B.box, but in the mean time I am wondering if anyone has ever heard of this before-- has anyone paid Coresound and received non-Coresound mic's?  Has anyone heard of Len renouncing his product to refuse service?  I do not mean to tarnish anyone's reputation, and I certainly don't mean to be out-of-line in my inquiries, I don't want to make Len out to be a bad guy, I am just asking the questions which I hope any responsible consumer would ask.  I am 99.999% sure that I bought these mics from Core-sound, I do ask that you all allow for the possibility that I am retarded and somehow I own a set of other-brand mic's, but I really am pretty darn sure I bought CSB's.

You all are the masters of the taping world, what can I do?  In the event that these are some random brand, is there anyone out there who repairs mic's reliably?

Thanks in advance!

[Sanjay]

CSB mics are hardly unique in their design, and Len was hardly the first to make them.  Many mics are made of the panasonic capsule in some metal housing with a homemade battery box, I can think of a few people off the top of my head (including myself) who can make similar mics.  They could be Giant Squid mics, Oade Mini mics, Sound Professionals mics, Church Audio mics or some homemade variety.  They all look really similar.  Core Sound mics are unique I think as the mics are connected to the battery box via one very large connector in the center. 

[travelinbeat]

these mics attach to the b.box with a strange sort of screw-on attachment with four prongs.  It looks kind of like a four-pronged XLR, only it screws down.  The mics go into the b.box there and the output comes out of that same spot.

[OFOTD]

CSB mics are hardly unique in their design, and Len was hardly the first to make them.  Many mics are made of the panasonic capsule in some metal housing with a homemade battery box, I can think of a few people off the top of my head (including myself) who can make similar mics.  They could be Giant Squid mics, Oade Mini mics, Sound Professionals mics, Church Audio mics or some homemade variety.  They all look really similar.  Core Sound mics are unique I think as the mics are connected to the battery box via one very large connector in the center. 

First question should be where or who did you buy the CSB's from? 

[travelinbeat]

legitimate question.  I am 99.999% sure that I bought them from Core-Sound.  I would not have purchased used mics, so unless someone intercepted Len's email or postal mail, it seems really really strange that I could have received a different brand.  Since the purchase was so long ago, I am not certain that their would be any record of it on file with my banks / credit cards, and that's the dilemma =(

[Will_S]

these mics attach to the b.box with a strange sort of screw-on attachment with four prongs.  It looks kind of like a four-pronged XLR, only it screws down.  The mics go into the b.box there and the output comes out of that same spot.

Do they look like this?

http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-cardbattery1.html

Sounds like you have Giant Squid mics and not Core Sound.

[travelinbeat]

looks a little similar, my b.box is more square than that one, and the screw on parts to the b.box are not rounded.  furthermore the 1/8" plus is not gold, but silver.  Also it looks like these mics are split from the moment they leave the B.Box, mine are connected for most of their length, then split off of eachother into a "Y" shape, allowing them to be seperated probably by a couple feet (2 or 3ish?).  Also there is no writing on any cables on my setup, whereas on these mics there appears to be some writing on the 1/8" cable as it comes from the b.box.

Thanks for the help so far guys!! =)

[Chuck]

Did you ask Len if he knew who he thought made the microphones?

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

I thought Len did offer a cardiod version of his mics.

[travelinbeat]

I asked him if he knew whos mics they might be and he said that there are ton of options-- Giant Squid, SP, Church, ....

And to make matters worse, I'm leaving the country in just three weeks so I need to find out SOOOON!!!

[Chuck]

If you can post a photo, I bet we can figure it out, unless they are homebrews.

[travelinbeat]

I defenatly will post pictures as soon as I get my mic's in =)

[grider]

why would anyone fake such a cheap mic? that's ludicrous

[Brian Skalinder]

why would anyone fake such a cheap mic? that's ludicrous

I don't think they're "faked", really.  As others have pointed out, there are multiple manufacturers producing very similar products.  Sounds more to me like a misunderstanding, misremembering of where they were purchased, etc., than anything else.

[Church-Audio]

About four or five years ago I bought some Coresound Binaurals... or so I thought.  I've been using the mic's and loving them dearly, but recently the left channel has stopped functioning reliably.  I contacted Len and he asked me to send in the mics + B.Box for a checkup.  I sent them in and now Len is returning them to me without having done any work on them, claiming that they are not CSB's at all.  He claims that they are some other company's mics which are made to look like CSB's and are in fact Cardiods. Since they are not his, he will not fix them.  He is mailing them back and once I get them back I will post detailed photo's of the mic's and B.box, but in the mean time I am wondering if anyone has ever heard of this before-- has anyone paid Coresound and received non-Coresound mic's?  Has anyone heard of Len renouncing his product to refuse service?  I do not mean to tarnish anyone's reputation, and I certainly don't mean to be out-of-line in my inquiries, I don't want to make Len out to be a bad guy, I am just asking the questions which I hope any responsible consumer would ask.  I am 99.999% sure that I bought these mics from Core-sound, I do ask that you all allow for the possibility that I am retarded and somehow I own a set of other-brand mic's, but I really am pretty darn sure I bought CSB's.

You all are the masters of the taping world, what can I do?  In the event that these are some random brand, is there anyone out there who repairs mic's reliably?

Thanks in advance!

I have seen these mics before. They were for sale on ebay. I don't remember who it was that made them, but they were exactly the same except for one thing ( they sucked ) There were not using the same mic capsule or the same cable that Len uses. I would really doubt it, if Len would say it was not his product if it was. You have to remember he like me, has 1,000's of mic capsules lying around. It's not a big deal for any of us SP, CA, CORE. To fix a microphone. I am 100% positive he would rather fix the mic and have a happy customer, then lie and have a pissed off customer. Who I am sure will tell all about what has happened. So my advice is to Buy a new pair of mics and call it a day.

I think every one of us ( mic builders) has been copied at one time or another. I once had a pair of my mics advertised as very high end mics worth over $700 on ebay. I told the seller in the UK that these mics actually sell for $99.99 not $700. He actually had the auction bid up to $500!! He ended. So no harm came out of it. I was flattered but these types of things happen. I am sure its not the first time a product has been so well copied as to fool the owner into thinking he has something he does not. Good luck with your mics if you really want to have them get fixed and Len will not do it send them to me I will look at them for free just pay the shipping back. 

And Remember, before you accuse someone in good standing. Publish a picture of the mic here. I am 100% positive one of us will know exactly who made it, and where it was made.

Chris Church