Topic: Superlux E522B - the mystery mic... [conclusion: screw it get an AT822!]

[spaceboy_psy]

Oi oi ladies & chaps,

wondered if anyone knows anything about this incredibly cheap AT822 wrip-off?

http://www.millennium-music.co.uk/home/products.pl?ProductCode=SUPE522B&mode=detail&subcategory_id=CONDENSER+MICS

I'm very tempted by it having heard good things (by price ratio) about other Superlux mics. But there's no reviews, no discussion of this mic ANYWHERE! nothing.

So I figured, surely, someone here must have at least heard its name before??

Cheers one and all for any light shed

Simon

[edit: and the E522D is the balanced AT825 wrip-off...]

[illconditioned]

Oi oi ladies & chaps,

wondered if anyone knows anything about this incredibly cheap AT822 wrip-off?

http://www.millennium-music.co.uk/home/products.pl?ProductCode=SUPE522B&mode=detail&subcategory_id=CONDENSER+MICS

I'm very tempted by it having heard good things (by price ratio) about other Superlux mics. But there's no reviews, no discussion of this mic ANYWHERE! nothing.

So I figured, surely, someone here must have at least heard its name before??

Cheers one and all for any light shed

Simon

This is also marketed by Nady as well.  If you get it, I'd like to see the capsules inside.  My guess is that they are not as good as the AT822, but who knows.

  Richard

[DSatz]

Audio-Technica is a serious engineering organization that designs and manufactures its own capsules and microphones to high quality standards. I wouldn't put them in the very top tier of studio microphone manufacturers, but then again they're not aiming for that market.

I would trust anything that they make to be competently designed and well built, and the company stands behind its products. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the clone factories on the mainland and the literally hundreds of brands that market their output. Especially when it comes to microphones I wish that I could encourage people to be a little less fascinated by the $99 specials.

[illconditioned]

Audio-Technica is a serious engineering organization that designs and manufactures its own capsules and microphones to high quality standards. I wouldn't put them in the very top tier of studio microphone manufacturers, but then again they're not aiming for that market.

I would trust anything that they make to be competently designed and well built, and the company stands behind its products. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the clone factories on the mainland and the literally hundreds of brands that market their output. Especially when it comes to microphones I wish that I could encourage people to be a little less fascinated by the $99 specials.

I would just correct that to say, AT manufactures or OEMs its own capsules.  Sometimes they use others' parts, like the Primo EM68 that appear inside the AT822/825 (and maybe some others' capsule in the AT2020/2021 too).  Still I trust AT to do all the necessary engineering and quality control, and to service what they sell.

  Richard

[boojum]

<snip>
Especially when it comes to microphones I wish that I could encourage people to be a little less fascinated by the $99 specials.

How true.  The $99 mic is not one of life's good shortcuts.

[spaceboy_psy]

Hey everyone, thanks for the responses. I have already read this thread about the Nady CM-2S:

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,111350.0.html

so I'm well aware of the limitations the Superlux must have being a quarter the retail price of the AT822, in theory, but I'd really like to know if anyone has experience with them, because I can't imagine it being only a quarter as good. And I've also got to buy preamp/A/D and a windshield on my ohhhh-so-tight budget, so unfortunately something's really got to give

As it happens I may be able to get an AT822 for £100-£125 making it about twice as expensive as the Superlux, which I may be tempted to stretch for. But then there's the Superlux E522D which is also about £55 and is balanced... but I'm getting ahead of myself! I was going to post separately once I had a grasp on all my options regarding the whole kit. This thread is just searching for someone who's used a Superlux stereo mic, not necessarily to decide if I should get one!

I wish that I could encourage people to be a little less fascinated by the $99 specials.

I, too, wish I could ignore the "$99 specials" and skip straight to the $1000 standards. I also wish it didn't cost £1000 to go to Nepal (where I want to make recordings this summer), or that I didn't have to try and fit work in with studying to support myself through university, usually having to do too little of both...

Have a little compassion for the poor and destitute

Cheers again for the input, keep it coming!

edit: here's a question actually, comparing the AT822 (unbalanced), the E522B (unbalanced) and the E522D (balanced), assuming the Superluxes are as rubbish as you'd expect, how much better would the E522D be going into balanced inputs than E522B into unbalanced ins, and how might it theoretically compare to the At822 into unbalanced ins? same shit mic, less noise? Cheers!

[DSatz]

> Have a little compassion for the poor and destitute ...

I'm far more of a cheapskate than you probably realize. On average what I spend on microphones is some fraction of a dollar per recording. It's a little hard to calculate because I mainly use a series of condenser microphones that has interchangeable capsules, plus I bought the basic mikes in the mid-1970s. But I've used one pair of them for well over 1,000 live recordings (perhaps 1,500 by now), and two other pairs for several hundred recordings each, so a real "economy of scale" comes into play.

That sort of thing is possible only if the microphones are sonically transparent and very well made. Otherwise I'd have become bored with their sound long ago and/or they would have fallen apart. It isn't necessary to spend kilobucks to get those qualities in decent measure, but they're certainly not available at $99, which would represent a parts cost to the manufacturer of perhaps $35.

--best regards

P.S.: The A-T 822 and 825 are very old models, not very typical of what the company is about any more.

[spaceboy_psy]

Ah yes, economy of scale, a very good point. When you say "not very typical of what the company is about any more", you mean their quality has dropped yes? Sorry

I am of course growing more and more fond of the idea of getting the AT822, as it will be a mic that I'll come back to time and again.

But regarding the balanced/unbalanced thing, if I'm plugging the AT822 into a balanced preamp, I'll need a special cable won't I? With some pins swapped?

I've got a Microtrack and I'll be getting a preamp, so the E522D balanced output is just a little tempting.... Ooooh, I wonder if it's possible to mod the AT822 for balanced output..? I shall go and investigate!

[Roving Sign]

I've got a Microtrack and I'll be getting a preamp, so the E522D balanced output is just a little tempting.... Ooooh, I wonder if it's possible to mod the AT822 for balanced output..? I shall go and investigate!

Just get the 825...thats balanced and phantom powerable...

[spaceboy_psy]

Haha, I know I know, but that's definately out of my price range new! I'm keeping an eye on ebay though 

[refrain]

Hi,

Even Tascam offers the SAME mic (as Nady, Superlux, etc, just the logo changes) for about 160 euros, I think the chinese are supplying a lot of manufactures with the same design, the AT's were discontinued, so perhaps the design is now free?...

http://www.tascam.com/products/tm-stpro.html

I got one almost a year ago, because of the price... :-) the stereo image is not so good as the AT's, but really resembles them soundwise, but as a stereo mics, AT are really top of the class (even standard), noisy as the superlux, not very sensitive,
but it does not cost the 300 euros of the AT's. i got mine from Thomman and paid 80 euros including tax and shipping, so a good deal...
It's really nice, but it doesn't have a lot of detail, I would go for the Rode NT4, much better, less noise, almost the same price, 350 euros or less, but it's big, 500g of mic!!!, otherwise, you pay a lot for a good single-point stereo mic...

Best,
CS

[sanaka]

Especially when it comes to microphones I wish that I could encourage people to be a little less fascinated by the $99 specials.

 

I love a well turned phrase 

Peace

[spaceboy_psy]

OOOWWWWWW! 

My wallet hurts.

£132.50 is much more than I planned to spend on a mic. But it's also way less than any other brand new At822!

That's right folk, she is mine!! ^_^ Hit the BuyItNow button mainly to avoid any further fluffing around deciding things, I spend far too much time making decisions, time to just do what I know is right

Time to start a new thread! Thanks for the convincing gentlemen (lucky I found one cheap!  )