sleeping giant awoken

[harry]

http://www.prodigy-pro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27172

look at the acm 1200...
i wonder how many mods "fletcher" and friends made to the "machine gun" before they put a 3k pricetag on it....

[Ausrock]

If you'd been hangin' around the right places you would have known about this ages ago ;-)

BTW, the price of the ACM-1200 is alledged to be between $100 US and something a bit over that.


And to the "individual" who PM'd me about putting a set figure up.........Mate, I'm not involved in the GB, consequently, 1) I'm not really bound by such requests, 2) There's more than one reputable person passing this info around, and 3) Until recently Chance (the organiser of the GB) had all the prices on his website for everyone to see........there's really no big secret about it.

[Kris]

Is that a Royer ribbon mic I see???? Sans branding of course... but... is it?

Can someone explain exactly what's going on with this? Never seen it before.

[Ausrock]

Is that a Royer ribbon mic I see???? Sans branding of course... but... is it?

Can someone explain exactly what's going on with this? Never seen it before.

Kris,

Over the last year or two there have been a couple of "Group Buys" organised to purchase mics from one of the Chinese manufacturers. The mics have been unbranded and considerably cheaper than their named counterparts. The GB being currently arranged has a couple of mic pres as well as mics and they may have a "brand" on them which from memory is 3 letters that have a tongue in cheek meaning. You'll find a lot more info here http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showth ... p?t=180964 but be warned it is a huge thread covering at least two GBs , I think the current GB discussion starts around page 75.

[Kris]

I'm in. A couple hundred bucks for 4 mics.... I'll have a punt. If they suck there's always ebay!

Ive gone for two of the Royer-esque models and two of the 1200's.

Should be interesting.

[TimS]

Me too..
Seems like they are getting decent reviews on their mics too..
Kris, PM sent..
Tim..

[SteveL]

I'll be in too on 4 mics (2 of the tube LDCs and 2 of the tube SDCs). I've also sent you a PM too Kris.

SteveL

[Chris H]

I seem to remember Rick writing a prophetic article about Chinese manufacturing a while ago..
I'm in for a few too. Two each of the ACM 310 small diaphram valve condenser; ACM 4 ribbon; ACM 1200 LDC tube, and the Tube Ribbon.
The ACM brand is an acronym for Another Cheap Mic.
Should be fun to see/hear the ones that come out ok. There was a problem with ribbons sagging during shipment with the last G.B. and they provided new ribbons. This time they are making sure the mics are shipped verticle, not horizontal to see if they have fewer problems.
Also some transformers are being upgraded in this GB as they were seen to be the weakest link.

[harry]

I take it no one saw the **81 type pres....

[TimS]

This time they are making sure the mics are shipped verticle, not horizontal to see if they have fewer problems.

Only have to be turned 90 degrees and that changes everything!!! :-(

[Chris H]

This time they are making sure the mics are shipped verticle, not horizontal to see if they have fewer problems.

Only have to be turned 90 degrees and that changes everything!!! :-(

Might be a problem if they are rotated 180 degrees though ............. anything can happen during shipment!!
Yes Harry , saw the 8!'s but i think i have enough pre's for now.

[Kris]

ok... looks like there's a bit of interest.

I'm happy to place the order as long as everyone gets there funds in on time.

I have never done this before so I need you guys to understand that if anything goes wrong I'm just the guy that placed the order, ok??? Apparently the shipping on previous buys has been somewhat slow.

[Ausrock]

Chance's GBs have been a learning process, where he has seen "shortcomings", he has, where possible improved things, however, don't be surprised if this exercise takes up to 6 months to complete.

[Chris H]

ok... looks like there's a bit of interest.

I'm happy to place the order as long as everyone gets there funds in on time.

I have never done this before so I need you guys to understand that if anything goes wrong I'm just the guy that placed the order, ok??? Apparently the shipping on previous buys has been somewhat slow.

I already have my order placed on Chance's personal web page where the order is being organized and there is a buyers console and direct email communication etc.. I think we may have our wires crossed here and clarification is needed.
Who are you placing the order through, ( PM me if you want)

[Ausrock]

Chris,

I may be wrong but I'm under the impression that someone here (maybe Kris) is the focus point for T/rockers orders.

[Kris]

I think I have become the orderer by default.... which is cool with me. The idea being if one of us places the order then the shipping costs can be offset by our own little group.

I'm happy to do it... unless someone else wants it by the end of play today.

I'm going through Chance like the rest of youse. So cancel your orders and pm me your shopping lists and I'll place the order. No hassle if you'd rather do it yourself. Totally understand.

[Chris H]

No worries. I will go it alone. Thanks for the offer though.
And about the Royer type ribbon,...AFAIK... i don't think they have any of the design features of the royer, just the look alike features. If i am wrong, i will order a few in a hurry.

[Ausrock]

Kris,

The main issue you may face, is if when the mics come through, the "shipment value" is over $1000AU as you will then be liable for import duties, etc. If that is likely to be the case, what I would suggest is that you try and arrange for Chance to break the shipment down into , for example $600 lots and ship them about a week apart, this way there is no reasonable way that they should be regarded as one shipment by Customs, etc.

I may get a couple of mics put on the list but if I'm honest, there's much higher priorities around here and I don't know that I'll get much sympathy from the better half :-))

ChrisO

[Kris]

good point.

maybe it would be best if we each did our own order?

[SteveL]

Yes, maybe it's easiest then just to do it all individually to ensure no-one's left holding the baby, so to speak, for hefty import duties etc. I'll just go ahead and put my own order in. Thanks for offering Kris to help out though.

SteveL.

[harry]

Hey Ausrock - it's good of you to point that out.

I was also thinking that we might have to pay for a customs fee for the goods getting to the states?

Could you clarify (as i'm guessing you have lots of experience in these matters) if
the limit is $400 when you use a private courier and $1000 when you use the post?

In this case the courier is Fedex so it might be the $400 threshold.
Might be better off making one big order as there will only be one shipping fee , and more importantly one customs broker fee. Still would have to pay 10% GST, not sure if we have to pay duty anymore? free trade? if so it is only 5% for that category?

still...... you couldn't buy the stepped switches and pots for the price the **81 stuff is going for....

[Kris]

Threshold is $1k regardless of which carrier you use.

[Ausrock]

Harry, the threshold used to be $400 but it was increased to $1000, also, the prices include all costs landed in the US, shipping to Aust., or anywhere is calculated and has to be paid once Chance has the individual shipments ready to despatch.

A few months ago, at Chance's request, I rechecked all the in and outs of importing as he was looking at the possibility of the o/seas orders shipping direct from China to the specific countries rather than going via the US but to do so would have involved a lot more work for him to seperate the o/seas orders, both in a $ and paperwork sense, then he would have had to rely on someone in other countries to receive the shipments, pay the import duties, repack and ship the individual orders, etc., etc...............needless to say it threatened to become "Bigger than Ben".

In organising these GBs, Chance is taking on one hell of a workload which benefits a lot of people and while he can't be doing it for nothing, I suspect his "per unit profit" isn't very much.

A bit OT but as an example of what some companies must be making...........the buy price ex China for a plastic/elastic pencil mic shockmount purchased in "manufacturer's quantites" is about $7.00AU maximum.......go check out what they retail for ;-)

[heathen]

A bit OT but as an example of what some companies must be making...........the buy price ex China for a plastic/elastic pencil mic shockmount purchased in "manufacturer's quantites" is about $7.00AU maximum.......go check out what they retail for ;-)

Thats called making a profit. Theres always someone happy to part with thier moolah. Also if you think you can just buy 1 from china forget it, they want to sell you 500.

I've got a mate in China as we speak sourcing gear to bring back here and flog for a profit, how much profit hmmmm see how we feel on the day.

Seriously though if you guys want anything shipped from China once I've arranged things and my mate gets back to me just let me know (ummmm for a small profit of course) we'll have an import company and customs brokerage for fast customs shite. I'll look after you guys if you want anything, but I'm saying this now and that is "everyone else is fair game" for a good markup.

Hope the GB goes well, there is some reasonable stuff coming out of China, the units could be gems but..... you never know. Sounds like some smart cookie took over a bunch of units and had them cloned.

Heathen
ProSpecAudio. PSA
Sounds pro hey.
:)

[Kris]

It really does make me wonder. It's a bit like the iPod scenario.... 3rd world labour build it for a tiny cost and then Apple is saved by it. Granted, China is hardly 3rd world but you have to wonder how much the factory workers get out of that $7 per mic. Somewhere, someone is getting very, very fat.

back on topic.... It's a gamble this group buy, but I think the odds of getting something semi ok are pretty good. And if not... well, there's a bunch of ebay chumps just waiting to give me my money back and then some.

[smash]

It's a bit like the iPod scenario.... 3rd world labour build it for a tiny cost and then Apple is saved by it.

Unfortunately, in today's economy, the actual cost of manufacturing a unit is a tiny, tiny, percentage of the actual total cost of the goods.

Just to give a few examples,

a) one prominent portable media player has an approximately 90 % No Fault Found ratio for repairs. This means that for every one faulty unit that is replaced, another 9 are replaced simply because the consumer didn't read their instructions. Of course by the time an actual repair technician has actually *looked* at a batch of the devices, the customer has been given a replacement unit already.

b) Nowdays, the cost of developing software has to be taken into account for the entire life of the product. Most consumers expect a free and instantaneous software
upgrade to support their new machine / OS / whatever, regardless of how old the age of the product, and the expiry of any warrantys.

c) Not to mention the cost of Marketing, Warehousing & Distribution, as well as the cost of manning support lines !!!

Although the group buy is still a very good price, it is still very much buyer beware, as if anything doesn't work out with the units - well it's basically tough luck.

Also - Don't forget the cost of R & D - whilst not really applicable to these - as they are more than likely closes of other products, I am aware of a certain mobile phone that had in excess of $150 Million U.S. spent on the R&D alone.

[TimS]

Although the group buy is still a very good price, it is still very much buyer beware, as if anything doesn't work out with the units - well it's basically tough luck.

Couldnt agree with you more - but if you get a good deal, you've already won!!

[Ausrock]

Guys, please notice that I said a mic "shockmount".............which BTW, probably had SFA R&D needed as the particular unit is just your typical generic plastic mount.

[smash]

"Generic" is actually a very interesting concept.

I could ramble - but I choose sleep.

Smash out.

[smash]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz