sleeping giant awoken

by **headman** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:04 am

I just checked to see if my mics had left the US yet and there was a extra amount to be paid on my invoice as the shipping company would not send a package of that size.
No one is to blame for this, but it is an example of why things are taking so long to arrive. Murphy's law!
headman

by **heathen** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:08 am

Aearth wrote:How bad is the Aussie $, just makes importing gear very unattractive.
I don't know about you guys but when I've imported equipment to Oz it seems to take Customs 3 to 4 weeks to get their there act together. Austpost from Customs 24hrs, USA to Aussie 3 to 5 days and Australian Customs 3 bloody weeks, but if there are public holidays involved then you looking at 4 weeks.

nIC

Yeah I found an eq at a great price in the USA last night and I want it but.................... $900US worked out to be about $1380AUBRD (Aussie banana republic dollars). I should'nt be buying gear anyway.

Has anyone actually tested any of this gear yet?

by **headman** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:34 am

I got an email from the United States Postal Service today confirming my mailing address, so I'm thinking my microphones are about to speed their way across the Pacific.
It will be interesting to see how long the shipping takes.

headman

by **TimS** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:52 am

Same here Rich.. Just going to log into the console to see if they 'might' have shipped yet..

UPDATE:
After checking, still a red NO on shipped..

by **Chris H** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:22 am

My 10 mics arrived last week. Just got back from camping at wilsons Prom, so am unpacking them now. The postal paper work was stamped Dec 24 so that will give an indication of how long you may have to wait.

by **toddd** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:29 am

i still have a 'no' on an invoice even being available. i've tried to email this guy, but as someone said before, it just times out. wondering if someone could pass on to me an email for him that works?

I only ordered 1 mic and 1 pre, so i guess i'm at the arse end of the list, but still... wouldn't mind actually getting to see this stuff..

by **TimS** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:39 am

Chris H wrote:My 10 mics arrived last week. Just got back from camping at wilsons Prom, so am unpacking them now. The postal paper work was stamped Dec 24 so that will give an indication of how long you may have to wait.

Hey Chris,
I camp at Narooma every Jan for a few weeks (we got back a week ago) with friends of ours from Maffra & Melb and they camp at Wilsons Prom every Easter - we are joining them @ WP this year for the first time hopefully..
Looking forward to it - heard that its a great place to camp..

I only ordered the 2 mics - 1200 & 6802T so hopefully being a small order it might go out a little quicker.. here's hoping..
What mics did you get??

by **Chris H** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:12 pm

Narooma.. where the BIG fish are..... I get to Eden area from time to time. Spent one night fishing Squeeky beach at the Prom for 12 nice salmon, two good flathead and a nice 14 Lb gummy shark. Hight tide at about 12.30 with the almost full moon rising at about 10.30
The prom is a great place being removed from the mainland by the Isthmus. Has a great vibe and sence of isolation once you get away from the main camping area at Tidal River. Being the southern most tip of the mainland it can have extremes of wheather, but that is what makes the place great. PM me before you go if you have any questions re getting the most out of your visit.

Back to TNC mics.....

I got 4 of the 1200, two being for a mate, and two each of the 310 , the 4 ribbon and the 3 ribbon. I had seen the 310 and the 3 before ( under a different brand name and this lot seems a bit better build for eg the grille of the 310. Sound wise, i'm yet to plug em in. Did notice all the power supplies still switched to 115 V so have switched them all to the 230V option. Also read on PSW that Chance has been packing the Australian orders over the past few days..... from the man himself:

[quote] Sat, 24 January 2009 13:36
Â CHANCE

I should have all the orders going to Australia invoiced this weekend. I was planning to do a lot today but, speaking of "New arrivals", my second grandson came down the chute at 10am this morning and I had to babysit the first one.

Chance Pataki
The Musicians Workshop
musicians.workshop@gte.net
http://www.the-musicians-workshop.com
[end quote]

If i have had difficulty emailing him i have left a PM on the PSW site or just posted as a last resort.
Some orders are getting processed and shipped while the red NO's still appear on the user console, so it makes it hard to know when they are on the way.

by **TimS** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:05 pm

Chris,
Thanks for the reply.. and posting Chance's email reply to you as well..
Guess I'll see them when they arrive.. ;-)
Can you post a review of the 1200 when you have done a burn in and a chance to give it a test run..
I'm hoping the reviews stay so positive.. looks good so far.
Are you thinking of getting the transformer mod done as well??

by **Chris H** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:59 pm

No problem Tim. Chance's quote was from the PSW thread:

http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index. ... #msg_16069

I will be getting the transformer and one of the electronics mods for the 1200 pair, and possibly Oliver Archut's transformers for the other mics as well. I will wait to hear other peoples opinions of the upgrades before going for it though. Transformers, being where so much a sonic difference can be gained, should be worth the $70 or so price tag. For 8 mics though, i think i will do a pair at a time over the next 12 months. I will get time over the next few days to give them a good try out and let you know my initial thoughts....... for what its worth all the mics look a bit better and more solidly built than i thought they would with the exeption of the gold plating on the TNC-4 looking a bit cheezy.

by **JulienG** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:26 pm

Yep, I paid my US$850 for shipping, pretty much one of all the mics and a pair of 81's and 84's.

by **Aearth** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:21 am

What a mess. Has anyone tried out any of this wow cheap gear yet?

nIC

by **TimS** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:14 am

Aearth wrote:What a mess. Has anyone tried out any of this wow cheap gear yet?

nIC

Why is that nIC?
I'm sure its a huge job as there must be 1000's of orders that were placed...
If the mics are as good as the reports so far, the 9 month wait would have been worth it..

by **musikwerks** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:53 am

My Wagner only took 6 months..... and it was hand made, not a mass manufacture.

by **toddd** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:35 pm

Yeah, thanks a lot for that Chris. i'll sit on my hands a bit longer..

by **tunetown** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:40 pm

musikwerks wrote:My Wagner only took 6 months..... and it was hand made, not a mass manufacture.

Is Gunter still making them? I heard he has stopped production.

Cheers

by **musikwerks** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:51 pm

Still going as far as I know. I purchased mine a few years ago.

by **TimS** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:04 pm

musikwerks wrote:My Wagner only took 6 months..... and it was hand made, not a mass manufacture.

Arent you lucky to get a hand made Wagner!
Not all of us have that luxury.. or funding unfortunately...

by **musikwerks** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:16 pm

Actually, the circumstance surrounding my purchase was pretty lucky. Long story but I only had to pay half out of my own funds... a royalty cheque that I didn't know I had coming made the rest possible... and they were a little cheaper then too.

by **TimS** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:32 pm

musikwerks wrote:Actually, the circumstance surrounding my purchase was pretty lucky. Long story but I only had to pay half out of my own funds... a royalty cheque that I didn't know I had coming made the rest possible... and they were a little cheaper then too.

Wow, nice break... good for you though Kris - I'm still jealous ;-)

by **Aearth** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:56 pm

TimS wrote:
Aearth wrote:What a mess. Has anyone tried out any of this wow cheap gear yet?

nIC

Why is that nIC?
I'm sure its a huge job as there must be 1000's of orders that were placed...
If the mics are as good as the reports so far, the 9 month wait would have been worth it..

I think it's pretty brave, naive or stupid (there you are I said it) for anyone to buy a product that has not been tried out, let alone from a Chinese untried source. I can understand buying one item to try out, but loads of...... well good luck unloading the stuff when you tire of it boys.
Gee Rob from Pro-harmonics and Joe from JLM are going to have some new business, fixing and moding the new wave Chinese gear.
As for highend known products like Wagner, Neve, API, I would rather save up and buy something that will hold valve even if it is expensive to begin with.
Nine months to get to all of you, sorry some of you. I'll never complain about shipping from the USA through to Australian Customs to me which took 4 weeks again.

nIC

by **TimS** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:49 pm

Gee nIC, dont get defensive!!
I bought 2 mics - cost me 200 bucks all up and 140 for shipping.. Pretty cheap investment for 'untried' gear as you say..

by **Aearth** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:51 pm

TimS wrote:Gee nIC, dont get defensive!!
I bought 2 mics - cost me 200 bucks all up and 140 for shipping.. Pretty cheap investment for 'untried' gear as you say..

Enjoy

by **heathen** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:05 pm

Nic stop being offensive. :)

by **Aearth** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:17 pm

TimS wrote:Gee nIC, dont get defensive!!
I bought 2 mics - cost me 200 bucks all up and 140 for shipping.. Pretty cheap investment for 'untried' gear as you say..

Well Tim you are one of the smart ones then. No big deal if the gear sucks.

nIC

by **TimS** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Aearth wrote:No big deal if the gear sucks.

nIC

Exactly..

by **Aearth** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:33 am

TimS wrote:
Aearth wrote:No big deal if the gear sucks.

nIC

Exactly..

It's good to see you have money to burn, maybe you could have put it towards something tried and of valve. Hope it works out for you though.

by **TimS** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:28 am

Aearth wrote:
TimS wrote:
Aearth wrote:No big deal if the gear sucks.

nIC

Exactly..

It's good to see you have money to burn, maybe you could have put it towards something tried and of valve. Hope it works out for you though.

I did put it towards something of valve!! ;-)
It seemed like a pretty decent venture for the outlay I put up.. I didnt want many items (2 tube mics) - just something diifferent to what I have already.

by **Chris H** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:15 pm

Sounds like the sleeping gnat has been awoken....... nic,...... so you reckon those who got more than one or two mics or pre's from the group buy are stupid and have money to burn,......hope your not becoming a gear snob.....ok, ok ....we all get a bit snobby about the good bits of "name" gear we manage to get hold of....you have managed to get some nice gear in your hire list,...... then again some examples would lead me to the conclusion that you too have money to burn. I suppose what floats one mans boat could go a long way to sinking anothers.

So the reasons i think i'm not so stupid for handing over $1300 for 10 mics:
*_ The mics are not un seen or unheard. I had a good listen to the two valve mics and one of the ribbons badged under another name and think they were a worthy addition to the rather limited selection of mics i have on hand.

*_ Through a bit of research, people involved in the previous group buy told me which mics were the better sounding in their opinion.

*_ Those organizing it spoke often to the manufacturer to ensure design improvements in some of the mics were included in this G_B

*_ for me if only one pair of the valve mics i got are as i expect them to be i will come out even cost
wise say $ 650 per mic.

*- The fact that Oliver Archut is lending his ears and transformer know how to the project gives me confidence that the mics can be improved to get a better end product.

*_ I'm expecting all the mics to sound good in their own way....some better than others maybe....word coming in from those already using them say the 1200 and the 310 are good sounding mics as is the ACM-2 ribbon....so of the ones i have that leaves the ACM 4 with a ??
None i expect to sound in the league of your Brauner but i may be plesantly surprised when they get the transformer and electronics upgrade.

*_ The aspect i like most about this G_B is the grass roots organizing of Chance and a few others to
get these mics to those interested at a good price...so it decreases the risk. Included is the DIY component with the supported upgrades
*_ And ........if it is them creating a launch of their own product range under another name etc etc....then they have the confidence in their products to market them firstly to recording professionals and home studios through PSW and other forums. No one would do that if they thought they would get crap reviews of the mics and pre amps. So the gear gets used, reviewed, recomendations for improvements made.......etc, etc, a very clever way to launch a product range and brand before the formal launch of the company.
So it becomes a win win. They get a great platform on which to launch their brand, we get a good deal on the gear.

For what it's worth, that's my take on it all.

by **TimS** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:51 pm

Quite an accurate view Chris :-)
This re-affirms my decision to purchase a couple of mics in the GB as well..

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