Going to China, What should I look out for?

activesoundmedia · Post by **activesoundmedia** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 7:01 pm

Hey Folks, I am going to China, any gear I should keep a look out for? Maybe those Chinese ribbon mics? thanks Ryan

getreel · Post by **getreel** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:26 pm

It seems like alot of current prosumer audio gear is made there so I bet you can find a lot to look for.

vatoben · Post by **vatoben** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 1:14 am

getreel wrote:It seems like alot of current prosumer audio gear is made there so I bet you can find a lot to look for.

and something like 95% of the world's pandemic diseases too! bring some vitamin c.

helmuth · Post by **helmuth** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 5:39 am

harsh high end?

ckeene · Post by **ckeene** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 6:46 am

i bet you could find some awesome cymbals and gongs for short $

philbo · Post by **philbo** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 7:16 am

Avoid being seen taking photos - - if done at the right time in the right place, it can land you in prison.
________
Teen Fucking

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 7:23 am

Yeah, cymbals. My drummer friend lived in Beijing for a while and he came home with an assload of cymbals from, I think, open air markets.

mcsquishytooshy · Post by **mcsquishytooshy** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 7:29 am

look out for chinese people

I'm Painting Again · Post by **I'm Painting Again** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 8:45 am

look for extreme paradox

lg · Post by lg » Fri Nov 24, 2006 9:59 am

mcsquishytooshy wrote:look out for chinese people

that should be easy. chickie-foo.

Professor · Post by **Professor** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 12:48 pm

Watch out for tanks rolling over students in the square.

Oooh, I know that's kinda mean... they haven't done that (as far as we know) for like 17 years.

Really though, I think the cymbals and gongs thing is a great suggestion. Consider how cheap Wuhan gongs are here in the US, and then figure that those are marked up by the importer and then the dealer. You might even want to try and contact somebody who will actually export things to you in small quanitities.

As for audio gear, I wouldn't go too crazy looking for current products that we see in the US. Sure you'll probably see them, but there are more interesting goodies out there.
Chinese factories have always been famous for their thievery via reverse-engineering products from the west. In a culture where free & original thought is criminalized, you don't get much in the way of technical advances. But back in the '90s there was kind of a brief craze when guys realized that the Chinese factories like 797-Audio and SE-Elec. were building direct rip-off clones of the AKG 414, Senn. MD-421 & 441, Neumann U-87, and a whole pile of other famous mics. They weren't built to the same quality control and weren't 'tuned' well by the techs, but they were direct copies as far as physical measurements of all the parts. They also were not ever sold into the western markets because they were blocked by international copyright laws (which China ignores).
All the Chinese mics you see today are the result of entrepreneurs going over there and convincing the factories to make a few subtle changes in look and circuit design so they could sell the products in western markets. That's why the first round of Chinese mics brought westward (eastward for the US? ) looked a lot like U-87s in different colors, like the first Joe Meek "Meekrophone".
I don't know if any of those mics are still around, or if they are just selling the same stuff there as here now. But I would spend at least a little timme and energy seeking out those mics.
And if you happen to find a nice score of 414 rip offs, will you be able to e-mail us while you're there. If the price is right, I would be willing to pay you a premium for bringing a few back for me. Hell, I'd bet if you brough back 10-12 of them you could sell them for 50-100% mark up, keep 2-4 and still make some money on the deal.
Just keep me in the loop.

Oh yeah, and enjoy the trip.

-Jeremy

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:57 pm

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 3:01 pm

eskimo wrote:harsh high end?

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 4:22 pm

I just read today that there are no time zones within China. Just one big one, covering that whole territory. So, that's one less thing you have to watch out for!

Btw, Paul Theroux's book "Riding the Iron Rooster", though dated, is a fantastic read about riding the trains around China in the mid 1980s. I recommend it to all. There is a short section describing reverse engineered locomotives. Apparently in the 1980s there were still working factories building iron locomotives with the exact, or near-exact, specs of decades-old American steam locomotives. I would imagine that things are a bit more snazzy now in the Chinese rail business, at least along the more major routes.

lg · Post by lg » Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:33 am

Tatertot wrote:I just read today that there are no time zones within China. Just one big one, covering that whole territory. So, that's one less thing you have to watch out for!

"Although all jurisdictions within the region are placed under the same time zone, due to historical and political reasons different jurisdictions keep their own time standard and have their own names."

just wiki'd this, 'cause i was curious (and we have a project starting in Hong Kong). might make it a little more interesting.

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Going to China, What should I look out for?

Going to China, What should I look out for?

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