How to recognize fake knock off microphones from genuine ones?

Sennheiser 822, 835 and 845 models On first sight these microphones seem to look original, but a few things appear to be different… - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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The one on the left is fake The body

• The shape of the connector side of the body is not round, but it’s edged.

• The text on the solid body differs from the original (letter: e )

• The fake one’s body has a blue-ish finish, instead of grey. The grill

• The shape of the grill is different

• The ring around the grill is not flat on fake ones The inner side (what you will see, when the grill is removed)

• The capsule differs from the original.

• The genuine capsule has a hum bucking coil

• If fake ones have a hum bucking coil, then the internal wire is thicker

• The fake capsule can be easily pulled out of the body.

• The fake internal wiring is green/yellow or green/green.

• There is no text on the capsule of fake ones.

• The fake capsule has no white sheet on the upper side

• Genuine measures 350 ohms, fake ones can be 560 ohms.

How to recognize fake knock off microphones from genuine ones?

Sennheiser 822, 835 and 845 models On first sight these microphones seem to look original, but a few things appear to be different… - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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XLR male socket of the Chinese knock-off

• pin 1 and 3 are shortened (a-symmetric)

• there can be a connection between pin 1 or 3 and the body

• screw size for the XLR socket is too big

• only the CE mark is visible (or nothing) in the XLR socket

• XLR pins are gold coloured, genuine ones are steel and have a round top Accessories The pouch and the clip, even the cable are fake. The pouch is nice but the original one is stiff The fake clip is more flexible, it bends all over.. The fake XLR connector of the enclosed cable is made of cheap plastics with a chrome finish (original: there is no cable at all enclosed!) All these different models have shown up, somewhere, somehow. Graeme has written a nice story about it on his site: www.m0nsa.com/reviews/fakee845s I have used some pictures of him, ripped off his site. In many ways I agree with Graeme’s conclusions. I myself have knock-off models with

• Different grille, snall, more round

• Element with black sheet instead of white,

• CE mark wrong

• Wrong XLR pin-out

• Edgy instead of round connector side

• Dark finish instead of grey

• 350 ohm

• Wrong text on the capsule Etc. etc. It seems that every item that could be different, indeed IS different. Only the capsule is another one as described here, but still it’s a fake one.

How to recognize fake knock off microphones from genuine ones?

Sennheiser 822, 835 and 845 models On first sight these microphones seem to look original, but a few things appear to be different… - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Performance The sound of the clone microphones I own, is remarkably good. I use them for amplifying instruments. Guitars, drums, percussion, they all perform fine. I don’t use them for vocals, instead I use several original Sennheiser micro’s (different models). I wouldn’t have bought original Sennheiser mics for the instrument job. My first conclusion When I bought the original microphones, I ought to buy separate cables.. When the fake ones arrived, I didn’t use the enclosed knock-off accessories at all and gave them away. Even the clip is in the dustbin now.. Also the box was copied (nice try..!) and I didn’t find any (warranty)card enclosed. But.. for about 30 USD inclusive shipping, I should have bought more of these Chinese knock-offs, but I couldn’t find them anymore on eBay. Now they show up on iOffer.com and the price is still about 30 US dollar, so I did some shopping there. Hopefully I’ll receive the same fake ones (at least the capsules!) as the fake ones I already own.. On some other internet sites I found a nice explanation about these fake clones: they could be compared in the same way as: it walks like a duck, talks like a duck and looks like a goose .. Some points of interest can be:

• How much handling noise?

• How is the dynamic behaviour? Some technical information There are two ways a dynamic microphone can hum: 1. Magnetic field, picked up by the coil is one. A humbucker coil on the element can help. Magnetic hum depends on the direction the coil (capsule) is turned. Turning the fake one in the magnetic field has no compensation effect.

2. Grounding problems is the other one. Linking pin 1 and 3 will not cause a microphone to hum, but grounding (one of) them extra to the body can.