Real or Fake Sennheiser MKH 416?

[Andrius Simutis]

Andrius's post is quite wrong. Are you really saying that I'm an ebay fraudster for having the temerity to write that there are HUGE quantities of fakes in use? Get real!

Hardly. I did compare your opinion that these fakes can be just as good as the genuine product to that of an eBay fraudster. I have no idea what your business is so don't take that as any slam on it. I'm just surprised that you seemed to condone the whole product fraud.

 

[bgreencam]

I have one real (forsure) and one bought off one of those same actions...i was skeptical ...so we did some test...not sure what to say..but they were identical in sound...don't mean to be an advocate for piracy ..but what can i say...been using my real one now for years with great success ...maybe this one will die early but until then..got it in the kit

 

[paulears]

I'm not condoning it, but understanding it. Our annoyance and perhaps disgust at the Chinese counterfeit industry is to a degree, down to differences in culture. Of course some Chinese realise the extra profit involved in producing counterfeit products, but if you speak to the people in the Chinese companies, they genuinely believe using a famous brand name is some kind of homage to the original. When you specify a product, very often the last question, after colour and grill detail is what name do you want. On the Chinese buying sites they've simply gone with what buyers want. Having my brand name instead of something else cost nothing! Shure SM57s or white box no brands cost the same - so maybe the anger should also be directed to the importers? bgreencam has highlighted what many have found. Me too! If you buy a fake cheap 416 you get a mic that doesn't sound like a 416, but does sound good, and can easily be used. In most cases, the Chinese only copy the look - not the sound. The internals usually use published, tried and tested designs. Indeed, there are a number of firms who buy studio mics from me, and are making tweaks to the design and then re-selling them at higher prices as audiophile style products. Fine with me. I had some samples of ribbon mics and the sound was really excellent - I sold 4 to friends, leaving me just one, and now I cannot source any more, because the Chinese firm making the housings cannot source the raw material. This is how it is. If you ask them to remove the brand name, it takes an extra 6 weeks, costs nothing, and they think you are very strange. Just a difference in culture.

 

[John Willett]

Okay so I was scammed by this and some googling led me here. The eBay user is tubeclassic and he has an alternate account named oldlady.2010. I buy the 99% new blah blah listing and when I receive the item, I'm excited to test it out. I've used a 416 before because my buddy has one so I know what it should sound like and when I heard this microphone, I was appalled. My excitement and giddiness went away so fast, my stomach felt sick. So I contact tubeclassic and tell him the item is fake and he tells me to return it for a refund. tubeclassic then puts my microphone on ebay under his alternate account. I didn't send my package right away so he kept bugging me every day for a tracking number. I finally send it back and he gives me a refund and some extra to cover postage. I was sad to see that a few days later, some poor sap bought my fake mic and wrote feedback that said the mic was perfect A+++ and all that.

Anyway, I haven't left any feedback for this guy and I notice that he has taken everything off his store. I think I'll wait to post feedback so he can have that lingering negative feedback on his account as long as possible.

If you buy a fake like this, you should give all the details to Sennheiser - and again if you see it re-advertised.

Selling a fake is a criminal offence and Sennheiser (and Shure as well) are very hot on following these up.

 

[mainstreetprod]

Paulears is exactly right, and stating the obvious isn't condoning counterfeiting. He's just pointing out that the Chinese, in the last 10 years or so, have gotten much better at copying name brand products, and that if you are scammed and get one of those products, and are "stucK" with it, it might not be such a bad thing- might be a completely usable product.

In the 50's , 60's and 70's the Japanese products were a complete joke and known as low quality. Slowly they improved. Now they make world class products like Sony, Lexus, Toyota, Panasonic, etc. Maybe the Chinese will follow suit, stop counterfeiting and start going after the lucrative high end legitimate market.