Saturday, February 19, 2011

Sony stereo microphone vs. Exactly the same thing without "Sony" on it


I'm owning a Sony stereo microphone ECM-DS70P as seen on the picture for a year now which I bought for around $70. A bit pricy, but totally worth it. I used it for a while untill I came across a $3,95 microphone on the Chinese webshop Dealextreme that looked exactly the same. I decided to buy it and compare it with the real thing. It took a while before it got here but after it arrived I tested it and I was stunned by the amazing quality of this microphone. I tested the two microphones in exactly the same way and it turned out the only difference was the "Sony" logo that wasn't there on the cheap microphone. 


Turns out this is proof that the stuff Sony sells is just cheap crap from China with a white text saying "Sony" on it. I recommend to search cheap gadgets sites such as dealextreme.com as mentioned above before you buy something from the real company. 

33 comments:

  1. this is not only true for sony actually, if you go to china you will fine tons of these things. shoppers paradise, if you know where to look.

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  2. well today most big name companies have their factories in china since its so cheap...

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  3. ya the profit margins on all sony products is probably thru the roof

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  4. Brand names are bullshit, forget electronics but for everything else. Perceived value vs. actual value.

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  5. Yeah same holds true for e-cigs as well. There are about 100 companies in the US that sell them, but ALL of them are from the same factory in Gozhou (sp). Thanks for the head sup on Sony though, I wonder if I can find me a Chinese factory made PS3....

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  6. I think that makes sense, China is newer to the capitalist society thing. There isn't such a big deal about brand loyalty as there is in America. And competition is fierce to get a hand hold in those markets. I'll definitely check the site out for future gear though.

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  7. wow, thats pretty interesting, i wonder if they make 20 dollar MP3 players that look exactly identical to apple iPods and are just as good lol

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  8. dealextreme is awesome, i've bought from them a lot of things already, and they always delivers, never bought electronic things though, because you know, it's china, but I think I'll buy this one to see, thanks for the heads up

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  9. I wanted to buy a iPhone usb cable at deal extreme but other customers said it was crap. :(

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  10. Why would you need a $70 mic anyway?

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  11. In my hometown, we used to do the same sort of thing with tractors. The head of the company would steal designs from Ford or John Deere and then replicate the models for a cheaper price.

    Oh, patent laws...

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  12. See a lot of the same thing with cameras -- you can often get brand-name optics from folks who use the same wholesalers.

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  13. lol nice..it's amazing what a little paint with the brand does to the price tag!

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  14. This is awesome, thank you. I've never heard of this site before. I've been looking to buy a digital camera for myself, but everything has been out of my price range. Found some now. :)

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  15. great find thanks for sharing.

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  16. Great reminder of the advice "don't buy the label, buy the product"

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  17. Lucky you, identical chinese products are usually lower quality & and not higher. But its good to know that there are legit quality chinese vendors out there.

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  18. nearly everywhere "branded" device is going to be build by others and the price would be 50% off (minimum).

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  19. That's kinda shocking... A $65 price gap just for the brand name? I'd say that's a pretty good indication that most brand names are BS.

    Thanks for the site. Never heard of this one.

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  20. eh... so much is put up for the brand not the quality.

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  21. Sounds like another great sony product.

    Lold

    Anyways, the only common difference between designer brands as opposed to none designer - is durability.

    Usually the initial quality is similar.

    Nice post by the way, thanks for informing us.

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  22. Nice, thanks! Everyone always wonders about this stuff, but the price-quality heuristic is built too strongly in our brains, I suppose.

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  23. Yup. You're paying for Sony's advertising and shit when you buy from them.

    Hilarious how much cheaper/better off name shit can be, right?

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  24. nice deal find! can never be too careful when spending.

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  25. I wonder if it's exactly the same mic, just before it got 'Sony' painted on it. I've heard of people in China acquiring stuff from factories and selling them insanely cheap. Seen a lot of electronics from China on eBay, too.

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  26. this look like really cool item :))

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