The knockoff had a little more upper mids, but honestly (and taking YT compression into account) it's not LIGHT YEARS away for $30 vs $1300. Some signal chain, maybe a Slate or Guage mic Locker U87 add-on to it and that $30 mic in a mix would probably work great for project studios. Ive heard much more expensive mics sound worse. And honestly, Ive seen great engineers do wonders with cheap mics. At worst, that's a nice podcast mic for $30. Thanks for the comparison!
The highs are better/more extended with the clone. And that will make the noise floor slightly more noticeable than with a darker microphone. Measured FR isn't directly linked to how we psychoacoustically process sound. I own a pair of these and I've used TLM 103's. It's a slightly brighter variant on a venerated theme. The maximum SPLs could be compressed a bit more with the clone. But if you pad it down from your preamp it's arguably a distinction without a difference. I've been through this so many times with high-fidelity gear of all types (most of all with amplifiers) that it's an old and increasingly tired comparison. Nak's best cassette decks gave Pioneer something to aim at. Mac gave virtually everyone (including legends like Bob Carver) something to aim at in 1949. Being first is an important distinction. But in the end, the benefit to the end user resides in the knee of the "cost/benefit" J-curve. That's where I've spent my professional life when it comes to electronics gear. Let the conspicuous consumption 1% take that hit...but everyone's mileage varies...
That would mean they actually cared about the sound, I'm guessing they just put a cheap microphone capsule in a pretty enclosure and put it up for sale. 😄
@@JPGProducciones ofc there is probably so many different aspects that I wasn’t able to hear through my headphones, but if I (who does have some ability in identifying differences in frequencies) do not h ear much difference, I don’t think it’s anything that I cannot fix with RX and a good equalizer.
@@Dracomies I completely agree with you, it’s just a better choice to buy a better microphone at a 100-200 price range. I guess for me it’s just the excitement of such a cheap microphone not sounding too bad.
I think these cheap Temu mics are a good thing, they used the numbers but not the name and the desighn is not the same, it's not made to be a counterfeit device. These can serve a good purpose 1 Kids first mic, 2 toy mic, 3 Karaoke mic, 4 video and photo prop, 5 display model.
I'm not gonna defend the cheap clone. Just clarify a few things, in aliexpress you can get two versions of this microphone (I don't use temu so I can't tell) , the one that's $25- $30, has a 25 mm capsule, there's another version with 34 mm capsule but that's $40 - $50. I got this and the AKG c414 clone, the baifeili c414, while a little bit more expensive $100 it sounds way better, but the clone tlm sounds way better than the behringer c2 which costs around the same price. For those asking if the body is fine to start a DIY tlm kit, yes, there's no arguing there, the body is full metal and sturdy as hell.
The reality is, RU-vid adds it's own compression to equalize the volume levels between the two mics, so it's virtually impossible to get a realistic comparison here. I have both microphones, and while the TEMU TLM 103 doesn't sound half bad (It has a medium sized 16mm capsule compared to a large 35mm capsule in the Neumann) it's not NEARLY as sensitive as a genuine Neumann TLM 103 and the output volume is only about half that of the Neumann. The TEMU TLM 103 really IS a decent medium capsule microphone and for the price you can't beat it. I've use it for recording some guitar tracks and it sounds fine. I'll keep the TEMU in my mic locker, but for most purposes, the Neumann is my go-to "swiss army knife" microphone. You can pick-up a genuine used Neumann TLM 103 for between about $500-$700 if you look. It's worth the investment if you want a truly professional sound from a top tier microphone. For the hobbyist, the TEMU TLM 103 will be fine.
say I want to build a DIY 103, how would the body/capsule hold for the knockoff mic? at this kind of money getting an identical body of an excellent microphone should be a nobrainer, but would that actually be plausible?
There is a version that is much much closer to a real Neumann that sells for anywhere from $115-$300. I got two for 235 and it’s a beautiful stereo pair. I would feel worse about buying these knock offs, but I just spent close to $700 just to fix my real TLM 193.
I got the Temu knockoff and I still have to get more equipment. I suppose you could improve the sound quality by using a good double-XLR cable and run it through a Cloudlifter filter, Focusrite preamp and a decent soundcard and digital EQ.
Great vid!! Subbed too. Im soo tempted to order this... put a decent capsule in (maybe circuitry) and see how it sounds!!... doubt it will sound the same but i guess its a project youve gaven me an idea for!
I think for sure it would make a nice donor capsule and with some modification skill it should work out. I've seen people work miracles with MXL mics :P
Lol they dont sound alike at all but for 30 bucks it isnt bad and to me the u87 version is better than the knock off 103. It has a little less noise. All in all, if you arent a pro go for it.
Yep, the TEMU u87 is definitely better than the TEMU TLM 103 knock off. Or it was. From what I've seen, both microphones are no longer available on TEMU. I picked up my u87 clone just a few weeks before they stopped selling them. Both clones are still available on Ebay though.
I've seen pro voice-over guys swear they've made money using mics for under $100. Most people are not audio engineers and wouldn't notice a difference unleas the mic sounded terrible. I've learned how to make $50 mics sound great. Anyone can. :-D
Nah. There's a term they say in Knife EDC. Subpar cheap knives are still subpar knives. Imo you'd be better off with a proper setup. Try joining the Podcastage Discord on setups to suit your budget.
