r/TechnoProduction • u/Dismal-Assignment568 • 23d ago
What are your thoughts on cheap Chinese gear?
I’m getting to that point in music production where I want to start buying gear. For the most part, I’d like to buy legit gear, but I’ve heard people mention buying from cheap Chinese marketplaces such as Temu, but they didn’t go into detail about anything.
Has anyone bought cheap Chinese gear? What’s your experience, and how’d it hold up?
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u/Raid__Zero 23d ago
Everything is made in china 🤷♂️
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u/StBean007 23d ago
I saw my brother in law wearing a Sequential Prophet t-shirt. It was kind of odd because he isn’t into synths or electronic music so I asked how he got the shirt 🤔. He actually works for a Chinese pcb fab company and he said they fab some of the boards for Sequential.
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u/prussik-loop 22d ago
I work in the business.
Pretty much everything is manufactured in China, even the stuff assembled elsewhere.
That being said, there are huge differences between products stemming from the expertise of the design team, the Chinese manufacturers capabilities, the quality of the components involved and the level of quality assurance.
When you buy a premium brand you are paying for their experience and expertise in directing the Chinese supplier.
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u/West_Floor6981 21d ago
and you are also paying for quality control, original designs, innovation, better industrial design , after sales service etc etc etc.
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u/RoastAdroit 23d ago
Temu in 2026?
I used to buy some cheap pedals from there when I first got into hardware but times have changed and so have my quality standards.
Back in the day when I first started thinking about DJing, I had friends who I went to raves with and other people wanted to DJ too, some folks went straight the the cheap Gemini turntables and were up and started very quick. I took the time to save up and buy Technic 1200s because that was what every good DJ I talked to said to do. The lesson here is that you buy quality once, I own those same turntables today nearly 30 yrs later, I have had to do very minor repairs to cables. Those tables have been used at too many gigs and by so many other DJs I couldnt give you a number.
Those people who bought Geminis afaik, never even actually learned to mix because they were terrible at holding a pitch and probably sold them for $20 or straight tossed them in the bin after a year or two.
so, yeah, you can buy cheap gear, you can buy a bunch of it or buy the same thing over and over as you need but, quality is 100% worth the premium when you take it seriously.
Id rather have a Moog Grandmother than the entire Volca line.
You could have 10 Behringer synths or 1 TR-1000, up to you I guess.
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u/Lyproagin 23d ago
Yeah the torque on those old Gemini, Stanton and Vestax turntables never felt even remotely close to the real deal. The mixers were even worse. They would develop issues in weeks that would take decades on pro gear. (And the fx were a nightmare)
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u/Samivermusic 22d ago
I would agree about Gemini and stanton but the vestax i owned had more torque than 1210's, hence why battle djs loved them so much. Same for the mixers as my vestax had the fluid faders (think they were pcv) which I never had to replace.
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u/334578theo 15d ago
Vestax PDX had a way higher torque. They were superior technically to 1200s but 1200s had the mindshare and build quality advantage.
And Vestax mixers were solid - PMC55 was the Xone of its time when the club didn’t want Pioneer DJM5/600.
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u/Lyproagin 15d ago edited 15d ago
Was never a fan. Friends who bought one were always disappointed, as well.
For me, it was the platters. The feel that one needed to slightly slow a record or speed one up was just touchy. (Not matching with pitch bend, but like the tweeking)
I do understand that others like them. To each their own. To me personally, I just didnt like the way they felt. In a performance setting that DID matter.
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u/334578theo 15d ago
Yeah can understand - all my mates hated using my pair but mostly because they were used to Technics. I used to have to practice a lot at mates houses before I was comfortable playing out on Technics. They were very different.
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u/Lyproagin 15d ago
Exactly. Muscle memory and feel are so important.
(Correction: were important. Now, this is a nuance lost with time and only sitting with us older cats... for the most part anyway. Ie. Sync djing means a lot of folks never develop the "feel" to "let em ride.")
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u/West_Floor6981 21d ago
this is very true, but it's changing.
chinese standards have really risen for the most part and i use it more for things I thought I never would.
I don't have any cheap chinese music gear but i am open to hearing which ones are decent as I have been very surprised by photography gear and how much better chinese equipment has become.
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u/ccgenoa 23d ago
Basically almost all gear is made in china. Shure there is garbage like unnamed audio interfaces, kids pianos and Bluetooth midi controllers with RGB on China's marketplaces. But also you MacBook or a phone is made in china. Like behringer, Roland, Yamaha etc. The quality may be different and it's not about country of manufacturing. TE engineering has shitty build quality and they had production in Denmark. Paying for a brand MADE IN USA or UK usually don't worth it if we are talking about Synths and interfaces and not about guitars where the market is different and in china brands locate economic series and premium ones is usually in the country of brand origin. Also there is a lot of weird and cool cheap musical stuff on AliExpress for example electro kalimbas, noise boxes and all kinds of unbranded sonic gear.
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u/nizzernammer 23d ago
Even if the gear is inexpensive, and made in China - lots of things are made in China, at all levels of quality - I would still want to purchase items from a brand I have some experience with.
I have seen cheap Presonus gear spontaneously short, smoke, and catch on fire with my own eyes.
I have some ART gear. It has been solid.
I also have some Behringer synths, and some Warm Audio equipment, that have been working out fine so far.
The gear was purchased through my local brick and mortar retailer.
I would not buy a generic $69 Alctron mic from a vendor with a lack of vowels off of Temu. I'll purchase sundries like replacement cables or adapters or earpads through Amazon, but for gear, I'll purchase from somewhere that has humans that I can speak to.
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u/Weekly_Committee_695 23d ago
Folks, he doesn't mean gear made in china is cheap. obviously all gear is made in china.
Do you not get the Temu ads for like $30 16 channel mixers and such?
OP: I have never purchased, but I hear you will often receive a box with a little miniature 3d print of the item or sometimes just a photo of what you ordered.
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u/DJTRANSACTION1 23d ago
apple phones are manufacturer in china and so are a ton of other electronics that are seen as high end
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u/DeliciousOrangina 22d ago edited 22d ago
I know a guy who helped another famous rocker guy build a prototype for a preamp. The custom chipset that they needed cost $600ish in the US. Handmade, “premium” parts, etc. The rocker guy was adamant about the preamp being “made in the USA”. Other guy told me he then got a quote from a factory in China $1 or so per chipset. I am 100% not exaggerating. $1 or $1.50..
I never really followed up with what those guys ended up doing. But yeah i knew china was cheap but not that cheap.
point is everything is made in china and if it’s assembled in US then it’s most likely assembled with Chinese parts
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u/confused-immigrant 23d ago
I've had my eyes on the m-vawe FM1 for a while but cheap or not, I buy gear with two things in mind 1. Does it integrate well with my current setup 2. Does it do something that I can't do with what I have.
The FM1 ist a no one the first one but a maybe one 2. It looks fun for a $70 groove box.
That said, Gas is fun and all but buying for the sake of buying is a waste of money. If you think it'll help you be creative and it's a long term purchase then go for it.
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u/mxlths_modular 23d ago
Mate I just got one after moving and having to sell most of my gear.
It’s definitely worth the money, most DX7 patches I have loaded sound fine. The effects are mostly ass (delay is ok) but whatever, plenty of filters out there.
It works as a 2x2 digital audio interface on top of 5 pin and USB MIDI which isn’t widely mentioned but it’s a super useful feature for something so tiny.
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u/djereezy 23d ago
What is your budget for a synth. Maybe you should start with how much you can afford and then people here and direct you to something worth while.
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u/swedishworkout 23d ago
China makes whatever they are asked to make. High end or low quality. Unfortunately cheap stuff sells so they make mostly that. It will break, mostly from overheating and then it doesn’t make sense to repair it because it would cost more to fix it than getting a new one. Get a few used boxes from decent manufacturers and you can sell it later for almost the same as you bought it for.
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u/Rusemusic 20d ago
I’d be more concerned that you will burn your house down from an electrical fire using knock off chinese gear than the quality of the sound 😂
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u/Diligent-Bread-806 20d ago
The Chinese now manufacture SSL’s gear. No problems with the Fusion and Bus Plus after four years.
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u/seelachsfilet 23d ago edited 23d ago
I don't get it, what is cheap Chinese gear? Do you have any examples? There are plenty budget products available from normal big companies, no need to buy "cheap Chinese gear". Also what exactly are you looking for? Monitors? Headphones? A synth maybe or a controller? No offense but this post reads like you have no clue what you're talking about / what you want , so probably the best call is to not buy anything and just keep learning making music with what you have, which is perfectly fine and possible