Octava 012 vs. Marshall 603s test

[hawk]

I tried a little experiment last night. I recorded a solo guitar piece (nylon string,) with my 603. I then switched to an 012 that I'm currently borrowing. I made sure the mic placement was identical. I had to turn the gain up slightly for the 012, then I re-recorded the same track. I was surprised to find that there was virtually no difference in sound. I was expecting to find the Octava perform better and perhaps be a tad darker. However, the 603 actually seemed to have a bit more bottom end.

Not sure what all this proves, I just did it because I was considering getting an Octava thinking it might out-perform my 603. In the end, though, the only real difference was I had to take the gain up a hair on the Octava. Otherwise, both tracks sounded the same.

[Robert D]

Any chance you could post the clips?

[asulger]

clips, yeah yeah , and how about recording stereo side by side to make the comparison even closer. Lots of people would be interested in hearing these two brands compared.
Oh, and what mc12 is it - russian or the other, new one? From GC or the Sound Room?
Thanks in advance,
Art

[hawk]

I don't have a server to put them on. Can I upload clips to the forum somehow? If so, I'll upload them tonight or in the morning. It is the Russian mic, bought several years ago at GC.

Not sure about the stereo thing, I only have 1 mic stand. I guess I could tape them together or something?

[tdukex]

I haven't noticed much difference between my MC012 and MXL603s either. But some experienced people hear more of a difference.

[chessrock]

There's noticeably more exaggerated high end with the 603.

It's very obvious if you a/b the two.

[Nick The Man]

do they even sell matched pairs of 603's?



i cant find em anywhere


if someone could post a link that'd be awesome

[thajeremy]

Originally Posted by asulger

clips, yeah yeah , and how about recording stereo side by side to make the comparison even closer. Lots of people would be interested in hearing these two brands compared.
Oh, and what mc12 is it - russian or the other, new one? From GC or the Sound Room?
Thanks in advance,
Art

this will tell you what mic you have...until I found this, i thought that if it said MC-012 it was chinese, and only MK-012 was really russian.

http://oktava.tula.net/fake/

[Promkingdrummer]

Hi all, I thought I would throw another quick question in here, Has anybody used these two kinds of mics as drum overheads and noticed any difference? Thanks

[thajeremy]

I do not have any 603's. I do have a matched pair of Joe Meek JM27's. Very similar to 603's from what I understand, and I also have a pair of Russian MK-012's. The MK-012's are at a whole different level than the JM27's. I had always been pleased with the JM's until I recently got the Oktava's. I mic all my drums and use 2 overheads. When using the JM27's, I had to really cut the highs a lot to keep the symbols from being to harsh. They are not quite as bright as the 603's according to what I have read, and my one and only experiance with a 603. The Oktava's on the other hand were very nice with NO EQing. They picked up the toms and snare very pleasantly where the JM27's only picked up the snare and very little of the toms. With the Oktava's, I only added a little of the tom mics to the mix just to bring them out a bit more. Not that I though that the JM's were the greatest OH mic in the world, but in a nutshell...I am very impressed with how the Oktava's sounded over them.

[Warhead]

Originally Posted by Nick The Man

do they even sell matched pairs of 603's?



i cant find em anywhere


if someone could post a link that'd be awesome

http://www.mxlmics.com/mic_kits/mickit_index.html

War

[ozraves]

Depending on what preamp you use then differences in mics may not be readily apparent. The Millenia HV3 mic pre brings out the differences in mic sonics. The mic pres in a cheap Behringer mixer tend to make everything sound somewhat alike.

[Strave]

I have both and like the 603s much more (at least for acoustic). The oktavas sound completely different and aren't in a different league.

[Scooter B]

From my readings over two or three years I have found the following concensus from people with better pre's to hear the differences as Ozraves rightly said.

1. Most people say the 603's are one of the best mandolin mic's and MXL seems to have better consistancy.

2. For acoustic guitars the O12's seem to win most shoot outs but Oktava has been widely reported to have consistancy issues. Anyone with a substandard O12 will probably prefer the 603 and it may depend on your acoustic's natural tone versus what you want to capture. Some one with a "deader" sounding acoustic may find the hyped upper frequencies to sound brighter and more live while others will just hear the unaturally hyped high end and hate it.

3. Drum overhead shoot outs seem to favor the 012s by a fairly high margin.

I have 2 012's but would like to find 2 used 603's as well cause every day the same mic in the same room on the same artist and instrument may not always work in the context of that moment and options are always good.

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by tdukex

I haven't noticed much difference between my MC012 and MXL603s either. But some experienced people hear more of a difference.

It isn't necessarily more experienced ears that can hear the difference between the budget SD condensers. It could easily be the monitoring chain, or the front end.

[tdukex]

Originally Posted by sdelsolray

It isn't necessarily more experienced ears that can hear the difference between the budget SD condensers. It could easily be the monitoring chain, or the front end.

I have always used these on acou guit with a DMP3 and usually mixed with phones. I record solo acoustic in stereo, and the recordings always sounded good, so I didn't worry too much about what I perceive as the slight differences between the two mics. However...

I also have a Sebatron preamp that I haven't really used these mics much with except just messing around. I should do another comparison through both the Seb and DMP3, solo both mics, try different positionings, and listen back through my Hafler/KRK chain. Maybe I'll amend my opinion after this test.

[Scooter B]

Good point on the DMP3.

A guy on another forum I respect likes it for his acoustic guitars and says it is 95% as good as some $1,000 preamps with the right mics for this one application.

He doesn't use it for vocals but the DMP3 seems to a serious bang for the buck on the acoustic guitars.

[hawk]

I'm working on a recording of both mics in stereo but have a question. I assume I just have one mic in each channel (L,R,) then when you play back the mp3 you can pan back and forth, is that the idea? How can you do that during playback?

thanks

[asulger]

Originally Posted by hawk

I'm working on a recording of both mics in stereo but have a question. I assume I just have one mic in each channel (L,R,) then when you play back the mp3 you can pan back and forth, is that the idea? How can you do that during playback?

thanks

Mic 1 in left channel, mic 2 in right...that'll work

[reshp1]

Originally Posted by Nick The Man

do they even sell matched pairs of 603's?



i cant find em anywhere


if someone could post a link that'd be awesome

I got mine on ebay from this seller (ar-online):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ory=41466&rd=1

They were very good to deal with and even let me exchange the first pair because there was a level difference between the two.