This Oktava MK319. Is it Russian? You have any info on this mic?

[tarnationsauce2]

I found a decent deal for this mic. At least I think it's a good deal... $60.
I don't usually participate in too many Oktava discussions. But I have heard some are Russian and others are copies made in China.
This is the only pic I have.
Thanks for any info you may have.

[EDIT] See my post #10 below for my pics of it's internals.

[cpl_crud]

The difference between the chineese and russian 319's on the outside is fairly slight.
That main telltale sign on the outside is the Oktava logo- the russian models have a slight "indent" where the logo is- ie if oyu run your fingernail over the logo it should "catch" on the logo.

To only other way to tell is to open up the mic and have a look at the components. If they're all old school military-looking with krillic numbering, then it's russian. If they're all new-ish looking, identical components, then it's chineese (there is a specific brand they use, can't remember what it is, but I think it's mentioned on Micheal Joly's site).
Also, the russian ones have usually got pencil writing on the transformer (the values of the leak and bais resistors if I remember correctly)

[tarnationsauce2]

Thanks for the info!
I'm assuming the Russian one is more desirable?
Also, $60 sound like a decent deal?

[cpl_crud]

Well, there's a lot of discussion about which one is better.
I'm a fan of the russian ones myself, but the chineese ones are cheaper. Some people like the sound of hte chineese ones, and both of them will respond to the Joly mods.
I've said before that anyone who "copies" a mic's design is mosre than likely in the worng, but I digress.
As for hte price, the only way I could tell would be to check on ebay for similar mics. For $60 i would be suspecting it's origins though.

[daav]

I think that was stated by Michael Joly, who then retracted it. check out his site, VERY ionformative about this stuff.

Bottom line, I think that the only for sure way to tell it to take the case off (a little complicated but doable by anyone with screwdriver skills) and look at the board. the chinese have parts with CHANG written in tiny letters up the side.

Daav

Originally Posted by cpl_crud

The difference between the chineese and russian 319's on the outside is fairly slight.
That main telltale sign on the outside is the Oktava logo- the russian models have a slight "indent" where the logo is- ie if oyu run your fingernail over the logo it should "catch" on the logo.

To only other way to tell is to open up the mic and have a look at the components. If they're all old school military-looking with krillic numbering, then it's russian. If they're all new-ish looking, identical components, then it's chineese (there is a specific brand they use, can't remember what it is, but I think it's mentioned on Micheal Joly's site).
Also, the russian ones have usually got pencil writing on the transformer (the values of the leak and bais resistors if I remember correctly)

[daav]

Just reread that and saw that cpl_crud did saw 90% of what i did. Didn't mean to discount those posts, just add to it.

Daav

[daav]

Just because it is almost 5 and i am not feeling like working the rest of the day...
I have one of these, and i don;t ahve a ton of mics, this was my first LDC. Pretty sure it is russian, but i had modded (removed the disks, extra screening, added some diffusion and dampening) it before i learned about the CHANG thing so i haven't opened it back up to check. Either way, i think mine sounds great, very darkish and open, well suited to voice, but not as much with acoustic in my opinion. Very comparable to the RE27 for instance, but much more open, and has more proximity effect and the characteristic ultra sensitivity of an LDC.

Daav

[Marik]

Originally Posted by daav

I think that was stated by Michael Joly, who then retracted it. check out his site, VERY ionformative about this stuff.

To save you time searching for Michael, he is here:

http://www.oktavamod.com

[turnitdown]

See this from:http://oktava.tula.net/news/reliz_eng.htm

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

Our company - Open joint-stock company Oktava (OAO Oktava) - manufactures and sells audio equipment since 1936.

Since 1950, OAO Oktava has been manufacturing and selling professional studio microphones and in 1989 it started to do that under the current trademark "Oktava".

Since then the trademark "Oktava" and a high quality of our microphones have gained popularity all over the world, which is confirmed by large demand for our products.

Unfortunately, a significant number of poor-quality counterfeit Oktava microphones have recently flooded the U.S. and European markets. According to our sources, the above mentioned copies of our products are produced in China on order from a UK firm Oktava Limited(A&F McKay).

The Oktava Limited(A&F McKay)’s allegations that the microphones produced by OAO Oktava have not been developed by OAO Oktava, are false. The OAO Oktava microphones, in particular the MK-012 and MK-219, have been produced by OAO Oktava since the 1980s, and their predecessors were the models MK-18, MK-011, produced in the 60s-70s. Oktava Limited(A&F McKay)’s statement that the design of microphones was developed and/or is an intellectual property of Oktava Limited(A&F McKay), has no foundation since that firm was established much later.

We also would like to point out, that at some point Oktava Limited(A&F McKay) was a distributor of the microphones produced by OAO Oktava in Tula, Russia, the microphones of the same models and modifications that are still being produced by OAO Oktava. The copies of those very microphones are now made in China. In 2004 Oktava Limited(A&F McKay) lost its distributor’s rights because it unlawfully used our trademark “Oktava” and violated numerous contract terms. This fact confirms that Oktava Limited(A&F McKay) cannot be a developer of the above-mentioned microphones and the owner of any rights to their design and technical know-how.

No less convincing argument confirming that Oktava microphones are developed and designed in Tula/Russia, is the fact, that during the last two years our company developed and put into series a number of new microphones: MKL-5000, MKL- 100, MK-101, MK-102, MK-105, ML-53 and others.

OAO Oktava thereby declares that it has no connection to the copies of Oktava products produced in China or in any other part of the world. OAO Oktava did not grant Oktava Limited(A&F McKay) any rights to manufacture copies of its products or use its trademark. OAO Oktava is not responsible for the quality of copies made in China or in any other part of the world. Microphones or any other products not produced by OAO Oktava, Tula, Russia, do not have the OAO Oktava’s guarantee and will not be serviced by OAO Oktava.

The original microphones, currently produced by OAO Oktava can be identified and distinguished from the copies made in China or in any other country according to the following characteristics:

The original Oktava microphones produced in Tula, Russia are supplied with a passport/manual and individual response curves charts. The counterfeit copies produced in China are supplied without any documents.

The original Oktava microphones produced in Tula, Russia are supplied with -10dB pads. The counterfeit copies produced in China are supplied without -10dB pads.

The original Oktava microphones produced in Tula, Russia are supplied with original metal holder. The counterfeit copies produced in China are supplied with a cheap plastic holder, meant for microphones with a smaller diameter.

Every original microphone, produced by OAO Oktava has its own serial number. The counterfeit copies produced in China have no serial numbers.

Contact elements of the original MK-012 produced in Tula, Russia are silver-sputtered for protection against oxidation. The counterfeit copies produced in China have red brazen contact-pins without any protective coverage, which leads to quick oxidation and loss of sound quality.

The bonding area of the original microphones produced in Tula, Russia has a dimple for effective contact. The counterfeit copies produced in China have no contact dimple.

If you would like to get more up-to-date information about the differences between original and counterfeit microphones, visit the following link: http://oktava.tula.net/fake/

OAO Oktava would like to point out that the manufacturers of counterfeit copies can try to create an impression that microphones made and sold by them are made in Russia. For example, according to our sources, the counterfeit copies of our products could soon be supplied with -10dB pads and passports/manuals.

We would also like to point out that sellers of counterfeit copies of Oktava microphones often use the pictures of original Oktava microphones in the description of counterfeit copies. OAO Oktava highly recommends to inquire about the country of origin of the products before purchasing microphones.

OAO Oktava confirms the following official distributors of original Oktava products outside Russia:

USA: Recording Services Ltd. www.oktavaUSA.com

Europe: Oktava-online (Einzelunternehmen Natalia Kuzmenko) www.oktava-online.com

as well as the representatives of these firms.

In the near future, OAO Oktava will be glad to provide the comparative characteristics of the original microphones made in Russia, Tula and the counterfeit copies produced in China.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us. We will be glad to offer the documents confirming OAO Oktava’s authorship of the original Oktava microphones, currently on the market.



Best regards,



Gennady Ulyanov

General Director of OAO Oktava, Russia.

[tarnationsauce2]

Well I got it.

I took it apart and it seems like oldschool style components. Look at those blue resistors, I didn't know the manufactured resistors like that any more.

Also... this thing has magnetic reed switches!!
I find that alarming, even if this is a Russian... that is very high quality materials and engineering for such a cheap microphone.

I have yet to do any real audio tests with it yet.

[cpl_crud]

Yeah, I'm failr sure that's the russian one, but, jsut to make sure, check to make sure those black caps aren't Chang ones (http://www.oktavamod.com/fake319.html has a picture of the chang caps)

And yeah, It's a well made mic- probably got to do with all teh communisium etc that russia doesn't have anymore...

[Slowjett]

I'd say youve got a russian one, it has the pencil marks up by the diaphram.

[tarnationsauce2]

Originally Posted by cpl_crud

Yeah, I'm failr sure that's the russian one, but, jsut to make sure, check to make sure those black caps aren't Chang ones (http://www.oktavamod.com/fake319.html has a picture of the chang caps)

And yeah, It's a well made mic- probably got to do with all teh communisium etc that russia doesn't have anymore...

The mic I have has Jamicon caps.

So I'm pretty sure it's a Russian Oktava. Sweet.

[boingoman]

Originally Posted by tarnationsauce2

Also... this thing has magnetic reed switches!!
I find that alarming, even if this is a Russian... that is very high quality materials and engineering for such a cheap microphone.

That is really typical communist Russia in action. They decided they would make one kind of switch that would be used in everything from telephones to nuclear subs. They didn't have an economy or system that produced hundreds of different types of the same thing like we do. That also explains why when Russian stuff is good, it's really good, and when it's crap, it's really crap. They couldn't adapt quickly, whether something worked or not.

My friend Sergei (old Russian Aerospace worker, now awesome soundguy with some really nice Communist-era Russian and German mics) says those type switches were pretty common over there in lots of things, it's what they had, so that's what they used.

Kinda bums him out, actually. Apparently they are really small, and hard to get except in Russia. That's another Russian thing. They would take odd and outdated technology to extremes that Western manufacturers didn't bother with.

[tarnationsauce2]

I just did some comparisons against a CAD E350 on Cardiod.
I just did some quick voice tests.

The MK319 is pretty decent sounding. It has a vintage condenser sound and response. The high end is not nearly as extended and crisp as the E350. But it has a warm, almost tube quality.
I think I'll have some fun withthis microphone. It might be good to tame high frequencies.
I think probably part of the difference between the E350 and the MK319 is that the MK319 is transformer coupled, and the E350 is transformerless.

[turnitdown]

I opened mine up (partially), and saw blue "Xenia" caps. I have no idea, but I bought mine used on eBay about 2 years ago. It "seems" real, but I can't be sure. I don't really use the mic much..... Not that it's bad though...

Do the Russian ones have Xenia caps???

[cpl_crud]

The russian mics are notorious for not having standards in their component selection, however I'm fairly sure all of the chineese mics have Chang caps.

Also, some of the russian componets have cryllic markings.

So I gues you've got a russian one

[MichaelJoly]

Originally Posted by boingoman

That is really typical communist Russia in action. They decided they would make one kind of switch that would be used in everything from telephones to nuclear subs. They didn't have an economy or system that produced hundreds of different types of the same thing like we do. That also explains why when Russian stuff is good, it's really good, and when it's crap, it's really crap. They couldn't adapt quickly, whether something worked or not.

My friend Sergei (old Russian Aerospace worker, now awesome soundguy with some really nice Communist-era Russian and German mics) says those type switches were pretty common over there in lots of things, it's what they had, so that's what they used.

Kinda bums him out, actually. Apparently they are really small, and hard to get except in Russia. That's another Russian thing. They would take odd and outdated technology to extremes that Western manufacturers didn't bother with.

That's a great story!

Part of what makes Oktava really endearing to me is the weird juxtapositions -really high quality reed switches actuated by magnets that look like iron dust filings glued together and attached to flimsly little peices of stamped metal for sliders. A wonderful LDC capsule obscurred by an "iron mask" of a head basket and body that "boinks".

I get the sense that everyone involved in the design and manufacture of these mics made the best of the conditions they operated in.

I love that "make do" aesthetic in these mics.

[cpl_crud]

Yeah, I'll admit the reed switch magnets have a certian charm...
The look like the Neyodynium magnets I made at uni whilst misappropriating government funds...

I still have some of those magnets and a tube of neodynium magnet filings ( i forget the exact molecular structure... it was fun to make tho..)