mk 219

[gitrokr]

what types of applications would you use this for?? guitar cabs...snare drums???

[gitrokr]

how would these compare to sm-57's if i could get 2 for 100 bucks??? do they come close to the sound of a 57

[chessparov]

If you plan on buying the 219 from Banjo Depot-I mean Guitar Center, keep in mind it's a crapshoot you'll get one that sounds good AND is well built. Unless you know what to listen for,
and to be really safe, are competent at opening the thing up,
you're better off getting one of the many other alternative choices on the market, including simply just another SM57.

Since they sound "like" a Sennheiser 421, in the long run you'd be better off getting a real 421 as their quality control buries Oktava's-if that's the sound you want.

You can get two Shure's in the same family as the SM57, in the
545 series, which usually can be picked up for $50 or less in good (or better) condition at somewhere like e-bay.
They are just as "good" with a (very) slightly different response.

Chris

P.S. I was planning on putting one of my (mint) SM57's up for sale
in the "for sale" section of this BBS soon for $50 +shipping
costs and insurance (your choice of shipping service).
Private message me for more details, within the next 48
hours, if you'd like to have the first shot at considering it.

[ozraves]

i have one and use it on vocals and hand percussion at times.

it can be the right mic if you get a good one and the application is good.

for newbie looking at a versatile mic, look at the studio projects b1 or the shure sm57. the 57 is a good mic but needs a really good preamp to shine such as the fmr rnp.

steve, www.mojopie.com

[chessparov]

ozraves. I'd be curious as to your evaluation of the SM57 when used with
the VTB-1 with the impedance switched to 50 Ohms instead of 200 Ohms.
Yields a nice fat sound for vocals similar to a LD dynamic like a 421 or RE20 IMHO.
Probably would sound good on instruments too.

Your review at mojopie seemed to indicate that the SM58 sounded good with
the VTB-1, and since the SM57 has objectively somewhat better sound...

Chris

[acorec]

I now have a fair amount of buying success with Oktava. I have bought 11 mics (various) at the GC sales for me and gifts. I just bought them and took them home to try. I spent hours listening to all of them. I took some apart. Not a single bad one in the lot. They all work great, sound great and the workmanship is fine. I think this QC issue is blown way out of proportion here. My friend is the salesman at GC and he says that the return rate is very low on Oktava. Just my $.02.........

[chessparov]

Out of 7 Oktava 219's I tried/tested at GC;

One was totally dead.
Two had low output issues.
Two sounded "muddier" than the rest.
Two were good but didn't match.
YMMV.

Chris

P.S. It turned out that even on the two "good" ones, didn't
like them as much as other vocal microphones I already had.

[Seanmorse79]

I bought two 219's and a 319 at GC over the past year and a half, and haven't had a single problem whatsoever. While my mic locker isn't as large as I'd like, I still reach for them more than any other mics I have (including the SM57). I think they're great mics.

My only complaint is that they don't handle high SPL's very well. I'm not sure how they're rated, but close-micing a guitar amp with those puppies doesn't work out so well.

[ozraves]

Originally posted by chessparov
ozraves. I'd be curious as to your evaluation of the SM57 when used with
the VTB-1 with the impedance switched to 50 Ohms instead of 200 Ohms.
Yields a nice fat sound for vocals similar to a LD dynamic like a 421 or RE20 IMHO.
Probably would sound good on instruments too.

Your review at mojopie seemed to indicate that the SM58 sounded good with
the VTB-1, and since the SM57 has objectively somewhat better sound...

Chris

I sent that VTB1 back. It was a good unit but not what I was looking for at the time. I couldn't find an SM57 at the time when it was here so that's why we used an SM58. We'd just misplaced the one SM57 we had.

I would probably agree with your assessment though given what we got out of the SM58.

Steve, www.mojopie.com

[darrin_h2000]

I just bought a 319 blem from Musicians friend clearence center and I got a good one on my first try. The mic had a smal defect on the case and sounded nice and smooth, (even when I tried it through a behringer mixer, all they had).

But they did have about 15 of them to choose from.


They had about 12 behringer 9000 mixers for arround $400 ea. and they will bargain to move them.