A while ago I was recording with a friend and we used MK012s for overhead mics on drums. It really did sound like crap, but my friend said not too worry about it. It is basically because he was lazy and didn't feel the need to get up and move the mics or adjust anything anywhere. Now, I am going to start recording alone. I use and love the Studio Projects C1 mic and read of few threads suggesting the B1s for overheads. They seem to be about the same price, so I am hoping to sell the MK012s for the money I need for the B1s. Plus, the B1s seem more versitile. Is it a good idea to switch, or should I play around with the MK012s more?
MK012 vs. B1?
- Thread starter sjaguar13
- Start date
heroics321
New member
whether they are good or not should be your call... based on experimenting with every possible position until you can decide that they aren't what you want. what are you going to do if you get the b1's and decide that they suck because you didn't feel like messing with them? sheesh, you've got the oktavas already, so my answer would to play around with those things a LOT more.
paddyponchero
New member
First check for
crap placement
crap room
crap kit
it is of course possible that you got a couple of dud oktavas, if so I'd be happy to take them off your hands and send them to my frankenstein laboratory
crap placement
crap room
crap kit
it is of course possible that you got a couple of dud oktavas, if so I'd be happy to take them off your hands and send them to my frankenstein laboratory
The Oktavas were for the drums, which I will be spending most of my time recording new projects with electronic drums. What got me thinking about switching was the fact Oktavas still have a high resale value. I could sell them now, get the money to finish my DAW (I had mobo problems) and start recording now. When I needed mics like that again, mainly when I go to record acoustic drums, I could get the B1s, which should be less than what I sold the Oktavas for originally.
I don't have a drum set where I can play with the cymbals (what really sounded bad) and different positions, nor do I have a stable, working DAW. It was just a though. I guess I will keep the Oktavas.
I don't have a drum set where I can play with the cymbals (what really sounded bad) and different positions, nor do I have a stable, working DAW. It was just a though. I guess I will keep the Oktavas.
antidivine prod
New member
I love my oktavas - I have the mc012s? a pair with multiple capsules, pad etc. They are great for the money, but you really need to place them right and well - um a - nice instrument in a good room, played by a fairly decent musician never hurts either. Crap in crap out. 
still4given
Got my ticket!
The last time I recorded in a pro studio, the engineer spent more time tuning the drums than any other thing. Poorly tuned drums will sound bad with any mics. Too many folks praise the MC012's for me to think that they are where you should look for the solution to your bad sounding drums. Placement, tuning of the drums and room are going to get you a lot farther IMHO.
Blessings, Terry
Blessings, Terry
Keep the oktavas and learn to use them properly. Room, source and placement are often more important than mic (and certainly in this case, between oktava and B1's).
I have both. The oktava's are more faithful to the source, and I believe they have a better transient response since they are SDC and not LDC.
The B1 will give you a bit brigher sound and probably a bit more distortion (which also adds high frequency contents -- can be good on certain things, sometimes). They will sound slightlly "larger than life" when compared to the oktavas.
However, they will be more difficult to place. They have more off-axis coloration than the oktavas, and hence the room and placement can colour the sound more, and needs you to get up even more than with the oktavas.
The oktavas, on the other hand, have a wider pickup pattern and I think less off-axis artifacts. This makes them probably a bit less critical to position in relation to the kit you're playing, although they may pick up as much/more room sound.
For other sources, both will work, including guitar. With a good pop-filter, the oktavas are pretty decent on voice also. A good addition to the C1, when you need a slightly darker vocal.
I'd say: keep them, and get a B1 later if you need it. Or maybe forget the B1, and get a different type of mic instead (Røde for a "bright" sound, maybe ADK, MXL for darker sounds).
-- Per.
I have both. The oktava's are more faithful to the source, and I believe they have a better transient response since they are SDC and not LDC.
The B1 will give you a bit brigher sound and probably a bit more distortion (which also adds high frequency contents -- can be good on certain things, sometimes). They will sound slightlly "larger than life" when compared to the oktavas.
However, they will be more difficult to place. They have more off-axis coloration than the oktavas, and hence the room and placement can colour the sound more, and needs you to get up even more than with the oktavas.
The oktavas, on the other hand, have a wider pickup pattern and I think less off-axis artifacts. This makes them probably a bit less critical to position in relation to the kit you're playing, although they may pick up as much/more room sound.
For other sources, both will work, including guitar. With a good pop-filter, the oktavas are pretty decent on voice also. A good addition to the C1, when you need a slightly darker vocal.
I'd say: keep them, and get a B1 later if you need it. Or maybe forget the B1, and get a different type of mic instead (Røde for a "bright" sound, maybe ADK, MXL for darker sounds).
-- Per.
if you want to record drums:
1. get new heads...will improve your sound drastically
2. spend time tuning....i use the evans torque key to get an even tuning and start fine tuning with a normal tuning key.
3. make sure your drummer can play......make sure he hits the drums hard enough.
4. try to optimize your room sound, thick blankets will do it a lot of times when you are a beginner.....
5. place the drumer behind the kit and tell him to play. get a good pair of headphones and start placing the mics one after the other........check for phase relations.
1. get new heads...will improve your sound drastically
2. spend time tuning....i use the evans torque key to get an even tuning and start fine tuning with a normal tuning key.
3. make sure your drummer can play......make sure he hits the drums hard enough.
4. try to optimize your room sound, thick blankets will do it a lot of times when you are a beginner.....
5. place the drumer behind the kit and tell him to play. get a good pair of headphones and start placing the mics one after the other........check for phase relations.
sjaguar13 said:
If your MC012's sounded crappy, it is your room/drumsound that is to blame. These mics are used in alot of studios for OHs (and yes even in mine) and they do the trick quite nicely. But, they are picking up the sound of the room mainly. If you have a bad sounding room then the sound will be bad.