Comments on the MK-012 and MC012 and a question 'bout the 2500....
OK, I've been recording for a while and have always used a mismatched pair of LDCs as my OHs. It's sounded OK, but I saw it as a weak spot in my recordings. Recently, I've turned recording into a living and have been trying to take all the steps I can to bring my game to the top. I've been reading the forums here for the last 2 days researching my options and I've decided that the MK-012s were the way to go. I also read about the GC blowout and did my research on the chinese knockoffs.
Well, I can get them for approx $150 a piece brand new.... but I did a little more research and found a GC in my area that still had a few of these mics left.... only one problem: one was russian and the other was chinese. I explained to their manager that I was familar with the history and got them down to $50 per mic! He also through in an MKL-2500 (definately authentic, serial #, russian letters, etc.)!!!
Now I did some tests on the two (acoustic guitar @ the 12th fret 8", both mics next to each other, flip the mute swiches on a recording). The Russian is clearly superior in dynamic representation. It has a very crisp and warm tone and I'm definately in shock that I was able to get it for as little as I did!! The chinese knockoff was definately quiter (had to boost the input gain), but didn't sound too different. I noticed that the highs are a little harsher and generally the dynamics aren't as well preserved.
However, I wanted to use these for OHs. I still haven't tried them on drums... waiting for my next drum session on monday. I tried putting the mics in an XY config and recording the same acoustic as a stereo signal.... and DAMN! I was blown away by the way these two mics were able to work together. I flipped the pans, and no matter what I did the stereo image and dynamics of the guitar were crystal clear. I can't wait to try them on the drums... I don't think the slight sonic differences between the two will be as noticable, maybe I can use it to calm the hats on one side and sharpen the ride .
Either way... here's my question 'bout the 2500: It's definately the russian make... comes in the original casing, with PSU, and mount.... BUT, it's lacking the cable between the mic and PSU . Does anybody know where I can get this cable; it appears to be an XLR sized cable that goers from 6 - 7 pins? I'm guessing that GC swapped out the cable for one of the customers with the chinese knockoff w/ the infamous hum problem.
Thanx for reading this. Hopefully it's helpful to somebody out there!
OK, I've been recording for a while and have always used a mismatched pair of LDCs as my OHs. It's sounded OK, but I saw it as a weak spot in my recordings. Recently, I've turned recording into a living and have been trying to take all the steps I can to bring my game to the top. I've been reading the forums here for the last 2 days researching my options and I've decided that the MK-012s were the way to go. I also read about the GC blowout and did my research on the chinese knockoffs.
Well, I can get them for approx $150 a piece brand new.... but I did a little more research and found a GC in my area that still had a few of these mics left.... only one problem: one was russian and the other was chinese. I explained to their manager that I was familar with the history and got them down to $50 per mic! He also through in an MKL-2500 (definately authentic, serial #, russian letters, etc.)!!!
Now I did some tests on the two (acoustic guitar @ the 12th fret 8", both mics next to each other, flip the mute swiches on a recording). The Russian is clearly superior in dynamic representation. It has a very crisp and warm tone and I'm definately in shock that I was able to get it for as little as I did!! The chinese knockoff was definately quiter (had to boost the input gain), but didn't sound too different. I noticed that the highs are a little harsher and generally the dynamics aren't as well preserved.
However, I wanted to use these for OHs. I still haven't tried them on drums... waiting for my next drum session on monday. I tried putting the mics in an XY config and recording the same acoustic as a stereo signal.... and DAMN! I was blown away by the way these two mics were able to work together. I flipped the pans, and no matter what I did the stereo image and dynamics of the guitar were crystal clear. I can't wait to try them on the drums... I don't think the slight sonic differences between the two will be as noticable, maybe I can use it to calm the hats on one side and sharpen the ride .
Either way... here's my question 'bout the 2500: It's definately the russian make... comes in the original casing, with PSU, and mount.... BUT, it's lacking the cable between the mic and PSU . Does anybody know where I can get this cable; it appears to be an XLR sized cable that goers from 6 - 7 pins? I'm guessing that GC swapped out the cable for one of the customers with the chinese knockoff w/ the infamous hum problem.
Thanx for reading this. Hopefully it's helpful to somebody out there!