Modded Oktava vs u47

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omtayslick

New member
This evening I did something that I never thought I would get the opportunity to do. I have a Michael Joly modded Oktava 319. Tonight a friend called me and said he had a borrowed U47 in his possesion. So I cruised over to compare my Oktava to the U47. I've read all the testimonials on Oktavamod.com but I still was a little skeptical that it would stand up to a mic of this calibre.

Boy was I pleasantly surprised! I know that I love the sound of my 319, but I don't often get to play with the really expensive toys.

The preamp was a UA 6176. We did one acoustic guitar track with each mic, then one vocal track with each mic. Levels and mic positioning the same for each mic.

Here are the conclusions: The U47 and the Oktava were almost indistinguishable on some portions of the material. On acoustic the U47 had some sweeter highs in some sections, but the Oktava had a midrange presence that made the guitar push out of the speakers better. But all in all the differences were subtle on acoustic guitar.

Vocals, on the other hand were a different story. The Oktava was the hands-down winner. It was clearer, more present, and handled sibilance better than the U47.

All four people at this session unanimously picked the Oktava as the overall winner.

Two of those present wanted information on where they could get modded Oktavas. (The other 2 already knew)

I am still smiling! :)
 
Can I ask which mod it was that your mic has for the 319?
I am in the process of ordering one - but I noticed he has a few different mods...
 
I chose the ac guit/vocal mix, which I see didn't have two of the mics, but oh well . . . I would have liked to hear the U47 - EF14, but anyway, this is what I got, listening blind, in order:

U47 - VF14. Runaway winner for me.

CM7, vocals are thin compared to the U47.

MK-219, vocals I actually like a little better than CM7, but the guitar is boxy so overall it's #3.

C414, too thin on this source.

U47 BLUE - too bright on the guitar, poor definition and tone on vocal.
 
Ha! I see I'm in last place :D I can understand 5 and 6 being up in the poll, and I didn't get to hear #1, but I really can't understand #4 being in last place. De gustibus non disputatum est . . .
 
Seems to me in those comparisons that there's only slight differences between all the 47's and the 219 holds up very nicely. Right on par.

I think I would have spent a lot more time being critical if it wasn't such a weenie song and recording for the shootout. I always thought a U47 could make anyone sound like God. This guy just sounds like a weenie through a great mic.

I have a couple 319's I may have to dig out and send to Michael Joly.
 
Why do people keep comparing all these littel Fischer-Price toy mics ... to real mics?

It's just not a fair comparison, and it's only going to encourage expectations that are very unrealistic.

.
 
chessrock said:
Why do people keep comparing all these littel Fischer-Price toy mics ... to real mics?

It's just not a fair comparison, and it's only going to encourage expectations that are very unrealistic.

.
Click to expand...

a mic tech who was doing some work for me in nyc once told me that a colleague of his had opened up one of those new telefunken elam 251's that come in the $7,000 and $11,000 (vintage style) flavors, and that other than the capsule and the transformer, that there were about $70 worth of parts in there. now a budget mic manufacturer may use the cheapest components on their circuit boards, when they could make a much, much nicer mic for $10-20 more, but they won't because that would not work for them on their scale. i think when you take mics like the oktava mk-219/319 that have good capsules and transformers and upgrade everything else in between, you create a formidable and awesome sounding (that's the bottom line mic). many users with impressive credits have agreed (just google it).
this is basically what dave royer did to first conceive his mxl 2001 to tube ld and mxl-603 to tube sd mods, which in turn, became the mojave audio ma-200's and ma-100's.
 
kojdogg said:
a mic tech who was doing some work for me in nyc once told me that a colleague of his had opened up one of those new telefunken elam 251's that come in the $7,000 and $11,000 (vintage style) flavors, and that other than the capsule and the transformer, that there were about $70 worth of parts in there. now a budget mic manufacturer may use the cheapest components on their circuit boards, when they could make a much, much nicer mic for $10-20 more, but they won't because that would not work for them on their scale. i think when you take mics like the oktava mk-219/319 that have good capsules and transformers and upgrade everything else in between, you create a formidable and awesome sounding (that's the bottom line mic). many users with impressive credits have agreed (just google it).
this is basically what dave royer did to first conceive his mxl 2001 to tube ld and mxl-603 to tube sd mods, which in turn, became the mojave audio ma-200's and ma-100's.
Click to expand...
Take note of this post, Chessrock. It is a prime example of how one makes a difference here.

Informative is the new snide. :p
 
aw it's okay mads-- chessrock is kind of endearing like a little kid. he throws little tantrums and insists he's right and he makes lots of poop references. on the upside, he does occasionally provide some good information within the lil' tantrums and poop references too :)
 
...the truth is (getting back on point) that the original Russian Oktava mics suffered from such drastic inconsistancy, that the odds that you got a "good one" were less than likely...I tried hard (spending a long afternoon at GC with a very patient sales rep) to determine which of the MK319 mics I demo'ed was worthy of a space in my mic closet, only to bring it home and after a few brief tracking sessions offered it up on eBay for about what I paid ($69?)...

....so it only makes sense that Mr. Joly's Oktavamod service is a valuable one...in my mind, I've not run across another brand (including many of the Chinese OEM brands) that is heralded by so many and yet has a reputation so riddled with QC issues...Mr. Joly's upgraded/modded mics may well be "the bomb", but I have to agree with Chessrock (a statement he made on that "other" Oktava thread) that at this point in time, there are many very capable mics at very fair pricing that deliver impressive results right out of the box....

...no knock on the modded Oktava...just that there are some great sounding mics that can be had for around $300 on Ebay these days...one has only to listen to Harvey G's recently posted vocals tracked with a SP T3 to appreciate one of the many options available...U47 or not ...;)
 
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