Disadvantages of Oktavas?

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What are the disadvantages of the Oktava Mk - 012's over other similarily priced small diaphragms. My purpose in using them is stereo recording ensembles. Many thanks,
Gobblefisher
 
gobblefisher, the only disadvantage is that they're a bit colored and a little dark. But the advantage over "similarily priced small diaphragms" is that the MC012's [ if you have a good working pair ] are much better quality mics than anything in that price range. If you don't already have omni capsules, I'd recommend you get them if you're going to be doing stereo recordings of ensembles.
 
Well, there are 2 versions- the old Russian ones and the Chinese knockoffs now being sold by Guitar Center. Disadvantages? As Dot says, they are a little dark and colored, (I agree). Those are also advantages for recording certain things.
The biggest disadvantages are an almost totally absent service network, and quality control that is spotty at best. The owner's manual in Russian is a clue.
A good pair of the old Oktavas is a very good set of mics, if they match at all.
The new Chinese version is fairly new, so the jury is out on it. I think a number of engineers will boycott the mic because they support the Russian side of the legal dispute (Russian MC012's are still being made). In time, I expect European courts will decide who is screwing who. Beats me. I know nothing about the new Chinese Oktava except that it *looks* like an Oktava MC012.
If you are willing to pay a bit to own one of the good Russian pairs, call Taylor Johnson at The Sound Room.-Richie
 
Got a pair of nicely matched Russians off the bay not too long ago for $350. They have all three caps and import papers. The guy knows somebody in Russia and he hails from Madison, Wi. Good source and resurfaces from time to time
 
Over at tweakheadz.com forum John Scrip from massive mastering did a recording of a small orchestra with just two 012's and a behringer preamp I think it was to prove your skills can bring you past your equipment. Anyway the recording sounded unreal. You could hear ever nuance of the entire orchestra. PM him and see if he'll give you the link.
 
I used a pair as room mics on a choir recently at a live recording gig, my pair of older MC012 were fine. Nothing wrong with their sound if you find a good working pair.

War
 
I think the Oktavas are great. I don't think I'd call them that dark myself. Just not overly bright. They're also the world's best cowbell mic. :)
 
the problem is that they used to cost $99 and now you can't find them on ebay for less than $300
 
treymonfauntre said:
the problem is that they used to cost $99 and now you can't find them on ebay for less than $300
Click to expand...

Stereo pairs or the multi-capsule version might be going for $300 but they certainly never sold for $99.
 
cominginsecond said:
I think the Oktavas are great. I don't think I'd call them that dark myself. Just not overly bright. They're also the world's best cowbell mic. :)
Click to expand...

Ditto. In a market where upper mid hype becomes the norm, our reference shifts, and natural becomes "dark".

-RD
 
here is the link to the recording John did with the oktava's. Here's the gear he used. 2 Okatava 012's (16 feet high, spaced 8 feet apart, shooting straight down at the far downstage row of strings) through around 250 feet (each) of balanced cable to:

1 $99 Behringer Ultragain Pro MIC-2200 preamp fed UNBALANCED through Radio Shack quality cables into:

1994(?) first-generation Sony MD recorder with horrendous converters - unbalanced I/O.

And you can get the 012's from guitar center for 99 bucks, they were on sale a couple weeks ago for 75. And I hope this isn't the case but I can't get the link to work at the moment but it may be my cheap ass laptop and the fact I'm on dial up at the moment.
 
that recording is amazing. two cheap mics and a behringer preamp? i think he's Trying to make us look bad :rolleyes: :p

hehehe.

i don't own any oktavas. but i'm tempted to get saving (i'm 16, no job, no money, at school all the time... i need to save for Everything :p)

Andy
 
jonnyc said:
here is the link to the recording John did with the oktava's. Here's the gear he used. 2 Okatava 012's (16 feet high, spaced 8 feet apart, shooting straight down at the far downstage row of strings) through around 250 feet (each) of balanced cable to:

1 $99 Behringer Ultragain Pro MIC-2200 preamp fed UNBALANCED through Radio Shack quality cables into:

1994(?) first-generation Sony MD recorder with horrendous converters - unbalanced I/O.

And you can get the 012's from guitar center for 99 bucks, they were on sale a couple weeks ago for 75. And I hope this isn't the case but I can't get the link to work at the moment but it may be my cheap ass laptop and the fact I'm on dial up at the moment.
Click to expand...


as i'm sure you know.. those aren't the real oktava mics that are currently $99. if he did that recording with brand new chinese oktavas then i will eat my words.
 
I'm very skeptical of that recording. Is there evidence that the gear lineup mentioned above was in fact used? I'll mention, I'm a low cost advocate, i.e.: I think a lot of "crappy" gear works/sound wonderful. But the dynamics of such an orchestra vs. that seriously crappy getup + the impressive results don't instantly jive.

I went to massive mastering and spent one mintue (!) looking around for a link to that sample (or more info regarding it's source). I'm more than happy to have my sketicism squashed.
 
i'm glad that people are saying they're practically the same quality. i'm still in the market for a pair of SDCs and i don't think i've ever seen a review saying oktava mics sound bad.. just that there are tons of duds.
 
Go to the forums on tweakheadz.com and go to the community section and scroll about half way down. The thread says something about Here's for all you cheap gear guys or something like that. John himself typed up the gear list I just copied and pasted it. I don't think John is the type of guy that would bullshit people.
 
Well, Treymon, it would be more correct to say that the ones that sound good sound good. And *some* of them sound good.-Richie
 
Richard Monroe said:
Well, Treymon, it would be more correct to say that the ones that sound good sound good. And *some* of them sound good.-Richie
Click to expand...
I've used 20 different Oktava MC012s and they all sounded really close to me. It's really hard for me to believe that their QC is as bad as some people make it out to be.
 
gobblefisher said:
What are the disadvantages of the Oktava Mk - 012's over other similarily priced small diaphragms. My purpose in using them is stereo recording ensembles. Many thanks,
Gobblefisher
Click to expand...

I would say that they have the same disadvantages as any other mic I did not like on a given source.

Sorry for the funny sounding answer, but when I do like the MC012s on a given source, they sound damn good.

Now, other mics in the same price range have disadvantages, and advantages over the Oktavas, and visa-versa.
 
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