Guitar Center Oktava MC-012... no -10dB Pad anymore?

[paddyponchero]

Paddy,

Interesting article. The newer MC012s a possible counterfit? That would explain a Chinese link. The rumours are flying about it seems.

Bob

The most interesting part is this:
http://oktava.tula.net/fake/

Definitely look nothing like my oktavas and seem to use the same kind of metal that 797 puts into the B1 vs the brass construction of oktava.

 

[giraffe]

The most interesting part is this:
http://oktava.tula.net/fake/

Definitely look nothing like my oktavas and seem to use the same kind of metal that 797 puts into the B1 vs the brass construction of oktava.

no crap.........

thought i knew what was going on.......
i know a guy in russia, who sells oktava who dosn't know about this
but i guess thare's probably no counterfits in russia

 

[crazydoc]

Off topic (sorry) but from that same site a review (thanks for the great link, paddy):

The Oktava MK-319 was perhaps our favorite microphone of the bunch. The MK-319, even when compared to the Neumann U87 (which costs many times more) shared a very similar sound character that I found inviting in vocals. Clear, detailed and warm. Although the Neumann mic did rival the MK-319 in the absolute last bit of detail, you should bear in mind that the Neumann mic costs about 8 to 10 times more than the MK-319!

Now we need a SPC1 and Oktava 319 comparison thread, to see which one sounds most like the U87 (which "rivals" the 319.)

 

[nuemes]

Mc012

Has anyone here who owns one of the original Russian manufactured MC012's bought one of the Chinese made MC012's and compared them? Would be interesting to hear what they have to say.

 

[paddyponchero]

For anyone who got suckered by the 'revised' oktavas heres another link

http://www.thomann.de/index.html?partner_id=97926&page=thoiw6_artikel-180077.html

 

[treymonfauntre]

dammit, and i'd thought i finally could get these mics at a reasonable price brand new.

 

[paddyponchero]

dammit, and i'd thought i finally could get these mics at a reasonable price brand new.

Well you can get them brand new slightly less than soundroom prices

http://www.oktava-online.com

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=8258&item=7507106649&tc=photo

 

[Bob Keelan]

Jeez, what a snakebit company. If I was starting out fresh I'd probably be looking at SP C4's.

 

[pwshih]

I can't believe this ... my MC 012 purchased from GC looks exactly like those pictures of "fake" Oatava

What a mess... I hope this is all kind of a joke. A reasonably priced MC 012 turns out to be a fake, and a genuine MC 012 doesn't seem to be priced as a "budget" mic anymore. I may have to start looking at other alternatives...

Paul
----

 

[treymonfauntre]

Well you can get them brand new slightly less than soundroom prices

http://www.oktava-online.com

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=8258&item=7507106649&tc=photo

slightly less than soundroom.. nearly double guitar center's

i just want a solid pair of sdcs

 

[Outlaws]

Why is everyone still typing MC 012 when its MK 012?

 

[Theros]

Good point... the russian ones are labelled MK 012 and not MC 012 or is that just the ol' russian translation thinger again?

 

[drummerdude666]

thomann know about the 'fakes', and yet they are still selling them...

http://www.thomann.de/index.html?partner_id=97926&page=thoiw2_artikel-165104.html

This SUCKS!
Oktavas are almost immpossible to find in the UK.
Real Oktavas now aren't budget mics (as i cant afford them)
Budget Oktavas are FAKE!

 

[drummerdude666]

Also read this 'OKTAVA ALERT'

Scroll down to the bottom of this link. Could be why oktavas are hard to find these days.

http://www.oktava-online.com/

 

[Bob Keelan]

As far as I know, the MC-012 & MK-012 are/were the same and are/were both made in Russia.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

The "ASM" marking stands for "Angus S. McKay," the importer who still claims sole distributorship for the UK and US.

MC = Microphone, usually stamped on models for export from Russia.

MK = Mikrofon, usually stamped on models for the Eastern bloc.

The rest of this post is pure speculation on my part (but I'll bet it's pretty close to the truth):

From recent events, it would appear that Oktava and A.S. McKay had a falling out and Oktava dropped them as their importer.

McKay (apparently) said something to the effect of "We're still the official Oktava distributor, so if we can't get them from you (Oktava), we're just gonna have China make the Oktava mics for us, and we still have a contract with Guitar Center to buy Oktava mics thru us."

 

[DJL]

Hmm, interesting speculation. If Harvey is right... GC isn't really selling Oktava mics... and we have a ton of Chinese made counterfeit mics on the market again. I'm curious which Chinese mic factory is making the Oktava counterfeit mics for McKay/Guitar Center... does anyone here know?

 

[crazydoc]

The important point will be how do the mics sound when compared with each other. From the pictures comparing the two, at least with regard to the contact pin mechanisms, it looks like there may be significant differences.

 

[Outlaws]

The important point will be how do the mics sound when compared with each other. From the pictures comparing the two, at least with regard to the contact pin mechanisms, it looks like there may be significant differences.

Well, I went to guitar center and the mics they had, 4 of them, came with the plastic holder, no -10dB pad, but had MK-012 01A or whatever that is, and had ASM on it.

They were basically a mix of both of those pictures that show a 'real' and a 'fake'.

I think this is probably gonna blow over as internet hog wash, but who knows...stranger things have happend.

 

[DJL]

The important point will be how do the mics sound when compared with each other. From the pictures comparing the two, at least with regard to the contact pin mechanisms, it looks like there may be significant differences.

Hi bro... do you mean comparing the Chinese made counterfeit mics with each other... or comparing the Chinese made counterfeit mics with the real Oktava mics?