MichaelJoly
Banned
In the course of my mod work today I discovered Oktava has changed the PC board layout of new MK-012 mics in a way that will compromise performance.
Oktava has eliminated two insulated stand-off connection points used to isolate the FET input from physical contact with the PC board. Isolating the FET input is necessary to avoid stray capacitance loading of the input and thus loss of detail and transient response. All high quality microphones use some form of isolated FET input (or isolated grid in the case of tube mics) and this has been standard best engineering practice for decades.
My supposition is this PC board change was made in order to facilitate less labor intensive automated assembly. The former construction technique using isolated stand-off connections required hand assembly.
As I encounter this latest revision of the '012 PC I am restoring the previous and superior technique of using stand-off connections and also use point-to-point wiring in the FET input area. This adds a considerable amount of time to my modifications - but for the time being my '012 mod pricing will remain the same.
Oktava has eliminated two insulated stand-off connection points used to isolate the FET input from physical contact with the PC board. Isolating the FET input is necessary to avoid stray capacitance loading of the input and thus loss of detail and transient response. All high quality microphones use some form of isolated FET input (or isolated grid in the case of tube mics) and this has been standard best engineering practice for decades.
My supposition is this PC board change was made in order to facilitate less labor intensive automated assembly. The former construction technique using isolated stand-off connections required hand assembly.
As I encounter this latest revision of the '012 PC I am restoring the previous and superior technique of using stand-off connections and also use point-to-point wiring in the FET input area. This adds a considerable amount of time to my modifications - but for the time being my '012 mod pricing will remain the same.
