Oktava Ml-19

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Gone 6 days now

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I have just bought an oktava mic off ebay and was trying to find information on the mic. What is your prefered instrument to mic it with? Can I record a kick drum and a guitar amp without blowing the ribbon? I don't know much about it other it's a ribbon mic. Any info would be appreciated!

Thanks
 
that's an older oktava i believe right? i like ribbons (i have an active karma k-6 and a nady rsm-2) on acoustic guitar and amp (usually pretty close to the grille). i definitely will be trying it in several positions on drums, but haven't had the occasion yet. it's a pretty good idea to use a pop screen in front of any mic with a fragile diaphragm/ribbon element to help prevent damage from wind blasts. there was a cool article in electronic musician that i've seen online that you can probably find that has a bunch of big-time producer/engineer types talking about how they like to use ribbons and in what positions-- a good read fer sure.
 
That sounds really interesting :) Could you be able to give me a link to this website because I'm not familiar with it.
Thanks
 
And so are you! Thanks alot for showing me, i'm reading it right now and i have to say it's very helpful. I normally don't mic an amp dead in the centre but if these guys do it.......
 
no problem. ribbons tend to have "healthy" low end response and somewhat rolled off highs, but many of these guys are using royers, which have different high end responses, or aea or rca ribbons, so you may end up finding that your ribbon will work better in different positions, so their suggestions will probably be starting points, not end points. your oktava might have a very different frequency response than theirs.
you'll probably need a preamp with a lot of clean gain (60db plus) to get the most out of your ribbon if you don't have one already.
 
I have an aphex preamp which does the job. Also does anyone have ml19 and are reading this thread? If so could you please kindly tell me any information at all.
 
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it can't take loud sources, it will distort on all but the lightest percussion.
nor will it work on amps, unless they are turned down a bit.

NO ON KICK.

i use it largely on vocals, mostly for metal screamers but sometimes for singers as well.
it eats gain. (be ready for it)

it's a cardoid ribbon, not a fig 8.
go figure.
 
So could i use it as a room mic on drums? How do you think it sounds and are their many cardioid ribbon mics? I thought they were all fig 8
 
probably fine as a room mic, i've personally not used it that way.

i like the way it sounds, but it distorts easily, which is sometimes pleasing, sometimes a pain in the ass.

and yes, the cardioid ribbon mic thing is fairly rare.
 
Also can you put it on a normal mic stand? The one i bought has a small stand with it, is $100 a good price for this mic or did I pay too much? They don't make them anymore.
 
100$ is an excellent price for that mic.

any stand will work.
 
Thanks for the info :)
When you said it distorts on amps then what if you had the gain down lower and you put it about 3 feet away. That electronic muscian link is really misleading, like they have all these great mics and put them right up to the grille!
 
older ribbons don't deal with loud sources as well as newer ones.
 
they don't mention the rca on amps in that artical
57, royer, neuman, and sennheiser mostly.
 
Well anyway i read a post about someone who took off the front grill before sending it to stephen sank. He thought his were honky in the mids but with the mod done they sounded amazing, I wish I could hear the difference between the two. I will wait for mine to arrive before ripping it apart.
 
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