Pepsi Challenge - MXL603s vs. Octava 012

[tdukex]

The Oktava sounded better to me in this clip, but the room, proximity effect, and wider polar pattern of the 603s may have contributed to it's slight boxiness on this recording. The main thing these clips do for me is reinforce the importance of the room and mic positing. Like giraffe said, being that close even one inch (or a slight angle) makes a noticable difference in the freq response.

 

[Bob's Mods]

I was lucky enough to scoop up one of those Chinese 012s in Guitar Whore the day they put it in the display. I like it even better than the Russian version. Its got to be one of the top mic values of all time.

Bob

 

[Lanny Cox]

Wow.. I was really surprised by this one, especially given the Oktava's reputation as a "dark" mic. I've actually been trying to decide between a pair of these two mics as my next purchase so this is an awesome thread. hawk, can you possibly look into Pepsi-challenging these two on some different sources? Steel string guitar and overheads perhaps? I'm quite interested to see how they sound on other stuff.

 

[hawk]

I considered doing a steel string guitar test as well, but turns out I didn't have the time. I had to give back the Octava that I borrowed (reluctantly,) I'm glad this test helped you out; it was a learning experience for me as well.