Pepsi Challenge - MXL603s vs. Octava 012

  • Thread starter Thread starter hawk
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hawk

hawk

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Below are some clips of each, I'll let you try to guess which mic is which. A few disclaimers: I'm not a pro musician OR sound guy so sorry if the recordings suck. I didn't do any noise reduction or any EQ because I didn't want to affect the sound of the mics at all. Here's the setup I used:

My living room --->Nylon string guitar --->MXL603 and Octava012 (Russian,) ---> Behringer 4 port mixer ---> Audiophile 24/96 sound card ---> Adobe Audition 1.5 software.

The mics were right next to each other, about 8" from and facing the 12th fret. There's 1 clip for each mic then one clip of them together (L,R channels.) Now, lets see how good your ears are!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/7/cgh_music.htm
 
Not sure which mic is which, but I liked mic2 better for this application. mic1 sounded more harsh in the mid-low freqs.
 
i like mic 2 better


BTW let me congradulate you on this thread becuase if been wanting a comparison between these two for a while, Therefore which ever mic is mic 2 is gonna be the mic i buy (ive been trying to decide between the two forever now) ive heard so many good things about both mics



im gonna say mic 2 is the oktava
 
hawk said:
Below are some clips of each, I'll let you try to guess which mic is which. A few disclaimers: I'm not a pro musician OR sound guy so sorry if the recordings suck. I didn't do any noise reduction or any EQ because I didn't want to affect the sound of the mics at all. Here's the setup I used:

My living room --->Nylon string guitar --->MXL603 and Octava012 (Russian,) ---> Behringer 4 port mixer ---> Audiophile 24/96 sound card ---> Adobe Audition 1.5 software.

The mics were right next to each other, about 8" from and facing the 12th fret. There's 1 clip for each mic then one clip of them together (L,R channels.) Now, lets see how good your ears are!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/7/cgh_music.htm
Click to expand...
what is: mic 2 the Octava012?
 
Hmmm... I liked mic 1 better on these clips. More mellow sound. Mic 2 picked up too much of your room.

I say mic 1 is the Oktava and mic 2 is the MXL
 
hawk said:
I'm not ready to reveal just yet. :) I'd like some more gueses, keep 'em comming.
Click to expand...

can you send me a pm and tell me the answers cause i think im gonna buy soon and i wanna look on ebay


i wont tell anyone i swear
 
there will be rep points coming your way

but im a slut and ive given out too much in the past 24 so ill get ya soon
 
Thank you for posting this, and good job on the samples. This seems to be a well executed comparison.

Ok, I really hope that clip 1 is the Oktava. If it's not, my day is shot.

-RD
 
scrubs said:
Hmmm... I liked mic 1 better on these clips. More mellow sound. Mic 2 picked up too much of your room.

I say mic 1 is the Oktava and mic 2 is the MXL
Click to expand...


Knowing the two mics in question, the one that sounds mellower and has less room sound is most likely going to be the Oktava.
 
scrubs said:
I say mic 1 is the Oktava and mic 2 is the MXL
Click to expand...

+1

Mic 1 seems slightly more detailed on the higher end and has slightly richer mid-bass. Mic 2 seems to have a "boxy" midrange.

The only caveat is that perhaps Mic 2 is the more accurate mic and you have a small, untreated room, and Mic 1 is hyped/scooped. If that's the case, I'd say Mic 2 is the Oktava.
 
I don't know much about the sound of either of these mics but I prefer Mic 1 because it just sounds less hyped and more natural to me.
 
And the winner is....

Thanks to those who responded. Mic #1 was the Octava, #2 the MXL603.

I think leddy hit the nail on the head with his description. The Octava is more detailed on the higher end while the MXL was flatter or "boxy," in the mid-range. As I said in the other thread, I thought the Octava would be darker in comparison as others have said, but this test shows it to be brighter (at least in my situation.) It also picked up a tad less room noise, as has been pointed out.

Now, what I'd really like to see is an A/B test of Russian/Chinese Octavas. :)
 
that's a hard test to do, the difference in placement (because both diaphrams can't be in the same place at the same time) may be enough to account for the differance in sound.

in my experance on a close mic'ed acu (inside say 12) an inch can make an audible differance. (sometimes even a big one)

just saying it's a hard test to controol.
 
Having one -- or a pair -- of each can cover a lot of ground.

One will usually sound good on stuff that the other doesn't, and vice-versa.
 
hawk said:
Thanks to those who responded. Mic #1 was the Octava, #2 the MXL603.

I think leddy hit the nail on the head with his description. The Octava is more detailed on the higher end while the MXL was flatter or "boxy," in the mid-range. As I said in the other thread, I thought the Octava would be darker in comparison as others have said, but this test shows it to be brighter (at least in my situation.) It also picked up a tad less room noise, as has been pointed out.

Now, what I'd really like to see is an A/B test of Russian/Chinese Octavas. :)
Click to expand...


its been done. by some brown webpage. i don't remember where it was though but he had recorded about 20 different clips with both of them and kept saying the chinese ones sounded better
 
Phew! I can go to bed tonight knowing that:

My ears are still working.....

and

My favorite little wonder mics are still as awesome as I've always thought and said they were. While two mics can't occupy the exact same space, and while one mic's correct position isn't necessarily the correct position for another mic, these are small little mics that can be very close..... and who's to say that the MXL wasn't in the better spot? Anyway, to my ear, for this app, the 012 blew away the 603, hands down. But I'm sure there's another guitar or track that the 603 would have served better. For now though, I'm gonna go home and hug my o12's.

Thanks again Hawk,
-RD
 
treymonfauntre said:
its been done. by some brown webpage. i don't remember where it was though but he had recorded about 20 different clips with both of them and kept saying the chinese ones sounded better
Click to expand...

I'd like to see that. Do you happen to remember how you found it?
 
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