Sale on Oktava MK319's! Any good?

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Lanstar0

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I bought a pair of Oktava MK-012's at GC for $120 a few weeks ago. I got them after the $99/pair sale, but still knocked $80 off the price at the time, so I was happy.

They are now having the $99/pair sale on Oktava MK-012's again ... but not only on these, on MK319's also.

Are the Oktava MK-319's any good? What kind of sound do they have? The deal is tempting....

This is what I have now:
*AT3035
*2 Oktava MK-012's
*SM57
*ATM25
*2 Audio Technica dynamic mics (SM58 lookalikes)

Would a pair of Oktava MK319 LD condensors compliment the mics I have? What are they good for .. vocals? or acoustic instruments?

Thanks!

LZ
 
I picked up one last week for $50 and I think its great. I’ve had four different models of the <$250 Chinese condensers from three different manufacturers, and the 319 just blows them away for my applications which is more ‘rootsy’ or “what you hear is what you get” type of stuff. To my ears, the Chinese mics all have some kind of harsh “yuk” factor in the mid-range that my 319 doesn’t. It’s much smoother, but somehow still has the high end detail.

But, here’s the catch – You have to pick one out because they don’t all sound this way. When I got mine I compared it with another one, and of the two, the other lacked some low end and sounded slightly nasal by comparison.

They’re worth way more than $50 -$99 or even $250 if you get a good one. Heck, I think I’ll go but another!
 
Yeah. I'd almost put it in the no-brainer dept. for that money. Go try one out if you can and see what you think.
 
The MK319 is variable, like all Oktava mics. What's interesting is that you can find 2 that sound totally different from each other, but both can sound good! Mine is dark, like an AKG Solidtube. It works well for backing vocals, especially women. Actually, it's pretty good on toms, too. But mainly, it seems to be a vocal mic, and mine is good for scrubbing obnoxious highs off of violin, mandolin, and banjo. It's not a very versatile mic, but it's a unique mic. It has a sound all its own, and is a $99 no-brainer.
I'm told some of them are brighter than mine, but they still seem to mostly shine on vocals.-Richie
 
I dickered them down to 35 for mine and got a good one...dark sounding but open works well with my voice when I want to do a ballad.
 
Are these on sale or are they clearance? Is there somewhere where I can reference this price (a link, email, etc) in case my local GC isn't having the same sale? My GC doesn't open for another 45 minutes, and I am impatient!!:D

Pete
 
Are these on sale or are they clearance? Is there somewhere where I can reference this price (a link, email, etc) in case my local GC isn't having the same sale? My GC doesn't open for another 45 minutes, and I am impatient!!:D

Pete
 
battleminnow said:
Are these on sale or are they clearance? Is there somewhere where I can reference this price (a link, email, etc) in case my local GC isn't having the same sale? My GC doesn't open for another 45 minutes, and I am impatient!!:D

Pete
Click to expand...

I called my local GC (Phoenix) yesterday afternoon, and they told me it was part of their "green tag sale" that was ending at 6:00 PM. They had none in stock, but could order it for me if I came down there and paid for it. (I did.) None of the other local stores were having the sale, but it sounded like each "region" had a store that was having the sale.

In the past I have been able to buy things for the sale price at GC, even though they were no longer on sale.

If you think it would help I could post my receipt here.
 
I called our local store here (Eugene OR) and it ended yesterday (11/16), but they said they'd hook me up with the sale price if I came in this week (as expected). On my way down now to match up a couple.
 
Worth 100 easy imo

I've got two 319s and one of the small condensers MK 012???

My wife does the singing. She has a very powerful, balls to the wall country/blues voice. They both work great for her. We tried out four and could tell no difference between them. Guitar Center says that it is the 012s that are having problems being consistent in tone. Whatever, the 319s are great mics for the price.

I also like the 319 on acoustic guitar (Martin) for country and bluegrass. With the right mic placement, it is awesome. Have recorded banjo and mandolin with it too. I might try something else on the banjo, but it sounds great for the mandolin.

ON the other hand, I tried the mk 012 (if that is what I have) on my guitar and really didn't like it. It might have been a placement issue. I need to try it again. I just swapped it out with the 319 and went back to recording.

For what it is worth, I paid 100.00 for my first, then two weeks later, the sale happened when they were 50.00. I brough my receipt in, and it was no problem. GC was happy to refund my money. And I was happy to give it back to them for a second Oktava.

Whether you are paying $50 or $100, it is worth it. Get a couple in case you drop one.

Regards!
 
Re: Worth 100 easy imo

woodshedder said:
I've got two 319s and one of the small condensers MK 012???...
Click to expand...
Hey woodshedder, sounds like you're into my kind of music (the bluegrass part, that is...) The 319's are not bad at all on acoustic guitar, but I still perfer my '012s here. Different sound altogether, really. You're right about placement with '012s, though. Move them an inch and you have a totally different sound. Thanks for the mandolin and banjo tip. Looks like it’s time to invite the band over for some mic testing! :D
 
Thanks for the heads up on this!

I called my GC and he said the sale ended but he could hold 2 MK-012's for me for $99/pair.

Of course, I cringed when I saw that the MK-319s were goin for $50 when I paid $100 for mine back in april...

*sigh*
 
Oh, yes and a question...

Anyone ever use their MK-012s with any success on guitar amps?
 
Now if they could just have a $50 sale on the MC58 ribbons....
 
I am going to GC tomprrow to return my DOA Oktava MKL2500, I might see if they will let me exchange it for a ML52 ribbon. I keep vascillating between the two mic's.
 
mandocaster said:
I am going to GC tomprrow to return my DOA Oktava MKL2500, I might see if they will let me exchange it for a ML52 ribbon. I keep vascillating between the two mic's.
Click to expand...
The ML52 is very low output so unless you have a quiet, high-gain pre, it's difficult to mic acoustic instruments without excessive noise. It's also fairly dark compared to LDCs, so you can expect to EQ it some. This isn't a problem, though, as it's very easy to EQ this mic. Once dialed in, it can sound great.
 
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