Has anyone used an Oktava MK012??

[tvaudioman]

Has anyone used an Oktava MK012?

And if so, for what application and thoughts?

They seem inexpensive, but I've heard the name dropped several times lately.

[Olle Sjostrom]

Do a search on the board. Using google can probably wield even better results.

I use them for plant mics and ambiences. Some people here use them on a boom. They're awesome for the price, but not a mkh50 or cmc641 replacement

[Ferdinand Almalvez]

used one for 2 years now mainly as my indoor boom mic, great for the price and it sounds good. def recommend it.

[Karri]

I also bought two for my INT boom mics, but fairly soon got others so now they haven't seen that much use. With the types of gigs I have been doing lately it's more convenient to just use a CS3e and it'll work indoors and outdoors. However, I bought two factory matched cardioid capsules for the Mk012's for stereo recording.

If you haven't got an interior supercardioid yet and don't have the cash for a Schoeps or Senn etc, these definitely don't sound bad. You might have some getting used to with handling noise, though, as the mic is fairly prone to that. A good shock mount will help, though I wasn't having any problems with cheaper ones either, like a Rode SM3.

[soundslikejustin]

Audix SCX-1HC is a better choice IMO.

[Christian Spaeth]

Seriously, there are a million threads about this mic. Don't be lazy. Do a search!

[Stuart Piggott]

Seriously, there are a million threads about this mic. Don't be lazy. Do a search!

Senator would be proud! :-D

[Nathaniel Robinson]

I found handling noise to be a big issue; perhaps I am spoiled by the MKH50 in a Rycote Invision mount. Nothing apparently lacking about the mic to my ears, but that's without having done any A/B testing.

[Eric Toline]

Audix SCX-1HC is a better choice IMO.

+1

Eric

[bigmaho]

For the price it's hard to beat. I use it when I need a 'sacrificial' mic, ie when there is dialog and full load gunfire from the same person, or plant mics during stunt scenes, or when a PA wants to borrow a mic for the weekend. It's not a Schoeps or Sennheiser 50, but it's close. AT one point there were a bunch of counterfeit Chinese ones around. Look for the ones made in Russia.

[David Waelder]

It's been about ten years since I first acquired an Oktava mike and wrote up the experience but I think this evaluation still has some useful information. The test also has a frequency response chart attached.

David

http://www.productionrecording.com/Tools/OktavaReport.html#

[Rick Reineke]

Despite it's attractive price tag, it's not a good mic for the inexperienced due to it's handling noise (and other issues). A quiet pre-amp is needed as well, with or without one of the 'Dorsey' mods. There also 'was' a quality-control issue even with the 'Genuine Russian' models. As David stated, many have purchased theirs through 'The Sound Room', who 'hand picks' and tests the mics prior to delivery, obviously this service adds to the cost.

There's a whole story behind the China / Guitar Center 'counterfeits' .. Search.

[Tom Duffy]

Despite it's attractive price tag, it's not a good mic for the inexperienced due to it's handling noise (and other issues). A quiet pre-amp is needed as well, with or without one of the 'Dorsey' mods.

Yep. I bought one way back in order to do the Dorsey mod. +1 on the Handling noise, and even though I redid the soldering on the mod a couple of times and used a ton of environmentally unfriendly cleaner, it still sometimes craps out because the leads of the giga-ohm resistors come too close to the case and couple the capsule signal to ground. I keep meaning to open it up again and shorten those leads, but the case screw threads are already shot, and I have other mics to use.

Tom.

[studiomprd]

" Has anyone used an Oktava MK012?

And if so, for what application and thoughts? "

geeze!

" Senator would be proud! "

proud of Christian, Thanks!

[RPSharman]

Anyone in Los Angeles have an Audix SCX-1HC I can check out?

[Mark Andrews]

I have an Octava 012. Used it a fair bit. No "reach" and bad handling noise (rycote lyres are a must). Sounds good if you can keep it still and in close though.

~Mark.

[Rick Reineke]

I concur with Mark, "Sounds good if you can keep it still and in close"

IMO, with all the mods and such, it's just worth it to spend more to begin with. Though the Michael Joly mod sounds very close to a KM84.

I would be interested to try a Audix SCX-1HC as well.. or at least an evaluation from RP.

[Philip Perkins]

I have 6 of them, and have used them a lot for music etc type recording, ie on a stand, usually with a Shure A53M donut. They are a great bang for the buck--really nice sounding mics in the Schoeps vein--close to an MK4 (but not quite). Don't be intimidated about all the apocryphal stories about "fake" Oktavas if you look for a deal on used ones--the fakes sounded the same as the "real" ones and the "real" ones often had a variety of components used in them ( and they are mostly long gone now). One doesn't buy an Oktava looking for consistency, for that you need a Schoeps. That all said they are not great boom mics (although voices sound good on them), like many cheap mics they make a lot of handling noise, which makes them very unforgiving on a fishpole. There are better cheap choices for boom mics--like Rode NTGs or Sanken CS1, the Audix mentioned above or a used 416.

philp

[jrd456]

It's a good "sacrificial" mic. and not as sensitive to water as schoeps.Used on leaky submarine movie and it saved me.

J.D.

[jgardnersound]

I have one of these - has anyone used the figure of 8 capsule you can now buy? Did a search, couldn't find much. It's cheap and I understand the 'you get get what you pay for' but MS rig for me is of a lower priority right now.

http://www.oktava-online.com/mk012-8.htm

[Richard Newton]

I've got an Audix SCX-1HC, and like the sound, I use it in an invision mount but have noticed it being somewhat sensitive to handling, unfortunately I've never had the opportunity to compare it to an oktava or any other mics often referred to as comparable. I wouldn't mind providing mine as a sample for comparison. A second SCX-1HC to compare would be nice too, if someone else has one to volunteer. Robert/Rick please PM me if you want to arrange this.

[mjacomb]

I use an MK-012. I like it, but like others have said, they don't have tonnes of reach.

Handling noise isn't all that bad in an Invision mount, never used it in anything else, but those rycote mounts are awesome anyway - well worth a shot.

Ive also used the AKG Blueline hyper, and I did prefer it on some counts.

[Matt Martin]

I highly recommend the folks at Oktavamod.com

I purchased an MK-012 off of ebay a few months ago. It was a newer one, full kit (three caps and -10dB pad) and verified authentic. Got a great deal on it.

However, when I first got it I noticed it didn't seem quite right. Sound quality was "good" however it needed an extreme amount of gain and therefore had a high self noise. Didn't seem like this would work for dialogue work unless the talent was yelling. I asked/showed a few fellow mixers who owned or have used these before and they both said this didn't seem typical.

I contacted Michael Joly at Oktavamod.com about whether his mod would correct this, and while he said his standard mod doesn't intentionally correct those issues, it may help, and if not he could perform a total overhaul/repair for a small cost. I got the mic back with just the standard mod and the mic performs beautifully now. It only needs a reasonable amount of gain and has a tremendously lower noise floor. Vocal sound quality still sounds great but no noise floor to get in the way.

I have yet to try it out in the field on a job but I am very happy so far with my tests at home.

[Crussell]

I've got two Audix SCX-1HCs. I'm very happy with them, far better than my previous hyper (Audio Technica u837r) I purchased one sight unseen on Eric Toline's recommendation. After I used it on my first shoot, I ordered a second one.

I've used them to capture cars at speed at Sebring raceway in an ORTF array, quite successfully, then took the same mic and interviewed drivers and engineers in their motorhomes right afterward.

I also use them for live sound when I need to pull out a quieter instrument or isolate an instrument from the stage noise around it. Fantastic gain before feedback. Last weekend, I used them on a cajon and a banjo, this weekend they're up on a choir.

Chris

[bmfsnd]

For the price to performance, I love it.