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Oktava MK-012 any thoughts or comments on it


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First off I want to thank Jeff for talking to me on the phone a few weeks ago. He was very helpful and provided me with some excellant prospectives on the industry today and some great stories. I posted this same Question on RAMPS but I know not all of you check there so here it is Thanks

After reading the reviews and looking at the prices I think I am goinga Oktava MK-012. Can anyone give me some feedback regarding what you think

of this microphone and where a good place to purchase one is. I found  that www.sound-room.com sells them. Has anyone dealt with this company

before? Thanks are there any other Oktava microphones I should consider  buying for field use the prices are so great

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After reading the reviews and looking at the prices I think I am goinga Oktava MK-012. Can anyone give me some feedback regarding what you think of this microphone and where a good place to purchase one is. I found  that www.sound-room.com sells them. Has anyone dealt with this company before?

I have purchased my Octavas at the soundroom.com (not sure if that's the proper URL) and I have always recommended that company whenever anyone has expressed an interest on the low cost microphones. DO NOT buy an Octava at Guitar Center to save a little money. Guitar Center thankfully has a generous return policy because you will need it --- the extra money you pay to the people at the soundroom insures that you will not have to return the microphone. The soundroom receives many Octavas and they go through each and every one of them doing the QC that should be done at the factory before they ship the mics out to dealers. The soundroom rejects almost 50% of them and those are the mics that go off to Guitar Center.

-  JW

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I've also ordered an MK012 from Sound Room (www.sound-room.com is the correct URL).  If you enter DV in the coupon code at check out, you get a 5 or 10% discount (can't remember which...Matt in STL from DVXUser.com negotiated this for us...kudos again to Matt).  I agree with Jeff, avoid the Guitar Center version.

One other note - if you order the black version (I think they call it Bella Negro), the Hyper marking on the side of the capsule is hard to see - almost looks like a cartioid.  They know about this, and you are actually getting a hyper. 

Phil

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I bought mine from Sound-room. Nice sounding mic for the price. Although for a low budget mic, i prefer my MBHO. To each there own i guess.

But, a little word of warning, don't waste your money on there so called adverse conditions mic sock:

http://sound-room.com/customer/product.php?productid=35&cat=13&page=1

It doesn't work as advertised. Even the slightest breeze cuts right through mine.

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I got my Mk-012 from the sound room today overall I am happy with the microphone however I am alittle unhappy with the following:

1. I paid an extra 10.00 for the "Custom Maple Storage Box" I was thinking it was going to be like the Scheops box instead it is a $1.99 little Art project style wooden box you can get at any arts and crafts store. The foam on the inside is the cheapest foam I have seen and it is just Hot Glued in the box which was done poorly there is excess hot glue all over the lip of the box.

2. The cut outs for the different heads have no foam at the bottom of the box offering no protection if the box where to be dropped

3. I tested the Outdoor 49.99 windscreen I bought (My order was shipped before some of you posted about it not working well) YOu where all correct there was hardly wind outside and it didn't stop it.

Overall it sounds good thought so maybe I am being alittle crticial. I may call sound room tomorrow or not I am not sure.

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  • 1 year later...

Just wanted to add to this thread (as someone in the UK) that I recently got an Oktava MK012 based on all the good things people here have said about them (and the fact that they're listed on the Skywalker Sound inventory helped). They seem to be a real bargain, though a little cold and relatively high impedance on the spec sheet. Still, done some informal testing and seems the self noise is lower than on my second-hand 416T. If you're happy buying stuff on-line, I can recommend using http://www.thomann.de especially being based in the UK with the strong pound against the Euro :-)

I also got the obligatory BBG which is not quite so much a bargain, but can be conveniently had from http://www.canford.co.uk/

Just got to get a shock mount suspension for it ..... though once the BBG is on, there' not a whole lot of mic left to fit to a suspension :-/

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Just got to get a shock mount suspension for it ..... though once the BBG is on, there' not a whole lot of mic left to fit to a suspension :-/

The OSIX suspension is meant to e used with the BBG, if I'm not wrong

It is very expensive though

I wonder what can be used with the Oktava for interiors. I mean the equivalent to a Schoeps W5D.

The Oktavas have that mushroom shape capsules...

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The OSIX suspension is meant to e used with the BBG, if I'm not wrong

It is very expensive though

I wonder what can be used with the Oktava for interiors. I mean the equivalent to a Schoeps W5D.

The Oktavas have that mushroom shape capsules...

Fernando,

I bought a bunch of the Oktavas for shooting in a car crash test facility a few years ago. The editor wanted perspective sound from several cameras, some of which were in places that could be hit by flying debris. At the time, they were often available pretty inexpensively at Guitar Center.

I found that the Beyer Dynamic WS101 would fit over the mushroom-shaped capsule. They work great on Schoeps, as well when a slightly larger pop screen is needed. Not like the W5D or B5D,  more like a bigger version of the standard Schoeps B5 pop screen. Here's a link:

http://www.beyerdynamic.de/cms/Pop_and_Windscreens.102.0.html?&L=1&tx_sbproductdatabase_pi1

Best regards,

Jim

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thanks a lot for the windshield link

No Worries....

Not the best mic ever, but it has a place in the package. And cheap at the price I paid.

Best regards,

Jim

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(Since it might help someone here, this is a copy of a post I made on RAMPS:)

I have four (carefully selected) 012 cardioid sets along with a couple of hyper capsules.  I find that the cardioid version sounds a bit more like a Schoeps than the hyper-cardioid version which is a tad duller, however, the cardioid pattern is a bit wide for most boom work, IMO.

In a comparison between the 012 and a Schoeps, as you get off axis or have any amount of room reflections, the Schoeps demonstrates why you pay the big bucks for it.  On axis, they sound a lot alike, off-axis it's "no contest" -- the Schoeps just, plain blows the Oktava away.

If you're using an 012 hyper on a boom, it'll work fine for you if you deal with the handling noise from the extended low end.  I'd recommend using both some rolloff at the mixer and a good suspension.  One of the best ways to suspend it is to use the K-tek "Suspenders."  I use them in most of my mounts -- from a simple LTM to a full blown Rycote rig -- no more messing with two hard clips and eight rubber bands -- just a pair of KSUS spiders and maybe an O ring if the mic is slim enough that it might slip. Last time I purchased the KSUS they were $20/pair.

http://mklemme.com/pole/ksus.html

Like others here, I use an 012 as a "stunt double" for my Schoeps.

I have made the Scott Dorsey modification on my 012s and have been happy with the results -- mainly, it makes the high end a little cleaner.  There's a guy on eBay who is selling a kit with the necessary parts and full instructions for this modification.  He has the parts nicely marked and is pleasant to do business with.  If you prefer, he'll do the mod for you for something like $49.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Oktava-012-Microphone-Modification-Kit-w-Instructions_W0QQitemZ280135028419QQihZ018QQcategoryZ41466QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

As always, these are just one man's opinions.  Good luck.

John Blankenship, C.A.S.

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BTW - does anyone know of an entity that might be able to fix an Oktava MK-012 ?

I had a nice pair, and now one seems to be dead....

Something metallic is floating around inside, and I believe a fatal short occurred...

Thanx in advance for any advice here...

Michael Filosa, CAS

Atlanta Field Production, Inc.

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I had the same thing happen to one of my older Octavas --- I just chucked it out figuring that even if I could find someone to really look into a repair it would cost more than the microphone. I did repair one myself and brought it back to life but it was really just an internal cleaning that was needed --- I took it all apart, cleaned it and put it back together, but that was the extent of it.

-  JW

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  • 2 years later...

http://www.oktavausa.com/ is where I've gone for my mics and parts, really good customer support so far.  I was told from a few sources that the soundroom.com is not technically an authorized distributor...however that works I don't know, but anyways:

I was thinking of getting a Rycote INV-7 to use with a future purchase of a CMIT-5U.  It just happens that the INV -7 size for the CMIT-5U is the same for the MK-012, so I thought of using my Oktava as well.  I'm familiar with the handling noise sensitivity of the MK-012, and wondered if the new low cut capsule would be helpful for it, or would the INV-7 "handle" that for me?  As for wind protection, I was hoping Rycote's mic foam would work find for interiors and basic boom swinging, for exteriors a Rycote baby ball gag, or a full blimp.

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I have had a little experience using the Octava with an invision mount and the baby ball gag.  Overall, I felt that the invision mount worked very well for handling noise and the baby ball gag was great on the end of a boom.  That is actually the combo I use now for my Sennheiser MKH 50 and I am pleased with it.

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This is what I love about this forum.  I've been throwing around idea of getting an oktava or 2, but new that there were issues with them and that one could be great and the next could be a great paper weight.  And then several of you mention that sound-room.com and that they go through their stock and check through each mic to make sure they meet a certain standard, and are generally of a reliable build.  With the guessing taken out of the equation I decided to go for a matched pair with all of the caps.  I'll get them in a few days and give them a try.

I guess I'll see how they compare to my Schoeps CMC641, and my Neumann KM185.  I'm guessing pretty close to the Neumann.

Thanks Guys and Gals,

J. Hemmerlin

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The one I bought in 2007 discussed earlier in this thread preformed great until it was ran over by a car while I was setting up to record ambiance at a race track ( Sadly I hadn't even begun recording yet)  Another victim of L&D client paid for it though and then became the owner I am planning on buying another one at some point in the near future.

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I have 4, all EBay finds.  If you buy used you should look at the sites that give the clues to the Chinese clones (black screws, certain box type etc).  Other than that, it's like buying any mic used, some care is involved.  I like my MC012s a lot-- they were cheap, and I like how they sound on many instruments--they are nearly as versatile as the sd Schoeps that way.  What I think they do NOT do well is work on a fishpole boom--they have a lot more handling noise than my Schoeps given the same mount.  Other than that--a great bargain.

Philip Perkins

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