Okatava Mods - Again
- the finger genius
- re-cappin' neve
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Okatava Mods - Again
I apologize for another Okatava Mod thread, but I don't think anybody has raised (or answered) this question yet. Please feel free to correct me if this has come up before.
My question being: has anybody done a direct comparison of the mods being offered by various services (e.g. oktavamods / Michael Joly, or billsrecording) or even of the different options by these different services? OktavaMods.com appears to have 4 different mods available for the MK319, and not a whole lot of detail around the difference in the final result.
I'm specifically interested in modding my MK012s and MK319s, and am thinking of doing it myself. I hear everyone talking about how much better their Oktavs sound after modding, I'm just wondering where to begin.
My question being: has anybody done a direct comparison of the mods being offered by various services (e.g. oktavamods / Michael Joly, or billsrecording) or even of the different options by these different services? OktavaMods.com appears to have 4 different mods available for the MK319, and not a whole lot of detail around the difference in the final result.
I'm specifically interested in modding my MK012s and MK319s, and am thinking of doing it myself. I hear everyone talking about how much better their Oktavs sound after modding, I'm just wondering where to begin.
_________________vvv wrote:
That said, what I'm gettin' at is, perfectionism is for the truly defective.
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- ghost haunting audio students
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I have the PE mod for both the 319 and 219.
I haven't really taken the 219 through its paces yet, but the 319 sounded great!
The PE mod lowers the self noise noticeably, and the standard mod makes the mic sound both more airy and less brittle at the same time. People often describe the effect as taking the blanket off of the mic.
IMHO, the mods are the best bang for the buck for practically any mic under $1000, especially if you bought the original mics at one of those GC blowouts.
I haven't really taken the 219 through its paces yet, but the 319 sounded great!
The PE mod lowers the self noise noticeably, and the standard mod makes the mic sound both more airy and less brittle at the same time. People often describe the effect as taking the blanket off of the mic.
IMHO, the mods are the best bang for the buck for practically any mic under $1000, especially if you bought the original mics at one of those GC blowouts.
I have two MC 012's, one modded by Joly, the other has the "Dorsey mod", and the work was done by the previous owner. The two mic bodies don't have drastically different personalities, but the mod-by-previous-owner mic has noticeably hotter output.the finger genius wrote:has anybody done a direct comparison of the mods being offered by various services (e.g. oktavamods / Michael Joly, or billsrecording
- TheStevens
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Michael Joly did my 319 with PE. What the previous posters said is absolutely correct; there is an incredible improvement on both sound quality and noise!
I also did the dorsey mod on 2 of my 012s, using parts from bill sitler. holy crap! great improvements! this isn't too hard to do if you have experience with PCBs and desoldering. I didn't replace the 3 large tantalum caps since they already looked good, or Q2. Don't know how hard those are to replace.
Anyway, if you're considering any of these mods to your oktavas, don't even hesitate!
I also did the dorsey mod on 2 of my 012s, using parts from bill sitler. holy crap! great improvements! this isn't too hard to do if you have experience with PCBs and desoldering. I didn't replace the 3 large tantalum caps since they already looked good, or Q2. Don't know how hard those are to replace.
Anyway, if you're considering any of these mods to your oktavas, don't even hesitate!
- Jeff White
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Michael Jolly modified my MK-012 pair back in October. I've had them since 2001 or 2002 or something like that. Huge difference. I prefer them to my buddy's KM184. Everyone who has heard them loves them and wants a pair of MK-012s now. They were always nice mics but the Jolly Mod has taken them to a new level. They just sound like way more expensive mics should and just really crystal clear in a pleasing way. I cannot recommend the OktavaMods enough. Very happy.
Lucky for me I have cardioid, omni, and the Red Head LDC caps for them.
Jeff
Lucky for me I have cardioid, omni, and the Red Head LDC caps for them.
Jeff
I record, mix, and master in my Philly-based home studio, the Spacement. https://linktr.ee/ipressrecord
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- ghost haunting audio students
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Actually he does quite a bit of other things (upgrade the grille, take out the resonator disc, isolate the body, upgrade the path components) but not really circuit bend, unless you count the rewiring to cut out the switches to shorten the path. Plus, he's spot on for customer service. He does deserve some kudos. Now, is it worth the money? That's up to the individual. For me it was, but I don't have enough time to rip apart my gear on my own.bibleboy3 wrote:I thought this was a DIY thread...???? I hope this isn't going to turn into a joly worship thread all the man does is bend the circuit a little and everybody thinks he's a god
Bill
So, back at you for understating what he does...
But nobody's stopping anyone from doing their own mods. Have fun!
oktava
I have a handful of Joly Modded mic's and all the mic's went from sounding ok to amazing with his standard and PE mod's.
So in my world he is a MOD-GOD!
Adam
So in my world he is a MOD-GOD!
Adam
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- speech impediment
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No shit. It would seem pretty obvious to me that most people who would pay someone else to make relatively simple electronic mods for them, have little to no electronic knowledge. Pointing it out is a dick move. If you have a better service or better mods to offer, then hang your fucking shingle and get to work. Berating people who offer this service or people who take advantage of it is just petty and shitty. Not very christ-like, bibleboy.bibleboy3 wrote:then you obviously have no electronic knowledge
Bill
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Sure, Joly just makes some changes. Nothing especially difficult in itself.
But part of the product he offers is that he's tried out a bunch of different things, evaluated them, and decided on which ones offer the most useful outcome. That's more than "a little circuit bending", it's somebody who's made a project out of trying to find the best ways to improve these particular mics and then offering the results as a service.
Maybe you could call it "circuit bending" or "fooling around with a Dremel tool" or whatever else you want, but the bottom line is that I've heard good reports about his service and his customers seem quite happy with the deal.
But part of the product he offers is that he's tried out a bunch of different things, evaluated them, and decided on which ones offer the most useful outcome. That's more than "a little circuit bending", it's somebody who's made a project out of trying to find the best ways to improve these particular mics and then offering the results as a service.
Maybe you could call it "circuit bending" or "fooling around with a Dremel tool" or whatever else you want, but the bottom line is that I've heard good reports about his service and his customers seem quite happy with the deal.
- the finger genius
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Starting to wish I hadn't opened this topic up again. bibleboy3, you wouldn't happen to be the Bill from http://www.billsrecording.com/, would you?
_________________vvv wrote:
That said, what I'm gettin' at is, perfectionism is for the truly defective.
You may quote me.
- Jeff White
- ghost haunting audio students
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Let me just say that another reason why I am so happy with OktavaMod totally improvingmy MK-012s is because I made the initial $198 investment for a pair of them almost a decade ago. I've been using those mics all of the time, invested in some decent shock mounts, then the omni caps, then the Red Head caps, and then the Jolly mods, which didn't cost me that much money. I jumped on them when they were 20% off last fall after months/years of putting it off. And it was 100% totally worth it to me to have someone else do the mods who knows how to make them sound awesome since I have zero experience modifying mics (even though I build my own cables and can replace guitar pickups and stuff). It cost me $150 including shipping to have my mics upgraded with the special he ran. That's a lot less than it would cost me to replace the mics when I totally fucked one or both of them up by experimenting with them on my own. And I love those mics, as do the folks who I work with.
I've also heard the same kind of arguments regarding Black Lion. "All they do is replace some op-amps..." etc. Well, let me tell you, the investment that I made back in 2006 through them was totally worth it as well. Analog paths, new mic preamps, new clock upgrade for under $300. Paying for the expertise of someone is never a bad thing. Folks like Michael Jolly and the guys over at Black Lion provide folks like me a way to take an investment that I have made and make it better. Way better, actually. And I am more than happy to pay someone to do this for me.
If you have the capabilities and the skills to do this work on your own, hats off to you. That's great. If you want to provide a competitive service to work on this stuff for other folks, there is always room out there for people who provide a great service. No need to belittle folks like me who have paid for services like this that happen to not be YOUR service.
If you are Bill over at Bill's Recording, isn't your mod just the Dorsey mod? What do you do to improve on the Dorsey mod?
Jeff
I've also heard the same kind of arguments regarding Black Lion. "All they do is replace some op-amps..." etc. Well, let me tell you, the investment that I made back in 2006 through them was totally worth it as well. Analog paths, new mic preamps, new clock upgrade for under $300. Paying for the expertise of someone is never a bad thing. Folks like Michael Jolly and the guys over at Black Lion provide folks like me a way to take an investment that I have made and make it better. Way better, actually. And I am more than happy to pay someone to do this for me.
If you have the capabilities and the skills to do this work on your own, hats off to you. That's great. If you want to provide a competitive service to work on this stuff for other folks, there is always room out there for people who provide a great service. No need to belittle folks like me who have paid for services like this that happen to not be YOUR service.
If you are Bill over at Bill's Recording, isn't your mod just the Dorsey mod? What do you do to improve on the Dorsey mod?
Jeff
Last edited by Jeff White on Sun Feb 08, 2009 9:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I record, mix, and master in my Philly-based home studio, the Spacement. https://linktr.ee/ipressrecord
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