Oktavamod tube

Kasey · Post by **Kasey** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:05 am

I've been looking for mics recently, and have been interested in the oktava mod's especially. they sound like a fantastic deal. But I'm having difficult actually deciding which one to go with. Everyone talks about the 219 and 319, Does anyone have any preference? and my main question, does anyone know anything about the mkl-2500 oktavamod? no one seems to say anything about it.

mingus2112 · Post by **mingus2112** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:40 am

I had 2 mk219s and an mkl2500 modded. All three sound fantastic. If you don't own any already, mk219 is more of a bank for your buck deal. I'd head for that first. . .

As for the mkl-2500. . .i'm not good at explaining differences between microphones. Terms like "warm," "airy" and stuff like that mean different things to different people. I know what my microphones sound like. . .and i know how they'll compliment sources.

I think the mkl-2500 is a great tube microphone though. Michael replaces all of the mediocre components with great audiophile grade stuff. Once modded, the 2500 beats out ALL of the cheap chinese tube mics that i've heard. I'm pretty sure (Michael, correct me if i'm wrong) that the capsule is the same as the mk219/319.

I actually bought the mkl2500s to mod after he already modded my mk219s. I was so impressed that he turned such a mediocre microphone into something so amazing. The mkl-2500 was actually a little more usable stock than the 219s were, but the mod opened it up just like the 219s and now I have a great vocal mic!

Hope that helps!
-James

vibesof20hz · Post by **vibesof20hz** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:26 am

Im a little confused here. Do you guys know someone that mods These mics and sells them? or do you know the mods and do it yourself?

vibesof20hz · Post by **vibesof20hz** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:28 am

oh, haha, nevermind, i found the site. for anyone else that may wonder the same:

http://www.oktavamod.com/

kojdogg · Post by **kojdogg** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:21 am

According to usps.com my Oktavamodded MK-219 arrived today! (Glee)

________
Hemp Marijuana

Kasey · Post by **Kasey** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:39 pm

james - thank you for your reply! I'm specifically looking for a vocal mic, I have an AT4040 that I use for most instruments, but it's a little too bright for my voice. Do you prefer the MKL 2500 over the 219/319's for vocals?? thats my main determining factor.

beauarts · Post by **beauarts** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:34 pm

I have the modded 319 and I'm suitably impressed by it. Because of that, I just bought a mkl2500 tube mic but it'll be after the new years before michael joly is scheduled to work on it. I'll probably be posting some examples when i get it back.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:41 pm

The oktavamod stuff is pretty amazing.

nlmd311 · Post by **nlmd311** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:55 am

Hey guys,
Kasey, I know you mentioned you are specifically looking for a vocal mic, but I decided to throw up two of my Oktavamod modded mics when I was doing my warm up today. Please excuse the drumming. I've been playing the drums for years but am really just starting to learn to PLAY the drums.
The clips will give you a little bit of the idea of the signature of each mic, atleast as I know it.
The mics are the Oktava MK-319 and Oktava MKL2500. Both modded by Michael at the same time just a few months ago (July I'm pretty sure). Both mics got the floating dome mod and Premium Electronics upgrade.
I'll try to get around to recording some guitar if I can do so. I'll try to throw the MK-219 that I modded following Michaels posts on the various boards too, to give you an idea of what the difference is between the 219 with my modification and the 319 adn 2500 with Joly's mods. Don't forget the clips on the www.oktavamod.com website.
Hope it helps in some way.

The clips I just recorded, with note on signal chain can be found here: www.tobotrecords.com/oktava_comparisons.htm

-Darrill

beauarts · Post by **beauarts** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:50 pm

Just posted a clip of Oktavamod mkl2500 on gearslutz. Also have comparison to a neumann u48. Me singing 'Always'(with apologies to Irving Berlin). Details of the recording chain on the gearslutz thread.

http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=104956

mingus2112 · Post by **mingus2112** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:30 pm

Definately a sweet mic! I really Love mine on acoustic guitar and female vocals. I haven't had a chance to try it with male vocals yet, but if it's anything like the 219 is. . .it'll be SWEET!

-James

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:06 pm

To me the mkl2500 sounded smoother, with more clarity overall and had more of a pleasing proximity effect than the u48. The detail was much sweeter too IMO.

Nice post beauarts, thanks.

AudioJunky · Post by **AudioJunky** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:13 am

I have to say- the U48 seems to slam the 2500 to the ground to me... but maybe I'm just in the mood for hearing crisp, clear, nice sounding vocals like the u48 at this moment.

I don't know what it is- but I also liked the 319 over the 2500 in the drum example. It seems like the 2500 has a very muffly sound... darker, not as crisp and bright with the highs.. which could probably be good on some things.

MichaelJoly · Post by **MichaelJoly** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:47 pm

Well my ears told me they were pretty close, but then again I'm old man

So I ran the two files through my analyzer to compare the long term spectral average of the U48 and OktavaMod MKL-2500.

This is an excellent technique when you'd like to get some insight into why one mic sounds different (from a frequency response standpoint) than another. Of course near-instantaneous, transient response performance also accounts for differences between transducers but long term spectral average has its place. We do the same thing when we use our ears and say "oh, X mic is generally brighter than Y mic" - that's a comment based primarily on a long term spectral average.

Analyzed this way (long term averages of two independent samples referenced in this thread) these two sound files look to be within a couple of dB of each other throughout most of the spectrum. This particular 2500 actually has a bit more 12-14kHz output than this particular U48.

Some notes on the recording -

The U48 and MKL-2500 were set up next to each other and singer sang between the two mics. The files are from the same vocal take.

hyde maintenance · Post by **hyde maintenance** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 1:10 pm

I'm all for the underdog 'n' all...but I'm with Audiojunky on this one. Not even close. Maybe a more realistic comparison would be more useful.

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