Oktava MC/MK012 Users

[dirk_v]

Speaking of the 012, how has everyone's experience been with the quality of the Guitar Center versions? I got one from a former band mate initially, then I bought 2 then a fourth with the 3 Capsule set later on. Guess what?

The Multipattern beats all 3 others by a wide margin. More full and open sounding. Extended lows and highs. Yeah, I know it sounds like a sales brochure, but that is actually the case. This is the mic every one has been talking about. The other three are a different breed altogether. Chinese perhaps? I'm sure we'll never know where they came from. But I seriously doubt they came from Russia.

You're not imagining things. I've read elsewhere on this board that the 012's being hawked at GC were the Chinese 'knockoff' version of the Russian originals. I bought a multi-capsule matched pair from this board that came from the Sound Room, and yeah, they are sweet mics. Definitely my go-tos for stereo acoustic instruments, drum OH, and other standard SDC applications.


-dv

[inflatable]

I just opened all 4 of mine up. The 3 cardiods which don't sound all that great, are all different from each other. The good sounding Multicapsule, which I also got at GC is even more different than the other 3. Different caps: poly vs ceramic. The resister values were the same but the quality looked better on the better sounding one. These are all 2003-2004 vintage.

I am not really surprised by this. I'm just glad I did a listening test on them and, most importantly, labeled them so I know which one to put up as the overhead, and which ones to abuse on the toms. (I rarely use tom track that I record anyway.)

[nick_a]

for a long time i thought i was crazy because people were like "the 012 is so cheap and underrated it's awesome" and i was like "....mine sounds insane. what are you talking about?" that makes a lot of sense. thanks, inflatable.

[nick_a]

do you think that if i changed out the passive components that it would sound better?

[redear]

Some of them. There is a lot of info on modding these mics. Google it and you will find it.
There was even an artical in tape op IIRC... maby not...

[nlmd311]

Some of them. There is a lot of info on modding these mics. Google it and you will find it.
There was even an artical in tape op IIRC... maby not...

I'm pretty sure the article you are thinking of was the one in Recording magazine. It was a D.I.Y. article written by Scott Dorsey all about how to modify the 012. You could source the parts out yourself if you can find a copy of the article online, or you can buy the "kit" from this person.

There has been a lot of talk on this board as well as the others regarding this mod. Try searching for "Dorsey 012 mod", or "Dorsey Oktava mod" and I'm sure you'll turn up a number of threads that might help you see if it would be something that may interest you. It seems there are just as many people bashing the mod as there are people praising it, but the same thing seems to happen with the Oktava MK/MC 012 in general. I happen to love the 012 but haven't tried the mod so I can't personally comment.

Hope that helps

-Darrill

[inflatable]

Does anyone want to do a group buy on the parts? It should be about $15 per pair. I'm in for 2.
Here's the parts list and a picture from the guy selling the ebay kits.

* R1, R1 - (2) 1G Thick Film Resistor
* C1 - (1) 820pF COG ceramic capacitor
* C2 - (1) 10uF 25v Tantalum capacitor
* C3, C4 - (2) 68uF 63v electrolytic capacitor
* C5 - (1) 47uF 40v electrolytic capacitor
* Q1 - (1) 2SK170BL FET
* Q2 - (1) 2N5087 transistor


Larger photo:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/139/4001 ... 5f40_o.jpg

Here's a comment Scott Dorsey said on rec.audio.pro in Oct 2003, one month after the article was published:

>>Digikey doesn't carry 1gig resistors so I'm looking for another vendor but,
>>as a novice, I'm having a hard time finding them. Any ideas?

>They carry them, they are just backordered for a while. You can try fitting
>the 1/2 watt ones in there but it's tight.

>The next alternative requires ordering three or four thousand dollars worth
>at a time.

>It seems a lot of people have been reading the Oktava article and there is
>a run on the things. Digi-Key normally only stocks a small number.
>--scott