MK 219, worth it?

jaredbyline · Post by **jaredbyline** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 2:56 pm

I was just wondering what the feeling was about the 219.

Good? Bad? Indifferent?

And also: What do you use it on?

Seems like a cheap mic, that could be worth it, but I've never heard it.

OneZero · Post by **OneZero** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:21 pm

THis is a great Mic!
Not to harp on you specifically, but there are so many threads on this board asking about the quality of the Oktava mics. I guess the price leads people to be a bit suspicious, but Damm these are great mics and the price is insane!

A few years ago (3-5) these were going for close to $400. But since the Russians economy was blown on military spending (not unlike what is happening in this country) the Russian Rupel ( I think their currency is called) is now only worth that in which to wipe your ass. So the price of these hand-made russian mics have come WAY down. If your a home recording enthusast with a limited budget, You should own at least the MK-219. Great room mic, Great on acoustic guitars, decent on Vocals, I've used a pair for drums OHs and might still be the best drum recording I've ever done. ( The room was great too).

I give this mic a great big thumbs up!!
The sound IMO is a little dark, but I like that, especially on acoustic guitar.

antilog · Post by **antilog** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:29 pm

The quality control is terrible.

I have two, one is about 3db quieter than the other. But I still use them as drum overheads, and am happy. I've had 2 drummers comment positively on the overhead sound. Surprised me...

I modded mine - put some speaker putty on the bottom of the capsule chambers and cut the outside grills off. Don't sound as crazy now...

Read up, tons of good info out there.

oxfist · Post by **oxfist** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:33 pm

for the $50 i spent on mine, it was well worth it. i will second or third that it is great for acoustic guitar and drum OH's.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:50 pm

I bought 2.

I use 1 for a talkback, and the other for a door stop.

I drag out the door stop for distorted guitars sometimes.

I didn't have any luck at all with mine on acoustic gtrs or drums.
probably a quality control issue.

good luck.
try it in the store.
chris

brew · Post by **brew** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 4:13 pm

worth it? well that depends. if you can get it for under $100, why not? otherwise, it's a mixed bag.

a good, standard philosophy regarding Oktava mics.

andrew embassy · Post by **andrew embassy** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 4:43 pm

We found a MK319 for 15 bucks at a local music store. "needs repair" should have read "we only ran 30 volts of phantom power on it, so it was really quiet." I use it on pretty much everything, just because we don't have enough money to buy anything else.

Verboten · Post by **Verboten** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 5:01 pm

I use my 219 for everything. It definitely has a particular sound, but as luck would have it, it's a sound I like. I especially like it for vocals, snares and bass guitar. I don't really like it for acoustics, but I do like it for drum OHs, too.

It also takes kindly to over compression - if you llike that sort of thing.

Shawn Simmons · Post by **Shawn Simmons** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 7:56 pm

I would have to say that, so far, these mics suck. Or more specifically, my pair of 219's suck. I bought mine, like a lot of people, at a GC blowout sale. I think I got mine for $100 for the pair. I figured "hey, another pair of condensers to have around, I could always use that". Well, I have yet to find anything they sound good on. I've tried them on vocals, drums, guitars and they haven't sounded very good. The one place I haven't tried them is on a bass cabinet. I will try that next but if that don't work, these mics are getting relegated to the "let's blow something up and mic it" pile. My other Octavas have served me well. I've got the little MC-012's and a ribbon mic. THOSE I use everyday, the 219's are gathering dust.

Buy at your own risk, Octavas are really bad at QC.

Shawn

loudmusic · Post by **loudmusic** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 8:06 pm

A few years ago (3-5) these were going for close to $400. But since the Russians economy was blown on military spending (not unlike what is happening in this country) the Russian Rupel ( I think their currency is called) is now only worth that in which to wipe your ass. So the price of these hand-made russian mics have come WAY down.

AWESOME!!! Does this mean prices are coming down here soon too professor??? And the terrorists are too busy in their own backyards to fuck with the continental US!! AWESOME!!!

On topic,

I probably won't be buying a 219 anytime soon.... too many issues w/ quality control. Somebody here surely knows the places that check out each Oktava and gaurantee them... ?? That'd be the only way though. I really like the idea of the ML52?? anybody got one of those???

Martin

OneZero · Post by **OneZero** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 10:29 am

AWESOME!!! Does this mean prices are coming down here soon too professor??? And the terrorists are too busy in their own backyards to fuck with the continental US!! AWESOME!!!

No! Actually it merans prices in this country will continue to rise. When our economy collapses due to over military spending, prices will skyrocket to compensate for the depreciated dollar.

As for the Terrorists, we all know they who they really are, don't we?.

loudmusic · Post by **loudmusic** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 5:13 pm

I don't know if you heard the news... but it was reported TODAY 10/29/03 that military spending dropped 27% in the last quarter... so I really can only take your reply as unimformed and self serving, and definately off topic... however I admit I baited you. Sorry.

Doomsday people: relax.... this new boss is the same as your old boss.

Martin

ps. I have a friend who loves his 219's so much I would bet you money he has attempted sex with them. But he's crazy so... you know... whatever!

axial · Post by **axial** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 5:28 pm

I have a pair of these and haven't really used them, lets see I through one up on a kick for the hell of it once but thats all, I've used the overheads, I think they are ok as OHs and ok on acoustic, and I want the ribbon.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 11:40 pm

The ML 52 is one of the best mics for under 300 dollars IMO.
I need to get two more of these before they disappear...

I think the very nature of making a ribbon that actually WORKS requires closer attention to tolerances (therefore "quality") so if it even works, it is rocking.

I have never used a ribbon I didnt think would come in handy in some circumstance, and I have used (and own) some funky ones.

dino · Post by **dino** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 3:45 am

I have a couple of 319's, and that I still find uses for even though I now have mics that cost ten times what the Oktava's did.. I will say this though; they don't sound exactly the same.. More to the point, they sound less like each other now than when they were new (in 2001).. If that's not an indication of a QC issue I don't know what is.. (I always baby my mic's so I don't think rough handling was a factor) Fortunately they both do work, but one has a bit more "personality" than the other.. As long as they don't deteriorate any more, I'll continue to use them both.. That will also affect my decision towards buying any more Oktava products. I know I'll get flamed for saying this but, for people just starting out, I think I would recommend starting with some 57's and 58's before jumping on the condenser bandwagon.. You have a better chance of getting many years of trouble free use from the Shures than from any price point engineered condenser..Dean

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