Do Thomann sell genuine Oktava MK-012s?

[sniperschool]

Why would you think a company the size of Thomann would/could sell fake mics?

[edva]

Originally Posted by sniperschool

Why would you think a company the size of Thomann would/could sell fake mics?

Others have.
Not to suggest that they are.

[JamesClark1991]

Originally Posted by edva

Others have.
Not to suggest that they are.

Exactly this.

[ShadowAMD]

Originally Posted by JamesClark1991

Do Thomann sell genuine Oktava MK-012s? or the fake chinese onese?

Never used them before and I can't find anywhere else in the UK that sells them :L

I hope for there sake they are..

[Ward Boss]

Highly doubtful. They wouldn't be able stock the entire line of Oktava microphones (matched pairs, more expensive models) if they were selling fake MK-012s at the same time.

[zzzxtreme]

Their prices are crazy low. I can understand the fear. But fear not, they have 30 day return policy, and great customer service. What I cant understand is how they manage to keep shipping cost so low. Whole drum set shipping 50 euro to asia?

[Retinal]

I bought from Thomann my matched pair of MK012 some months ago
the version with all the capsules and the Fig 8 adapter too.

Definitely genuine, the matched pair also come with
the papers with the matching test graphs

[dickiefunk]

I bought a genuine Oktava MK-319 from them a couple of years ago.

[Neonknight]

I would be extremely surpriced if Thomann didnt sell only genuine Oktava´s, on some of them the text on the site even state "Made in Russia". I dont own any Oktava´s myself though.

From my experience having bought almost every piece of musical equipment there since 2005 or 2006 they are very serious about what they do.

Some of their own branded products are great value also, i had great succes with some of the t.bone mics for example. They have good quality cables for a third of what the same quality would cost in Sweden, i saved a bunch just buying alot of mic cables and other cables for our studio.

3 Years warranty is also great, dealers in Sweden usually only have 1 year.

[beingmf]

I think you're right – the picture in the monthly brochure shows the black plastic clamps. Aren't those a sign for chinese copies?

[Neonknight]

Originally Posted by beingmf

I think you're right – the picture in the monthly brochure shows the black plastic clamps. Aren't those a sign for chinese copies?

There are no pics on Thomanns site with those plasic clips, its just in the brochure.

Who knows where that pic came from, maybe they were fooled at the time by that UK distributor (that were the official distributor then) that made the fakes.
Since it was the official distributor, its very hard to know that one day you get fake mics from the same place as you got the genuine ones, that can fool anybody pretty much.

Personally i have no problem in trusting Thomann, i have had to point out info that were wrong in the "Hot deals" brochure before, i would definately trust the info on the site much more.

If you have doubts why dont you contact Oktava and ask them if Thomann is authorized to sell Oktava products ?.

[Sanchez]

Got my 012 pair from Thomann and had them Joly-modded. I'm sure Joly would kbow a fake. Also I think the fake story is so well known now that a major distro, esp. a Euro one would be extremely careful.

[JamesClark1991]

Originally Posted by Sanchez

Got my 012 pair from Thomann and had them Joly-modded. I'm sure Joly would kbow a fake. Also I think the fake story is so well known now that a major distro, esp. a Euro one would be extremely careful.

When did you get them? Were they the white or black ones?

[Sanchez]

About 6 months ago, black ones, metal stand clips, graphs and the wooden case.

[Sino]

I bought MK-012 matched pairs (the one with 3 capsules) some months ago.
All good to me.

Originally Posted by zzzxtreme

Their prices are crazy low. I can understand the fear. But fear not, they have 30 day return policy, and great customer service. What I cant understand is how they manage to keep shipping cost so low. Whole drum set shipping 50 euro to asia?

I guess that when you're a big store with over 900 people working and millions of clients you can get a pretty good deal with DHL since they probably have LOT OF TRUCKS just for you.

[Neonknight]

Originally Posted by Sino

I guess that when you're a big store with over 900 people working and millions of clients you can get a pretty good deal with DHL since they probably have LOT OF TRUCKS just for you.

Yes, most definately that will always make a huge difference.

[Ronk]

i got mine from there and they are fine. the mic clips are useless though and will scratch the mics if youre not careful.

[Retinal]

Originally Posted by Ronk

i got mine from there and they are fine. the mic clips are useless though and will scratch the mics if youre not careful.

They will eventually no matter how careful you are lol

[silentsky]

I think the Chinese copies were made exclusively for Guitar Center, and production of the Chinese MK012's was stopped after the whole legal dust-up between Oktava (the original Oktava in Tula, Russia) and the McKay brothers (from the now-defunct Oktava LTD in the UK). So technically, there shouldn't be any new Chinese copies of the MK012--only used ones left over from the Guitar Center/McKay debacle.

[JamesClark1991]

Originally Posted by silentsky

I think the Chinese copies were made exclusively for Guitar Center, and production of the Chinese MK012's was stopped after the whole legal dust-up between Oktava (the original Oktava in Tula, Russia) and the McKay brothers (from the now-defunct Oktava LTD in the UK). So technically, there shouldn't be any new Chinese copies of the MK012--only used ones left over from the Guitar Center/McKay debacle.

Thanks for the reassurance guys. Just had a late e-mail back from them confirming they sell genuine Russian models. Sorted

[bremusound]

Thomann sold the chinese ones some years ago for a couple of months, but nowadays they only sell genuine russian ones.
I have a pair of those china mk-012's, they have a variation of the schoeps circuit in it, but without DC-DC converter/oscillator. The bodies i own still work, capsules not, they have lost much of their sensitivity, don't know why, they're not electrets. Russian capsules fit and work with the chinese bodies so the fake bodies still get some use sometimes.

[Neonknight]

Originally Posted by bremusound

Thomann sold the chinese ones some years ago for a couple of months, but nowadays they only sell genuine russian ones.

Probably not their fault though, since it was an authorized distributor that sold them, i bet alot of shops were fooled by them.