Oktava MC-012

[eberrong]

So I want to get a pair of these mics for OH and acoustic guitar duties. Since my local Guitar Center no longer carries them (and the $99/pair deal seems to be a thing of the past anyway) where should I buy them?

I looked at The Sound Room...$426 for a matched pair. Is it worth it? Are there better mics at this price point?

My other option seems to be paying about $150-200/pair on ebay and then I'd be rolling the dice as far as quality control/matched pair goes.

[Don]

www.oktava.com

[Drumsound]

Has anyone A/B the Octava with the Studio Projects multi-capsule SDC?

[Don]

opps.. I didn't see that you had already gone to The Soundroom.
My bad..As for the mics they are pretty cool for the cash..I use them to give brite acoustic guitars some "wood"..They are on the "dark" side to me..I have a unmatched pair{$99.00 deal}..PM me and Ill let you hear them/check them out @ my studio,Im in WinterPark.Good luck

[Chris Parsons]

For a SDC it is very warm/dark almost to the point of sounding like a ribbon. I love it on strings, just love it! And I got mine for $75 each at GC

[syncro]

Great microphone. I have the matched stereo pair with all 3 available capsules and I like their sound very much. Really warm sounding ones.

Just my opinion, Alexandr.

[eberrong]

syncro - Did you buy them from the Sound Room?

[ernie5]

I have on 012 from the Sound Room with all three heads and one 012 from another source with one head. They are very different, at least in their output. I have used them as overheads and they work out fine, but some pretty heavy tweaking is necessary to get the right stereo image. I have wondered long & hard myself whether I should just bite the bullet and buy a matched set from the Sound Room and (probably) make my life easier. Or get the Studio Projects C4 instead. Either way, the 012 is a nice mic -- I use it for overheads and acoustic guitar & it does quite well.

[Saucyjack]

I've had the Sound Room set for 3 years.In the long run they are a great deal,considering you are getting essentially 6 mics,clips and a nice cedar case.
I love the Octavas on Acoustic Gtr and had good luck with them on Ohs.

I recently tried out a pair of Josephson C42s for OHs and though they were nice,I didn't think they were a big step up from the Sound Room Octavas and ended up sending them back.

[syncro]

Hi eberrong,

I´ve bought them directly from the factory in Tula when I visited Russia. They are in plastic, not in cedar case, but I´ve got all those measurement protocols according to matched stereo pair and both microphones sounds really very similar if not identical to my ears. I´m really satisfied with them. I also have the Octava MK319 which I use as a main vocal mic for male vocals (recording reggae / hip hop) and I even prefer it to my Neumann CMV563/M7 in most situation because of it´s nice color and feel of "powah" in the sound. Yes, I´m Octava fan 8-)

Regards, Alexandr.

[Jay Kahrs]

Try one on a guitar cab sometime. That and snare drum.

[Tim L]

My pair of 012's (S-Room/ all caps) find there way onto lots of stuff. Very versatile little buggers indeed... would love to get the Lomo capsules for them.

[Richie Monroe]

I own a pair of MC012's (GC- $99 the pair) and I sold a pair that I had from the Sound Room. I also own the C-4's, and a pair of KM184's. Basically, I sold a Sound Room pair with just the cardioid capsules to buy the C-4's, because I needed a pair of omnis and couldn't pony up the $130 or so that Taylor would have charged for the omni capsules. Later, I picked up a pair of GC mics because I missed my 012's, and the price was just too low to stand. Net result? I lucked out, big time. The GC pair are within .5db across the audio spectrum. Woo Hoo! As far as the A/B with the C-4's, the C-4's are more accurate, and brighter, not as bright as my KM184's. I would call the Neumanns bright, the Oktavas dark, and the C-4's neutral, somewhere in between. The 012 has a pleasing color to it which is good for strings, rock overheads, and sometimes even vox. Very few people, IMHO, would sound good singing into the C-4's, or the Neumanns, for that matter. I never owned the omni capsules for the Oktavas, so I can't make comparisons. In conclusion, I prefer the C-4's as an all-round SD condenser, but the Oktavas are sometimes the better choice for a given source. At their former price point, they were no-brainers. I would choose the Oktavas for a solo violin, and the C-4's for a chamber orchestra, the oktavas for rock/blues/funk/reggae overheads, the C-4's for jazz/ country/pop/, or for remote stereo recording.-Richie

[Saucyjack]

Jay,
I've tried the Octava a few times on snare but never been happy.
What kind of placement are you using?
Are you using a pad?

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by Saucyjack
Jay,
I've tried the Octava a few times on snare but never been happy.
What kind of placement are you using?
Are you using a pad?

I always use the -10 pad unless it's all brushwork. Placement varies but it's usually about 1 - 2" over the rim of the drum at a slight angle. Either that or maybe 6" off the side of the drum if the drummer has a good balance between snare and hats.

[ernie5]

012 use of the snare: cardiod or omni?

[wallace]

They sound pretty good on toms!! And not a bad deal at $50 a piece from Guitar Center.

[lydog]

I'm currently in the MC012 vs. C42 debate myself. Thinking that my inexperienced ears won't notice the difference between the two (but my modest budget will notice the price!), but I might at some point regret not stepping up to the C42s (poor man buys twice right?).

One thing that will help the decision is the ability to use the Oktavas on stage live. The C42 profusely advertises this application on their website, yet the Sound Room indicates a completely different (and more expensive) mic to replace the MC012 for live use (and studio use obviously). Can you use the MC012 on stage with good results?

[dhughes]

Originally posted by wallace
They sound pretty good on toms!! And not a bad deal at $50 a piece from Guitar Center.

I didn't think GC was carrying them anymore.

[elninojesus]

$50 seems really low. I got my matched pair for $249 there and individually they were always $99.



Mark

[cominginsecond]

Originally posted by lydog
I'm currently in the MC012 vs. C42 debate myself. Thinking that my inexperienced ears won't notice the difference between the two (but my modest budget will notice the price!), but I might at some point regret not stepping up to the C42s (poor man buys twice right?).

Both of these mics are well worth it, but I'd be shocked if you couldn't tell the difference. They're very different mics.

[lydog]

Originally posted by cominginsecond
Both of these mics are well worth it, but I'd be shocked if you couldn't tell the difference. They're very different mics.

Understandable. I guess I should've specified that the difference might not justify the price discrepancy.

Anyway, I dropped by GC this past weekend and bought the remaining 4 MK-012 mics they had in stock there. The sales clerk was surprised they even had them as he was under the impression they weren't selling them anymore. I bought two extra because it seemed people here thought these deals were long gone. If you're interested, drop me a line. I'd be happy to unload them for the price I paid ($100 each plus tax and shipping).

[squizz]

im interested pm me or email me at:
squizzy101@hotmail.com



thanks

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by ernie5
012 use of the snare: cardiod or omni?

Cardiod. The omni sometimes gets used on acoustic guitars, as a room mic for a kit or on guitar amps.

[hrn]

I love the MC-012 on hihat, try it...